Two Kinds of a Love Story
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry” is certainly one of the most memorable movie lines that has come out of Hollywood. This was spoken twice in the 1970s film Love Story and was adapted and parodied numerous times in the following decades. Those who have seen the movie know that it was spoken is all seriousness in the movie and in some ways still reflects a twisted perception of the nature and maturity that should be associated with love.
The popularity of this quotation provides opportunity to show how diametrically opposed this sentiment is to the idea of real love expressed by Christ in one of his 7 letters. Most congregations in Roman Asia and North America have grown and expanded on the basis of the single portrait of love presented in Rev. 1:5, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” This picture focuses on one’s pleasurable reception of gifts from God. After all, who would not want to be rid of all the guilt associated with all their evil deeds, thoughts, and inclinations? Apparently Christ did not think this definition of love was sufficient for the congregations in Asia since he clearly expands the implications of his love in the letter to the congregation in Laodicea.
One of the traits of a half-truth is that it attempts to take part of the truth and make it all of the truth. It seems that too many believers want the half-truth that Christ gives in Rev. 1:5, but not the other part of the truth that he reveals in Rev. 3:19. Before Christ finishes his redemptive work for the believers at Laodicea, they must be rebuked and undergo discipline in the spirit of love. If he loves them, he will rebuke and discipline them, but none of this will be effectual if the believer does not have a repentant heart. Unlike the Hollywood version of Love Story, the love story that Christ invites us into demands that we say “I’m sorry,” and say it many times (and mean it).
At the present moment congregations think they are getting by with ignoring the full disclosure of the truth of Christ’s love. “Come to Christ,” they advertise, with references only to “freedom from sin.” Not a whisper, not even a faint whisper, about Christian discipline. The congregation at Laodicea had to learn the hard way that the only way that either Christ or the world will take a congregation seriously is when they advertise their Jesus as one who reproves and disciplines those whom he loves and at the same time demands their zeal and repentance.
God Hates Bloodshed
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Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the NewTestament
There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it. Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help. The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament. You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible.
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
God Hates Bloodshed
Ezekiel 35:6
When Jesus (John 3:19, 7:7) and his followers (Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:16) labelled the surrounding cultures and civilization with the term “evil,” violence and bloodshed cannot have been far from their minds. Even more pernicious than the brute force wielded by the Roman military in its inexorable expansion and maintenance of its borders was the role of ubiquitous violence and bloodshed in the venues of games and entertainment in the Roman Empire. The Roman games were synonymous with bloodshed. As Shelby Brown observed (“Death as Decoration: Scenes from the Arena on Roman Domestic Mosaics,” in Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome, 1992, p. 184), “The immediate purpose of a major portion of many games was for a stronger opponent to overcome a weaker and to stab, claw, gore, bite, or trample the loser to death for the enjoyment of spectators protected from the fray.”
To be sure there were occasions when even a pagan philosopher like Seneca would teach against the inhumanity of gladiator combat. In Seneca’s 7th letter, to his friend Lucilius, the philosopher describes the brutality of the games and concludes “Do not, my Lucilius, attend the games, I pray you. Either you will be corrupted by the multitude, or, if you show disgust, be hated by them. So stay away.” Another exception to the Graeco-Roman love affair with violence would be the pagan crowd’s protest against the excruciating abuses of the torture of Christians under the tyranny of Nero.
The commitment of the early followers of Christ to humility, peace, non-violence, and meekness stands in stark contrast to the glorification of brute force and bloodshed prevalent in the entertainment values of so many cultures, both ancient and modern.
Would Jesus Go to Church?
It has been around for centuries, this idea of devotion for Christ and apathy for his church. Dan Kimball, for example, wrote a book a few years back entitled They like Jesus but Not the Church. This dislike for the local congregation but interest in Christ is certainly widespread today. From a perspective that is very subversive to the individualistic practices of many modern believers and para-church ministries, God reveals to John a Son of Man who has planted himself directly in the midst of churches.
John leaves no doubt about this since those 7 lamp stands where the Son of Man resides are interpreted as the 7 churches of Revelation (Rev. 1:12-13, 20). Far too many lifetimes have been wasted by individuals desperately wanting to interpret the symbols of Revelation while all the time ignoring one of the few symbols that Revelation itself interprets for the reader. Christian pietists have always been excited about John’s earlier scene with the Son of Man “coming with the clouds” (Rev. 1:7), but they seem to lose interest when he is to be found dwelling among congregations.
Jesus’ choice to hang out with the saints is even more startling in light of the poor performance and patent heresy of many of these congregations. Some of these churches had people who had turned their backs on Christ, yet there he still is among them. While Christ was never known to make choices based upon the “cool factor,” he truly chose some of the un-coolest folks in Roman Asia to hang out with. Had Christ wanted to be worshipped with excitement and style, he clearly would have chosen to hang out with those worshipping the Emperor or with those where truly exciting worship took place like in the Mystery Religions.
This apparent desire of Christ to shun individualism and to be seen with his people is highlighted in John’s use of other collective images and illustrations. It is impossible to make any sense out of Revelation’s use of the 144,000 without noticing that it points to 12 thousand from each of the 12 tribes (Rev. 7:4-8), and not just 144,000 individuals. Even the image of the Bride of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17) is built upon Old Testament nuptial ideas where the corporate people of God are taken as the Bride. As with the Apostle Paul (Eph. 5), for John we are only the Bride of Christ as the church.
Revelation 14:1-5 has a powerful scene that depicts the saints in heaven. Among the many descriptions of this group of the saved is that these are “the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rev. 14:4). Unlike many of their modern counterparts, these believers and martyrs in John’s vision were willing to follow the Messiah anywhere without reservation, even into the life of the local church.
gods everywhere
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Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it. Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help. The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament. You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible.
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
gods everywhere
“Deities are so prevalent in our neighborhood that you are more likely to bump into a god than a man.”
Petronius, Satyricon
The above 1st century AD quotation reflects the ubiquity of ancient polytheistic beliefs and people’s desire to create deities and religious festivals whenever possible. There is a Greek language inscription from early Roman Sardis, for example, that depicts this so well. It merits a mention on this blog because it deals with veneration of the Imperial family, and although first published about 100 years ago, I have not seen a widespread awareness of this relevant artifact among New Testament scholars.
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Roman coin showing Augustus’s two
maternal grandchildren. Used with the kind
permission of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.,
http://www.cngcoins.com.
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The Roman Emperor Augustus was the maternal grandfather of Gaius Julius Caesar [20 BC-AD 4] and Lucius Julius Caesar [17 BC-AD 2]. Since Augustus had no sons himself, he adopted them as his heirs. Roman society had a special ceremony when young boys reached their middle teen years and could wear the new garment, the toga virilis, indicating their arrival into manhood. This rite of passage in Rome for Gaius Caesar was acknowledged and celebrated many miles away by one of the 7 cities of Revelation.
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Gaius Julius Caesar; British Museum
Gaius_Cesar_BM_GR1870.07-05.1_n1.jpg
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Not only does this decree from the city of Sardis mention prayers being offered to Augustus for the safety of his children, but the city proclaims this day of transition from youth to manhood for Gaius Caesar as an annual “sacred day” on which the city of Sardis will offer prayers and sacrifices to the gods and “all shall wear wreaths and festal garments.” Furthermore, a statue of Gaius Caesar was to be erected in the imperial Temple of Augustus located in Sardis. In addition, this news was regarded as such “good news” [euangelisthē] by those in Sardis that they wore wreaths and gave sacrifices to the gods on that very day that such “good news” was received. The “good news” language of this inscription is noteworthy since it uses the same Greek verb [euangelizō; e.g., Matt. 11:5; Lk. 4:18; Acts 5:42; 17:18; 1 Cor. 1:17; 15:1; Gal. 1:11] that would be used later by Jesus and his followers when describing the proclamation of their own “good news.”
Neither Gaius Julius Caesar nor Lucius Julius Caesar was able to fulfill divine destiny. They both died prematurely and Augustus had to adopt Tiberius to become the next Emperor at his death.
Preventing the Purpose of God: Lessons from Jezebel
There has been a lot of ink used on topics such as God’s will, the sovereignty of God, predestination, free will, etc. The episode about Jezebel at the congregation in the city of Thyatira can shed some light on conversations and discussions about these topics. This woman’s true name is not known to us since she is only referred to by her symbolic [i.e., typological] name. She is named Jezebel because her impact and influence on the local congregation is similar at points to the ways the ancient Jezebel influenced God’s people in earlier centuries. Jezebel’s impact on Israel was detrimental because of her promotion of the worship of foreign gods and pagan practices like witchcraft [1 Kgs. 16-21; 2 Kgs. 9].
This Jezebel of Thyatira was promoting a syncretistic form of religion for herself and her followers which included “sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols” and teaching “Satan’s so-called deep secrets” (Rev. 2:20, 24). The Jezebel account reminds the modern church that our betrayal of the message of Christ can be both behavioral and doctrinal, as it was at Thyatira. It is hard to conceive of more polemical labels or more severe epithets coming through a Christian prophet like John than terms such as “Jezebel” and “teachings of Satan.”
Could anyone be more deserving of immediate and harsh punishment from God than this Christian Jezebel? Yet, at least as far back in time as the episode of the golden calves at Sinai, God has been known to deal slowly with his people when they deserve his wrath. Significantly, the Lord revealed himself to Moses as a
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exod. 34:6b-7a).
Accordingly, we are not surprised to learn from John about Jezebel that she was given “time to repent” (Rev. 2:21). There would be no spontaneous and punitive pyrotechnics like the apostles earlier wanted to bring down from heaven upon the Samaritans with Jesus’ consent (Lk. 9:51-55).
It is clear in the Greek text and most translations of Rev. 2:21 that there was divine purpose in Jezebel being given extra time, and the purpose was to give her time to repent. This divine intention certainly resonates with Paul’s words in Romans 2:4b, where he states the fact “that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” At Thyatira Jezebel did not read from Christ’s script and so she did not use this extra time to repent. There was obviously a clash of the wills. Christ acted with patience toward Jezebel with the intention that Jezebel would repent; but notwithstanding this revelation of divine intention, Jezebel wills otherwise and refuses to repent.
Jezebel’s refusal to follow God’s lead by continuing in her sins is a stark acknowledgement that God’s desire does not override our wills, and that by sinful choices we can thwart God’s intentions for our lives.
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it. Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help. The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament. You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible.
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
“Two Things Awe Me Most, the Starry Sky Above Me and the Moral Law Within Me”
Immanuel Kant
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Early Roman Empire; Julius Caesar
with nativity star/comet above head.
Used with the kind permission of
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Millennia before the writings of the 18th century European philosopher Immanuel Kant, humans were in awe of celestial marvels. They both delighted in and were terrified by meteorological phenomena. The Romans were no exception to this outlook. When it was thought that Julius Caesar became a deity after his death [i.e., apotheosis] a comet appeared in the skies over the city of Rome for some days and was immediately regarded as a nativity star/comet. It celebrated the birth of Caesar becoming a god. It did not take long for the portrait of Caesar to be accompanied by a star/comet above his head.
Students of Scripture know that there were similar thoughts about a star and divine nativity in Matthew’s Gospel. In that narrative certain Persian astronomers/astrologers are looking for the King of the Jews. According to non-Christian authors of that time period, “Ruler of the world” expectations abounded in the Middle East during the early Roman period. Thus, we are not surprised to learn of oriental astrologers searching among the Jews. Looking back upon the 1st century AD, the late 1st century–– early 2nd century AD Latin biographer Suetonius reports,
There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judaea to rule the world. This prediction, referring to the emperor of Rome, as afterwards appeared from the event, the people of Judaea took to themselves; accordingly they revolted” (Suetonius, Lives of the 12 Caesars; “Life of Vespasian” IV.5).
According to the 1st Gospel, “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. . . . After they had heard the king [Herod the Great], they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh” (Matt. 2:1-2, 9-11).
It makes sense that the book of Revelation might use sideral iconography to depict divine truths, whether of God’s divine punishments (6th seal; Rev. 6:12-17) or of the grandeur of one’s elevated status from God (Rev. 1:16-17). The intersection of the prophet John’s starry symbolism and the symbolic language in the religious atmosphere of that
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| Aureus coin minted during the reign of Domitian. Used only for educational purposes. |
culture is clearly seen in John’s depiction of the Son of Man in Rev. 1:16.
In particular, a coin minted during the reign of Domitian depicts the divinized son of Domitian sitting on the globe of the earth, surrounded by 7 stars and with hands looking like stars. Unlike the other components of the imagery of the Son of Man in Revelation one, this sideral imagery cannot be located in the Hebrew Scriptures like it can in the propaganda of the imperial cult. In part, this aspect of John’s imagery is a response to the imperial cult and its idolatry.
Immanuel Kant probably did not have the celestial Messiah in mind when he associated personal awe with the “Starry sky above me,” but the prophet John experienced a terrifying awe when he contemplated the celestial image of the Son of Man who could hold 7 stars “in his right hand” (Rev. 1:16-17).
