Luke 9 - A Whole New Exodus

You may not be able to judge a book by its cover … but give a book a good title and it can catch your imagination.

In one sense the first five books of the Old Testament, the Books of the Law, the Torah, have pretty dull titles.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

In another sense, these remarkable one-word titles say it all.

Genesis is as the title suggests a book of beginnings.

Exodus is as the title suggests the book that tells of the exodus, the journey the twelve tribes of Israel took out of Egypt

Leviticus is as the title suggests the book that contains the holiness laws associated with the priestly tribe of Levi

Numbers is as the title suggests the book that details the numbers of people in the various tribes in their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

And Deuteronomy is as the title suggests the second reading of the law by Moses as he stands on the threshold of the Promised land.

There is, however, a catch.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew.

And the titles we use in our English Bibles are taken not from the Hebrew but from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Genesis – the Greek word for beginning

Ex – odos – the Greek word for the way that leads out of somewhere

Leviticus – the Greek for relating to the tribe of Levi

Numbers – the Greek name

And Deutero means second, nomos law – it really is the second reading of the law.

Tradition has it that It was during the reign of Ptolemy II (285-246) in what we think of now as Egypt, that 72 scholars gathered in Alexandria, the Oxford of the ancient world and in 72 days translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.

Further Greek books were added to this collection of Greek Scriptures in the next 150 years which don’t have Hebrew originals.  Those Greek books are accepted as part of the Christian Old Testament in the Greek speaking world of the Orthodox churches and indeed by the Rooman Catholic churches.

It’s a quirk that while our English protestant Old Testaments use the Greek names for the first five books of the Bible, our Protestant Bibles relegate the  Greek-only books to what we think of as the Apocrypha – literally the hidden books.

It wasn’t just that the Greek language had become dominant in the Eastern Mediterranean world, Greek culture had too.  And that became highly controversial among the Jewish people.

The controversy is highlighted in 1 and II Maccabees: many Jewish people were prepared to accommodate the Greek cultural world, having their circumcision reversed and doing gymnastics in the nude in the newly built stadium in Jerusalem where the Gymnasium became as important almost as the temple.  There’s even reference there to the games held every 4 years – the Olympic Games.

Herod the Great and the Herodian dynasty are among those who are very much in this mould – they mix their Jewishness with the prevailing culture of the Greek world.  So much so that when those Olympic Games were in danger for want of cash Herod the Great stepped in about 16 years before the time of Christ and won a name for himself as the big sponsor who saved the Olympic Games.

By the time of Jesus the Roman Empire had its grip on the Eastern Mediterranean world, but it was still the Greek language that was spoken.  Pharisees responded to the threat o fthe Greek culture by reasserting the purity of the law, the Herodians on the other hand were completely in hock to the culture of the day.   Saducees were among the wealthy elite in Jerusalem who reinforced the Herodian dynasty … and the priests were very much part of the Herodian scene.

It’s against that backdrop that the Greek Luke tells the story in his Gospel of John the Baptist and then Jesus who bring something new into the equation.

First John the Baptist and then Jesus revive the line of the ancient prophets.   They do as the prophets of old had done – they speak vigorously truth to power and their message is all about how power should be exercised – it is all about God’s way of ruling – what’s all important are not the kingdoms of this world, least of all the Roman empire: what’s all important is the Kingdom of God.

And when John the Baptist speaks such truth to the powers that be in the world of his day, the powers that be didn’t like it.  Herod had him imprisoned and subsequently executed.  But Jesus took up the mantle of John the Baptist and carried on the prophetic task.

Having taken up the mantle from John the Baptist … Jesus then passes it on to what Luke describes as ‘the twelve’.

The number is not insignificant.

In Genesis, the book of beginnings, Jacob has 12 sons … and they become the tribes of Israel.

Jesus, like John the Baptist before him, had a name for the power of what he was able to do and for the authority of his teaching.

It’s that power and authority that he invests in the twelve.

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 6They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Luke’s already told us that the thing about Jesus was that his teaching was the kind of teaching that would transform the world and transform people’s hearts – it was the message of the Kingdom of God – and that he brought healing into the lives of hurting people.  Words and Deeds.

The thing about the Twelve is that they are given power and authority by Jesus to do exactly the same – to take forward the work he has come to do.

Their task is ‘to proclaim the kingdom of God’ and ‘to heal’ (verse 2). And that’s exactly what they did – ‘bringing the good news’ and ‘curing diseases everywhere’.

So who should take offence.

Herod.

He could see exactly what was going on.

He thought he had put an end to it.

He hadn’t.

It was beginning to get out of hand.

This resurgence of the Prophets of old troubled him.

Deeply

7 Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. 9Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him.

There’s a sense of excitement as the Twelve return, they move over to the North East of the Sea of Galilee to Philips’ home of Bethsaida and crowds and crowds follow him.

What does Jesus do?

He ‘spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed’

Time and again we come across these two dimensions of the work of Jesus.

This is what it’s about.

From Jesus to the Twelve.  From the Twelve down through the ages to us.

We are in the business of shaping the whole of our lives, personally, in our families, in society at large the way God wills, bringing the rule of God down to earth.

We are in the business of bringing healing to hurting people.  That’s what drives our pastoral care, the commitment we have to people in need wherever those people might be.

It grew dark.  The crowd were hungry. And after blessing the five loaves and the two fish Jesus got the Twelve to feed the 5,000 who were sitting in ordered ranks of 50.

The kingdom’s coming.  It’s on the move.

And do you know how many baskets of crumbs there were left over?

Twelve.

Echoes of Genesis.

How can anyone sustain such a ministry, Jesus, the twelve … us?

Only in prayer.

So it is now we find ‘Jesus was praying alone’.

He has his circle of disciples around him.

And he asks them a question.

‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’

This is the moment when he wants some kind of feedback.

How is he doing?

Do the crowds get it.

Indeed they do.

 19They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’

They’ve got it – they can see what’s going on.

Yes the prophets of old are being fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist, in the coming of Jesus.

But there’s more going on still as the Kingdom of God draws near.

20He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’

The anointed one.  The one who, as Anna had seen right at the very beginning, would bring freedom to Jerusalem.

But Jesus sensed Peter didn’t really understand the nature of Jesus’s Messiahship, what it really takes to be Messiah, Christ, the anointed of God.

21 He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, 22saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’

A Suffering Servant Messiah?

It made Peter and the other disciples stop in their tracks

What was the meaning of this?

Jesus held no punches.

23 Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. 25What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

A week passes.  Eight days.

And Jesus goes up a mountain.  In all likelihood the lower slopes of Mount Hermon – the 16,000 foot snow-topped mountain that is the source of the waters of the  Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan and the Dead Sea.

Now come echoes of the next book in the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus.

That book opens out in the wilderness with the encounter Moses has with God in the burning bush.  It proceeds to tell of the encounters Moses later has with God on Mount Sinai.

The whole story of the Exodus hinges on experiences of God in the open, and on the mountain top.

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Peter, James and John had been drowsy.  They came to with a start – they knew something special was going on.

It was as if at this moment there was an endorsement – Jesus truly was the fulfilment of all that Moses stood for and all that the line of the Prophets meant.

Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. 34While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’

It’s a re-run of the Exodus story … and all the prophets have come together too.  And now out of a cloud comes the voice of God – echoes of the voice of God at the baptism.  This is my Son, my Chosen – he truly is King in the Kingdom of God.   And what’s more ‘listen to him!’

Too fanciful to make the connection with the Book of Exodus.

Remember Luke is writing in Greek.

Go back to the appearance of Moses and Elijah – the Law and the Prophets, and what were they talking about.

It’s a curious phrase.

Curious because it’s hard to translate.

Verse 31 – they were speaking of his ‘departure’.

How can you have a departure accomplished in Jerusalem, or as the NIV says, a departure fulfilled in Jerusalem.

But the Greek word is ‘Exodus’.

Not only is Jesus fulfilling the whole line of prophets.

He is to be the new Moses who will deliver his people bring the freedom of Jerusalem – a whole new exodus.

For they were speaking of his ‘exodus’ that will be accomplished or fulfilled in Jerusalem.

After a moment of healing of a boy none of the other disciples could help, then Jesus lays it on thick.

While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44‘Let these words sink into your ears:

Let these words sink into your hearts.

 The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’

There are echoes here of the third section of the Hebrew Scriptures, one of the last books, the Book of Daniel with all its talk of the Son of Man.

45But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it.

What on earth could it mean – to suffer.

A suffering servant messiah was more than they could comprehend.

And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

They still thought in the way the world thought of greatness in terms of power and influence.

So much so they were arguing as to which one of them was the greatest.

Jesus thought so very differently.

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. 47But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 48and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

It’s not how important you are that counts – it’s how you treat the children.

Something is spreading … and it cannot be controlled.

John and the others wanted to contain it … but it couldn’t be contained.

49 John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ 50But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.’

We have reached a key moment in Luke’s Gospel.

Now’s the moment when Jesus sets out on a journey.  It is to be the journey that will define his Messiahship … and it really will lead to his rejection, his suffering, his death … and beyond to his resurrection.

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

It’s a journey that’s going to take Luke 10 chapters to tell.

And next Sunday evening in words and music with a service led by the choir we are going to move on to the very end of that journey as it takes Jesus to Jerusalem, to the cross and beyond to resurrection … and to a whole new exodus.