The Working Class

Exodus 12: 1-14; John 20:19-23- HE IS RISEN!!

Easter Sunday is the grand finale of the Holy Week. It is the day on which the Christian Church celebrates the resurrection of Christ, the Messiah. It is significant that the day of resurrection is also the day First Fruits in the biblical Jewish calendar. It falls in the first month of the biblical year, the month of Nisan. -The month of Passover.

The Exodus text sets out the commemoration of the Passover. This was to be one of the three most important commemorative sacraments in the biblical calendar. The Passover is the first most significant time in the biblical calendar (Exodus 23:14). God says to Moses and Aaron, “on the tenth of this month they (the people) are to take a lamb for each family.” This pure lamb was to be sacrificed as the Passover offering on the 14th day at about 3:00 PM, around the evening time of sacrifice. It is significant that Jesus was sacrificed on the second day of Passover, and at precisely the time when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, “Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.” (Matt. 27:45-50). At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, John the Baptist pointed at him and exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The second most significant time in the biblical calendar is the Day of First Fruits (Exodus 23:16). It is interpreted that this is the day when the Exodus community was provided resurrection from the Sea of Reeds, though Pharaoh and his army sought to kill them on the shores of the Sea. (Exodus 14). This day always fell on the Sunday of the Passover week. On this day, the people were supposed to bring the First Fruits offering from the ground- the resurrection offering from the ground (Leviticus 23:9-15). It is significant therefore, that on this very day, Jesus the Messiah rises from the dead. This is how the early church, the first followers of Jesus understood his resurrection. It became the most crucial encounter, and foundation of Christianity. For this reason, Paul exclaimed, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile . . . but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead- the First fruits.” (1 Corinthians 15:16-20).

The third most significant time in the biblical calendar is the fall Ingathering, during the seventh month of the biblical year (Exodus 23: 16; Leviticus 23:23-36). The Ingathering begins with the blowing of the Trumpets on the first day of the month. The most holy time is the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the month, when the Yom Kippur animal was sacrificed for the sins of the whole community. It is significant that Jesus the Messiah became both the Passover sacrifice, as well as the Yom Kippur sacrifice, in one person. In doing so, He enveloped the whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament in his own person. There is one crucial difference- he did not remain dead. He rose from the dead, as the First Fruits. His resurrection became the foundation of the Gospel. The early Christians exclaimed, “He is Risen! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! This has always been the cornerstone of the first Christians, and will always be the cornerstone of the Christian Church. Hallelujah! Christ is Risen from the dead, the First Fruits!

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 24; John 9

Jeremiah 24 recounts a vision which Jeremiah the prophet is shown. It is a vision of two baskets or cauldrons. One contained, “evil” figs. The other contained “good” figs. The evil figs represented leaders who curried flavor with the gods and leaders of the Babylonians. They sought to become gads themselves. The good figs represented people who were deported and enslaved by the gods and leaders of the Babylonians.

It is a fact of life. Those people who seek to follow God and the Word of God will always experience persecution. Yet, God’s eyes are always on them through this time of persecution and pain. God says, “I will set my eyes on them for “good,” and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them and not pull them down; I will plant them and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” (Jer. 24:7, 8). This is the thesis statement of the whole book of Jeremiah, and the vision of the prophet Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 1:10)

The vision of the figs is reminiscent of the picture in Genesis 2 and 3, where the primeval parents seek the “evil” figs instead of the “good” figs- the Tree of Life. They seek to become divine themselves, instead of seeking the Word of God. The people who remain in Jerusalem seek to do the same thing, so God calls them “evil figs.”

The Gospel reading, gives us an amazing picture of how Jesus the Messiah turns “evil” into “good.” In John 9, Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth. He makes a mixture of saliva and earth and anoints the man’s eyes. The man astonishingly begins seeing for the first time in his life, when he washes his eyes with water from the pool called Siloam, or the Sent One. The religious leaders, instead of rejoicing over this good miracle, turn it into a debate. The debate revolves around “Is this man, Jesus, a sinner? Is he evil or not?” Interestingly, the disciple’s question regarding the blind man also was, “Is this condition because of his evil or is it intergenerational evil?” Jesus does not enter into these meaningless debates. He just turns the impact of human evil into good.

All aspects of human condition- diseases, deformities, etc. are a result of human falleness. God became incarnate in Jesus the Messiah, to heal all these. He became incarnate to experience the impact of human evil on the Cross, so that humanity would experience his healing, and become the “good basket.”

May we in these days of Lent, come to Jesus the Messiah, so that we would experience the healing Light of the world (John 9:5).

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 23:1-8; John 10

Jeremiah 23 begins with a sigh, Oy. God looks at the leaders- the political and religious leaders, the shepherds, and says, “Oy shepherds, look at what you have done! You have destroyed and scattered my sheep.” Yet God says, there will come a time, “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (KJV, Jer 23:5, 6). This is one of the prophecies of the Messiah in the Prophet Jeremiah. It proclaims a Messiah, who is called “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” His reign, much in contrast to the reign of the kings of Israel and Judah, would be the apex of justice and peace.

I have often wondered why this has not become the basic theme of the Messianic community, the Church. Perhaps, the answer may lie in how the Hebrew word, Tsadiq has been translated. In this text, the Messiah is called, “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” The ideal messianic city is called, The City of Righteousness.” (Isaiah 1:26). Perhaps this is where the problem lies? The English word “righteous” has a highly individualistic connotation- “a pious person, or a holy city.” However, the Hebrew word Tsadiq does not carry this individualistic, pious meaning. Its basic meaning is justice and right. In the Hebrew sense, this Messiah is a person who cares about justice to the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien (Jer. 22:1, 2), not merely individualistic righteousness.

In cultures like India, where I come from, this translation takes on worse connotations. In Hindi, it is translated as “The LORD is our Dharmi,” which portrays the Messiah as a high caste Hindu Brahmin. The large majority of the people- low caste and outcaste people, the people who are enslaved by the high caste people, look at this translation and say, “If this God is the God of the high caste Hindus, we want nothing to do with this God.”

It seems to me that Pandita Ramabai, a woman who rescued hundreds of girls from prostitution, child widowhood, and female infanticide got it right in her Bible translation. She translated this phrase as, “THE LORD OUR JUSTICE.” He is the only one who can bring about justice for the widow, the orphan, and the alien. When the Church follows him, it can cause his kingdom of justice and peace to spread throughout the world. Individualistic “righteousness focuses on I, me, and myself. “THE LORD OUR JUSTICE” focuses on the oppressed of the world, and seeks to bring about God’s kingdom of justice and peace.

Jesus looked at the scattered and destitute people, “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. “ (Matt. 9:36). To these Jesus says “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” (John 10:11-14)

May we, during this season of Lent, be like that Good Shepherd.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 18:1-11; John 6:27-40

People who live in modern cities, many times, loose the picture of God, which is seen among people who make things from scratch. We go to grocery stores and malls. We buy clothes, food, pots, glassware, and all kinds of stuff, which people in yester years would make from scratch. In the process, we loose the image of God, which is found in the Bible. A good example is the lesson, which Jeremiah is taught in Jeremiah chapter 18. God says to Jeremiah, “Don’t just sit in the prophet-high-tower, go to the potter’s house, and learn about me. See how the potter fashions the pot. It is supposed to be an exquisite piece of workmanship for him/her. He/she fashions it, molds it, breaks it, and remolds it . . . till it is a beautiful piece of work.” Sadly, many times the potter encounters a stubborn piece of clay, which for several reason refuses to be molded.

The word, which describes the potter, in Hebrew, is the word, which describes God throughout the Bible. He is the one who formed all creation, like the potter forms his piece of artwork (Genesis 2:7,8 19). Every human being is specifically and exquisitely shaped by God when he/she is formed in his/her mother’s womb. This is what God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I chose you.” (Jer. 1:5).

There are many lessons, which Jeremiah had to learn from the house of the potter. I want to emphasize two of the lessons that Jeremiah is taught in this scene. One is the value of the potter. I was reared in a slum of New Delhi, where I saw several potters, and grassroots level workers- very intelligent people. Sadly, they were treated like dirt, and enslaved by their high caste slave owners, just because they were low caste and outcaste artisans. This was the work of low caste people, and therefore held no value at all. Sometimes, it seems to me, that this is how we treat God.

Two, Jeremiah saw stubborn clay, which refused to be molded, and gave the potter immense amount of trouble. He broke it, reshaped it, and reshaped it over and over again. Yet, it refused to be reformed. Sometime, it seems to me, that we are like that stubborn lump of clay.

In John 6, Jesus says, “When you really see me, and truly believe in me, then you let yourself become like a moldable clay. It enables me to form you and shape you, so that you may truly live the abundant life I desire for you in this world, and finally I will raise you up into that perfect shape at the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

May we, during these days of Lent, not be like the stubborn lump of clay. Rather, may we give that great Potter the honor he deserves, and may we let Him break us, and mold us, so that we may be shaped in the image of Jesus the Messiah.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 17:19-27; John 6:26-27

Jeremiah 17 goes to the root of the problem in society. The Prophet Jeremiah is told by God to go and stand at the entrance by which the kings of Judah and the people go towards the Temple. He is told to cry out, “Shema Davar YHWH, Hear the Word of the LORD.” It is rather sad that the kings and the people had forgotten what it was to “Shema’, hear” the Word of the LORD. The Book of Deuteronomy required that before the king was installed as king, he had to write with his own hand a copy of the Torah. This was a very unique injunction, not required of any of the other kings of nations around them. He had to then make sure that he read from it every day, so that everything that he did was under the guidance of the Torah, the Word of God (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). This essential command obviously was not maintained. The young prophet Jeremiah discovered this, when the spiritual, social, and economic condition of Jerusalem had hit rock bottom. At this time, the 18-year-old king Josiah asked for the repair of the Temple of God. The repairers suddenly discovered something called the “Book of the Torah.” This was obviously a great shock for the religious and regal establishment. “Oy weh! There is something called the Torah!” they exclaimed. Josiah, the eager young king, asked for the reading of this thing called the Torah. On hearing the Word of the LORD, he profusely repented, and initiated a nationwide repentance and revival. (2 Kings 22; 2 Chron. 34)

Jesus the Messiah found the same kind of situation during his time. The people had been starved of the Word of the LORD. The religious leaders- the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, the Judeans, etc. had taken the common people into various paths which had no relationship to the Word of the LORD. To these people, Jesus the Messiah says, “I AM the bread of Life . . . Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that remains to eternal life, the food which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:35, 27). This is the Living Word, the Logos, the Torah, who alone can cause more than the revival, which took place during the early days of Josiah and Jeremiah.

Let us pray that during these days of Lent, more than the focus on starving, we would focus on feasting on the Word of the LORD- the written Word and the Living Word. This Word alone can cause a deep, and enduring revival.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: 16:10-21, John 6

The constant cry of God as it is heard throughout the Prophet Jeremiah is “You have forsaken me.” (Jer. 16: 11; 1:18; 2:17, 19; 5:7, 19; 9:13; 17:13, 19:4 . . .). It is the heart cry of the LORD who saved the people from horrible forms of slavery, and many disasters. It is the heart cry of a Husband, who rescues his bride, time and again. Yet, the people choose to make their own gods and goddesses, which enable them to commit many acts of injustice against lower class people- the poor, the widow, and the orphan. Despite this God says, “I will remain faithful to you, and bring you back to the land. I will not forsake you.” (Jer. 16:15).

It is crucial to realize that when the people created and espoused false deities and religions, they were not just committing injustices against the common people. They were also desecrating “the holy land of God.” (Jer. 16:18). In the book of Jeremiah, and in the rest of the Bible, human rights violations and environmental degradation are intrinsically related. Therefore, the land, the environment, vomits them out (Lev. 18:25).

In John 6, Jesus addresses this issue of human and environmental degradation squarely. He does this in the context of the Passover (John 6:4). He encounters hundreds of hungry people-hungry because of the poverty which society had brought upon them. Jesus blessed the Passover bread, and feeds the poor multitude. This was an amazing miracle. In doing so, Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied that in the last days the Messiah would bring about healing- healing to people who are suffering, and healing to the land. This is what the miracle of the feeding of the hundreds of people signified. Lest people turn this miracle into a superficial mundane thing, Jesus said, “I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). He is the only one who can bring about true miraculous healing to society and to the environment, which human beings have desecrated and destroyed.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 11, John 8

Many times the focus on Lent is, “What do I give up for Lent?” Most will answer with responses like, “I have given up eating meat;” “I have given up eating chocolate;” . . . and so on and so forth. It seems rather petty, as if God cares about our craving for meat and chocolate, etc.

The Jeremiah text makes it clear that God’s emphasis is elsewhere. He is more concerned about whether we really “hear” his voice or not. The word “hear,” “do not hear” is repeated over and over again, just in Jeremiah 11 alone- “Hear the words of this Covenant” (Jer. 11:2, 3, 6); “Hear my voice” (Jer. 11:4, 7); “But, you/they did not hear.” (Jer. 11: 8, 10). Of course, they heard. But, in reality they did not hear. It was pseudo-hearing. Instead, they fed upon the hearing of their own thoughts, and on thoughts, which were inimical to the voice of God.

The consequence of drowning out the voice of God among the leaders and the people, was the decision to kill Jeremiah. He exclaims, “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; “ (Jer. 11:19). The religious leaders devised schemes against him saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living.” (Jer. 11:19). This is eerily similar to what happened to the Messiah Jesus, hundreds of years later!

In John 8, Jesus exclaims the same thought as in Jeremiah 11. He says to the religious leaders of his time, “You are determined to kill me . . . Why is my language not clear to you? Because you do not hear my word.” (John 8:43). He goes on to lament, “He who truly belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8:47).

Sometimes I wonder, whether the focus on Lent should not be on what we eat or not eat, but rather on whether we hear or not hear the voice of God. The more we hear the voice of God, the more we will fall in love with him. The more we starve the voice of God, and hear our own voice, and the voices of others, the more we distance ourselves from God.

May we commit ourselves today to truly HEAR the voice of Jesus during these days of Lent!

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 8, John 8

The deepest desire of God, as seen throughout the Prophet Jeremiah, is that his people would “know” him. In Jeremiah 2:8, the LORD mourns, “The priests, who are supposed to know me, do not know me.” In Jeremiah 2:13, he mourns, “My people have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.” This is expressed clearly in our Lenten meditation text, Jeremiah 8:7, “Even the stork in the heavens knows its times . . . but my people do not know . . .” In the next chapter also God goes on to mourn, “they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth, for they proceed from evil to evil and they do not know me.” (Jeremiah 9:3)

The prophet Jeremiah makes it clear that when people do not seek to know the LORD, they will always come up with false religions, which would create systemic forms of injustice. This was the problem in Genesis 3. The primeval parents, Adam and Eve, did not seek to know the Lord. Instead they chose to observe a spiritualist religious practice, which we read about in Mesopotamian religious texts. They sought to become gods by sitting under the fig tree and mystically partaking of the fig fruit. When human beings do not seek “to know” the LORD, they eventually come up with false religions which subjugate others, and causes them to fall into a state of sinfulness. The prophet Jeremiah mourned this.

In the Gospel reading, John 8, there is a poignant reminder of the results of the utter lack of the knowledge of God. When there is no knowledge of God, even his word is grossly misinterpreted. The religious leaders, in this text, bring “a woman who had been caught in adultery.” They do not bring the man. They do not ask the questions which would lead them to the reasons behind deep systemic evil in society that lead to things like sexual immorality and crimes against women. Instead, they just seek to kill the woman, who may have been raped by many men in her life. Jesus says that the root cause of this problem is, “You do not know me, nor the Father who sent me.” (John 8:19). Jesus proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

During these days of Lent, may we desire to truly “know” the Lord. May we truly come to the Light, so that darkness of injustice and evil around us may be dispelled. This is the only antidote to avoiding the pitfalls into which the religious leaders during Jeremiah and Jesus’ day fell.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 7, John 7

The Jeremiah 7 and John 7 texts in the Lent reading cycle are poignant reminder of the state of religion today. The context of John 7 is the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish festival of Sukkot, which reminded the people of the gracious provisions of God in the wilderness. It was the LORD alone who took care of the people. It reminded the people of the urgency of life. Life is short. Life is very precious. Life is mirrored by the fickleness of the temporary structure called sukkah. In the light of this, human beings are reminded that they must spend time wisely in the service of God. Rather interestingly, the religious leaders of the day, despite the obvious meaning of this festival, wanted to kill Jesus and so end his life.

Jeremiah the prophet also encountered similar opposition from the religious leaders. They sought to keep the minutiae of religiosity while thoroughly neglecting the real meaning of the Torah, the word of God. They kept repeating the mantra, “The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD.” They kept offering sacrifices in the Temple. God responds to this through the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You oppress the foreigners, the fatherless, the widow, and shed innocent blood in the Temple. You follow gods and religions which propagate evil.” (Jeremiah 7:6). The religious leaders during the time of Jesus and Jeremiah used religion as a tool to oppress the poor.

In my travels to different parts of the world- Asia, the Americas, Europe, it seems clear to me that many times the minutiae of religion is used as a tool to subjugate the masses. Just like in the days of Jeremiah and Jesus the Messiah, religion is used as a tool to camouflage many crimes against humanity. Further, people who seek to be like Jeremiah and Jesus the Messiah are persecuted and killed, because their word stands up against hypocritical religion, and religious leaders.

It seems to me that Dostoevsky captures this best in his The Brothers Karamazov. In the section entitled “The Grand Inquisitor,” this religious leader encounters Jesus who seeks to heal the “widow, the orphan, and the poor.” Yet he says to him with scorn, "'Is it Thou? Thou?' but receiving no answer, he adds at once. 'Don't answer, be silent. What canst Thou say, indeed? I know too well what Thou wouldst say. And Thou hast no right to add anything to what Thou hadst said of old. Why, then, art Thou come to hinder us? For Thou hast come to hinder us, and Thou knowest that. But dost thou know what will be to-morrow? I know not who Thou art and care not to know whether it is Thou or only a semblance of Him, but tomorrow I shall condemn Thee and burn Thee at the stake as the worst of heretics. And the very people who have today kissed Thy feet, tomorrow at the faintest sign from me will rush to heap up the embers of Thy fire. Knowest Thou that? Yes, maybe Thou knowest it,'" he added with thoughtful penetration, never for a moment taking his eyes off the Prisoner." Our Lenten texts encourage sincerely Christians to be more like Jesus in a world filled with systemic injustices.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies

Lenten Reflections: Jeremiah 3, John 5

I write this Lenten reflection from India, where I am meeting with a group from among the best of Indian theologians. I am consulting with them educational strategies to raise the next generation of world theologians to face the complexity of problems the two-thirds world is facing today. There has been so much oppression of “the poor, the widow and the orphan” in this ancient land. More than 75 % of the people are told that they are born to be enslaved. They are the low castes and the outcasts. They live and die in poverty and slavery.

The Lenten readings from the Bible- the Prophet Jeremiah, chapter 3, and the Gospel of John, chapter 5 deals squarely with this complex world situation. The prophet Jeremiah pronounces the word of God to a society which oppressed the poor and the marginalized people. God had saved and married a group of people, which he metaphorically describes as “God’s bride.” Yet, this bride forsook Him and began fooling with demeaning religions and ideologies. This had social, economic, and political consequences. The poor became poorer. Increasing number of people were enslaved. This also had environmental consequences. The “land became defiled.” (Jeremiah 3: 9)

In the John 5, Jesus encounters a crippled man during the Feast of Passover. It was a time which was supposed to remind people of God’s healing and salvation. Yet, Jesus encountered the consequences of precisely the things Jeremiah was talking about- suffering and disease, which the poor and the marginalized face. The crippled man was a paradigm of a socially, economically, and spiritually sick society. Jesus does the most powerful thing during Jeremiah’s days, during our days, during any days needs. He says, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

This is the power of Jesus’ healing that the society in India, and all over the world needs today. May God enable us to pronounce Jesus’ healing and resurrection words of power to a hurting world.

Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies