Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 5:1-12
Tell me the story of Jesus, of unseen things above.
Tell me the old, old story – of Jesus and his love.
This is the third week I am talking about the stories of Jesus.
We have lots of stories of Jesus,
– some good stories –
and we should be telling some of them.
We should be telling them, because it is up to us.
We don’t hear these stories anywhere else these days.
They aren’t being told in schools,
they are not on television very often,
and, most families today don’t know the stories in order to tell them to their children.
So, we have an obligation, really, to tell the old, old stories . . . of Jesus and his love.
A couple of weeks ago we looked at the very oldest stories I could find about Jesus.
The very first stories of Jesus that we know of – the stories that the Apostle Paul would have heard.
Last week I talked about the stories of Jesus we find in the Gospel of Mark – the earliest Gospel to be published.
(Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated:
no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.
And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.)
We know that almost all of our stories of Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.
And, it has become clear from studies in last 80 years, or so, studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphases,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.
As we heard last week: all Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
And the second Gospel to be published is the one we call Matthew.
This document in our Bible is called Matthew – but there is nothing that ties it to particular author.
The Apostle Matthew most certainly had nothing to do with this document – because it was published some 3 or maybe 4 generations after Jesus gathered those disciples together.
(One researcher concludes that we continue to call it Matthew for convenience.)
We can date the document to around 70 years after the execution of Jesus – around the year 100 AD.
We can tell it is a compendium of stories that a particular and specific community of faith knew – providing a handbook of their faith.
This document came out of a group of believers in Syria –
still seeing themselves as Jews first –
Jews who believed that Jesus was the messiah –
the Promised One that they were expecting for so long.
By this time, Jerusalem had been overthrown, the Jewish Temple totally destroyed, the Jews exiled again.
These Jewish “believers” were living in Syria –
near and around the third largest city in the Roman Empire, Antioch.
And, they were very aware of growing numbers of gentiles organizing themselves as followers of Jesus in other parts of the Roman world.
So, we see extraordinary efforts here in Matthew to make sure the reader is aware that all the major players in this Jesus-faith were Jewish.
Lest we not forget, Jesus himself was a Jew – and here are his bone fides: his mother was from a good Jewish family, his father was a direct descendant of King David.
The twelve apostles are Jewish – even the crowds are Jewish.
They never deny their Jewish faith in the gospel.
A prime concern of the Matthew community of believers was that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church becoming more and more gentile.
Of interest to me is that as we discovered last week when we discussed the Gospel of Mark, Mark contains basically an outline of the events in the life of Jesus – there is very little embellishment of the events.
By the time Matthew came into being, there were many stories of Jesus floating around the communities of believers.
The community that produced the Gospel of Matthew had access to – and knew – the Gospel of Mark.
When you read Matthew – especially after you have read Mark – you become aware that Matthew copied the events that Mark wrote about.
Over 90% of the Gospel of Mark is included in Matthew.
All of the events are there, you can check them out.
Perhaps not that surprising when you realize that Matthew was published a generation after Mark was published.
So, followers of Jesus by 100 AD, knew of Mark’s Gospel – and accepted it as a source of information about their faith.
So, we see Mark’s outline of the life of Jesus kept in tact in Matthew.
Matthew filled in the outline of events with stories of what Jesus said.
And, of course, he added the genealogy-birth-infancy stories to the beginning and the post-resurrection appearances to the end.
Matthew takes the outline from Mark and creatively interprets much of the source,
stressing Jesus’ teachings as much as his acts,
and making subtle changes in order to stress Jesus’ divine nature.
There is nothing in Mark to suggest that Jesus was divine in any way.
But, by the time Matthew came about, to people of faith, Jesus was not merely an emissary of God,
but, Jesus was Emmanuel – God with us.
By the time Matthew came into being, in addition to Mark, and letters from Paul, there was another document circulating that contained “sayings” of Jesus.
In the years between Mark and Matthew, folks began collecting sayings attributed to Jesus
that began to flesh out how believers were to act in order to keep the faith they professed.
Apparently, Mark never heard them.
Such things were not important to him.
And believers didn’t need such stories.
But, Matthew did hear the stories and sayings of Jesus, and included what he thought was important to his community – and surely important to all who called themselves believers.
Some were included verbatim.
Some were edited somewhat to shore up what was considered important to their particular community of believers.
Matthew had knowledge of specific traditions focusing on what Jesus did: his miracles, the disputes with Pharisees, his journeys, and so on.
Of particular interest to me, is that Matthew gives us a collection of sayings and stories attributed to Jesus around what we now call the Sermon on the Mount.
This is where we find the familiar Beatitudes – we just read.
This is where we find the Lord’s Prayer.
This is were we find the Golden Rule.
The believers in the Matthean communities saw this “Sermon on the Mount” as a catechism of sorts.
Here we have the earliest Christian catechism – explaining how their faith affects the way they live their lives.
All kinds of instructions are here – including instruction on how to pray (not out in public like the other Jews, but in private where only God knows and hears;
not with lots of fancy words but with simple down to earth words like this – and the Lord’s Prayer is given as an example).
Matthew was clear that to accept the faith passed on to them – now some 70 years on – they were to be living an alternative life-style.
That compared to the Roman life style – which everybody that was anybody bought in to –
the life of a Jesus-believer was to be different.
Prevailing values of the culture were stood on end in this Sermon on the Mount.
This was at once a warning and an encouragement.
Believing made a difference.
Believing makes a difference.
Believing changes your life –
it changes how you see things,
it changes how you do things,
it changes what you’ve been taught as being true,
it changes what you value,
it changes how you live.
And, the Matthean community wanted new believers to know,
this is what it means to be a believer.
Here, you will find a community that will encourage you in your endeavor to live in a new and different way – according to new rules.
And, the payoff of this alternative lifestyle is so much greater than living according to the values of the dominate culture.
We’re talking ultimate significance.
Although the empire is mighty and powerful, the values of the empire are temporal in nature –
when all is said and done,
dust is dust and ashes are ashes.
Here we have words of Jesus himself to show another way,
a way that requires allegiance to another source of power.
For, when we live this way,
when we act according to these new rules,
our lives take on ultimate significance.
And we become a part of ultimate reality.
So, this a catechism for all new believers –
especially those coming from the Jewish persuasion.
(Read the Message)
Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down
(2) and taught his climbing companions.
This is what he said:
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
(4) "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you.
Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
(5) "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are – no more, no less.
That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
(6) "You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God.
He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
(7) "You're blessed when you care.
At the moment of being 'carefull,' you find yourselves cared for.
(8) "You're blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right.
Then you can see God in the outside world.
(9) "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.
That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
(10) "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.
The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
(11) "Not only that – count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me.
What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.
(12) You can be glad when that happens – give a cheer, even! – for though they don't like it, I do!
And all heaven applauds.
And know that you are in good company.
My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Friends, there is much to the stories of Jesus.
May we never take them for granted.
Let’s continue to tell them –
in as many ways as we can think of.
Let all who will, listen.
And, may all who listen, understand.
So, next week, we’ll have another episode in The Stories of Jesus, stay tuned – same channel, same time, same place . . .
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA heard this sermon during a worship service September 23, 2012.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
The oldest of the old, old stories are found here in the Gospel of Mark – in their purest,
most unadulterated, form.
The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.
Isaiah 29:13
Mark 6:1-6
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
Ever get a song stuck in your head?
A few weeks ago this song got stuck in my head – and its still there.
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
So, I got to thinking, we have lots of stories of Jesus – some good stories – and we should be telling some of them.
We should be telling them, because it is up to us.
We don’t hear these stories anywhere else these days.
They aren’t being told in schools,
they are not on television very often,
and, most families today don’t know the stories in order to tell them to their children.
So, we have an obligation, really, to tell the old, old stories . . . of Jesus and his love.
So, for the next few Sundays, I will be telling some of the stories of Jesus.
Last week we looked at the very oldest stories I could find about Jesus.
The very first stories of Jesus that we know of.
Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated: no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.
And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.
We know that almost all of our Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.
And, it has become clear from studies in last 60 years, or so, studies of the Dead emphasis Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphasis,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.
All Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
(This document is called Mark because it stems from a community that was influenced by the Mark the Evangelist.
No one thinks that the Gospel of Mark was written by the Apostle called Mark –
The Gospel of Mark was written around 80 AD – about 50 years after Jesus was executed.
That would make the Apostle Mark an unbelievably old man for his day.
But we have found out that there were a number of Christian communities that came to be because of Mark and his work as an apostle after the death of Jesus.
These people heard Mark’s preaching,
followed Mark’s teaching,
and heard Mark’s stories of Jesus.
(The old, old, stories . . .)
The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.
Mark is the first of the Gospels to be written,
and it is the shortest.
It is a page-turner.
For centuries, readers have participated in fast-paced episodic stories about the life of Jesus –
whom was called Christ.
It has long been recognized to be a document to be read aloud in a group, rather than alone for instruction or meditation or inspiration.
It is composed for the ear rather than the eye.
It is unique from the other Gospels – Matthew, Luke and John – in that it is about events – what Jesus did –
really, with very little concern about what Jesus taught.
Mark’s Gospel was published and circulated first – before all the others.
Matthew and Luke knew of Mark’s work, and copied most of it.
So, by definition, Mark has some of the earliest stories of Jesus we know of.
Mark doesn’t mince words.
Words are used sparsely and carefully.
Again, to carry a punch when read aloud.
The very first verse begins with an affirmation – just to be clear –
This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
But then, unlike the other Gospels, Mark launches into a story about John the Baptist.
Again, like we saw in the Apostle Paul, the very earliest believers had no interest in Jesus’ birth,
no interest in Jesus’ genealogy,
no interest in Jesus’ ancestors,
no mention of Jesus’ parentage,
no Bethlehem stories,
no shepherds,
no star,
no wise men,
no angels of glory.
He starts out with a story about John the Baptist.
Why would he do that?
Why start here?
There is an undertold story about John the Baptist.
The Gospel writers knew it first hand.
We have “discovered” it in the revelations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi documents, and some of the archeological discoveries of recent years.
They have found evidence of communities – congregations – of people who followed John the Baptist –
perhaps these were people who were baptized by him, or folks who were baptized by those who were baptized by John.
They organized their lives around the ministry and teaching of John the Baptist –
and many thought him to be the long-awaited-for Messiah.
But, there was this caveat:
John claimed that he was not the messiah.
His mission was to get folks ready for the one who was to come.
“People get ready, there’s a new world coming . . .”
Sometime before Mark’s gospel there must have been efforts to bring together – to merge – the Christians – Jesus’ people;
and the Johannines – John the Baptist’s people.
So, Mark begins,
this is the story of the Good News of Jesus the Christ – the Son of God –
and it begins with John the Baptist.
Finally, for the early believers, here in one place we have a collection of all the stories that people have heard told about the life of Jesus.
These are primarily stories of events,
what Jesus did.
And, Mark emphasizes that they together they provide more than enough proof that Jesus was God’s son.
We have stories of miracles.
We have stories of healings.
Jesus even exhibited power over forces of nature:
he could walk on water without sinking,
he brought dead people back to life,
he stilled the howling winds,
he calmed the troubled waters.
(All in all, the picture is presented more akin to a Roman god than any of the prophets of Jewish literature.)
Again, Mark is like an archive,
a collection of the stories that were being told about Jesus.
Mark was a re-teller of the stories
(the old, old, stories),
not so much an editor as a collector.
For instance, there is the story of the feeding of the multitude.
Mark includes two versions of the same story.
Somewhere along the way of transmitting the story by word of mouth over the years,
stories about details of the event changed.
There were two separate traditions with their own stories by the time Mark collected them.
Rather than editing them to fit together, they both were included (Mark 6:32-44 and Mark 8:1-10).
And, those that study these things, point out that before these two different stories came to be, there was another story – the one that got changed.
One version talks about five loaves and two fishes.
The other version mentions seven loaves and a few fish.
One version fed 5,000 people, the other 4,000.
One version had twelve baskets of left-over food, the other version had seven baskets of left-over food.
In one version, after the event, Jesus got in a boat to Bethsaida,
in the other version Jesus got in a boat to Dalmanutha.
There are a lot of other examples that are fascinating to those who study such things.
I find it fascinating that most of the stories of Jesus that we like to hear –
our favorite stories that we like to repeat –
the Christmas stories,
the parables,
the sermon of the mount,
the Lord’s prayer –
these were not the oldest, old stories,
these were not the earliest stories of Jesus,
It took another 30 years, or longer, before these stories came into being and were being told within and to the Christian communities.
The oldest of the old, old stories are found here in the Gospel of Mark – in their purest,
most unadulterated, form.
It’s short enough to read at one sitting.
I encourage you to read it again –
to find out what those earliest believers were being told.
Tell me the stories of Jesus that I long to hear . . .
Tell me the old, old, story of Jesus and his love.
I encourage you to continue singing the songs,
and continue telling the stories.
There is no one but you and I that are telling the stories.
Keeping the stories alive is a sacred task.
I will keep on searching for the old, old, stories of Jesus – and keep you posted on what I find out.
As we continue next week with another episode of The Stories of Jesus.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 16, 2012.
most unadulterated, form.
The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.
Isaiah 29:13
Mark 6:1-6
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
Ever get a song stuck in your head?
A few weeks ago this song got stuck in my head – and its still there.
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
So, I got to thinking, we have lots of stories of Jesus – some good stories – and we should be telling some of them.
We should be telling them, because it is up to us.
We don’t hear these stories anywhere else these days.
They aren’t being told in schools,
they are not on television very often,
and, most families today don’t know the stories in order to tell them to their children.
So, we have an obligation, really, to tell the old, old stories . . . of Jesus and his love.
So, for the next few Sundays, I will be telling some of the stories of Jesus.
Last week we looked at the very oldest stories I could find about Jesus.
The very first stories of Jesus that we know of.
Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated: no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.
And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.
We know that almost all of our Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.
And, it has become clear from studies in last 60 years, or so, studies of the Dead emphasis Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphasis,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.
All Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
(This document is called Mark because it stems from a community that was influenced by the Mark the Evangelist.
No one thinks that the Gospel of Mark was written by the Apostle called Mark –
The Gospel of Mark was written around 80 AD – about 50 years after Jesus was executed.
That would make the Apostle Mark an unbelievably old man for his day.
But we have found out that there were a number of Christian communities that came to be because of Mark and his work as an apostle after the death of Jesus.
These people heard Mark’s preaching,
followed Mark’s teaching,
and heard Mark’s stories of Jesus.
(The old, old, stories . . .)
The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.
Mark is the first of the Gospels to be written,
and it is the shortest.
It is a page-turner.
For centuries, readers have participated in fast-paced episodic stories about the life of Jesus –
whom was called Christ.
It has long been recognized to be a document to be read aloud in a group, rather than alone for instruction or meditation or inspiration.
It is composed for the ear rather than the eye.
It is unique from the other Gospels – Matthew, Luke and John – in that it is about events – what Jesus did –
really, with very little concern about what Jesus taught.
Mark’s Gospel was published and circulated first – before all the others.
Matthew and Luke knew of Mark’s work, and copied most of it.
So, by definition, Mark has some of the earliest stories of Jesus we know of.
Mark doesn’t mince words.
Words are used sparsely and carefully.
Again, to carry a punch when read aloud.
The very first verse begins with an affirmation – just to be clear –
This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
But then, unlike the other Gospels, Mark launches into a story about John the Baptist.
Again, like we saw in the Apostle Paul, the very earliest believers had no interest in Jesus’ birth,
no interest in Jesus’ genealogy,
no interest in Jesus’ ancestors,
no mention of Jesus’ parentage,
no Bethlehem stories,
no shepherds,
no star,
no wise men,
no angels of glory.
He starts out with a story about John the Baptist.
Why would he do that?
Why start here?
There is an undertold story about John the Baptist.
The Gospel writers knew it first hand.
We have “discovered” it in the revelations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi documents, and some of the archeological discoveries of recent years.
They have found evidence of communities – congregations – of people who followed John the Baptist –
perhaps these were people who were baptized by him, or folks who were baptized by those who were baptized by John.
They organized their lives around the ministry and teaching of John the Baptist –
and many thought him to be the long-awaited-for Messiah.
But, there was this caveat:
John claimed that he was not the messiah.
His mission was to get folks ready for the one who was to come.
“People get ready, there’s a new world coming . . .”
Sometime before Mark’s gospel there must have been efforts to bring together – to merge – the Christians – Jesus’ people;
and the Johannines – John the Baptist’s people.
So, Mark begins,
this is the story of the Good News of Jesus the Christ – the Son of God –
and it begins with John the Baptist.
Finally, for the early believers, here in one place we have a collection of all the stories that people have heard told about the life of Jesus.
These are primarily stories of events,
what Jesus did.
And, Mark emphasizes that they together they provide more than enough proof that Jesus was God’s son.
We have stories of miracles.
We have stories of healings.
Jesus even exhibited power over forces of nature:
he could walk on water without sinking,
he brought dead people back to life,
he stilled the howling winds,
he calmed the troubled waters.
(All in all, the picture is presented more akin to a Roman god than any of the prophets of Jewish literature.)
Again, Mark is like an archive,
a collection of the stories that were being told about Jesus.
Mark was a re-teller of the stories
(the old, old, stories),
not so much an editor as a collector.
For instance, there is the story of the feeding of the multitude.
Mark includes two versions of the same story.
Somewhere along the way of transmitting the story by word of mouth over the years,
stories about details of the event changed.
There were two separate traditions with their own stories by the time Mark collected them.
Rather than editing them to fit together, they both were included (Mark 6:32-44 and Mark 8:1-10).
And, those that study these things, point out that before these two different stories came to be, there was another story – the one that got changed.
One version talks about five loaves and two fishes.
The other version mentions seven loaves and a few fish.
One version fed 5,000 people, the other 4,000.
One version had twelve baskets of left-over food, the other version had seven baskets of left-over food.
In one version, after the event, Jesus got in a boat to Bethsaida,
in the other version Jesus got in a boat to Dalmanutha.
There are a lot of other examples that are fascinating to those who study such things.
I find it fascinating that most of the stories of Jesus that we like to hear –
our favorite stories that we like to repeat –
the Christmas stories,
the parables,
the sermon of the mount,
the Lord’s prayer –
these were not the oldest, old stories,
these were not the earliest stories of Jesus,
It took another 30 years, or longer, before these stories came into being and were being told within and to the Christian communities.
The oldest of the old, old stories are found here in the Gospel of Mark – in their purest,
most unadulterated, form.
It’s short enough to read at one sitting.
I encourage you to read it again –
to find out what those earliest believers were being told.
Tell me the stories of Jesus that I long to hear . . .
Tell me the old, old, story of Jesus and his love.
I encourage you to continue singing the songs,
and continue telling the stories.
There is no one but you and I that are telling the stories.
Keeping the stories alive is a sacred task.
I will keep on searching for the old, old, stories of Jesus – and keep you posted on what I find out.
As we continue next week with another episode of The Stories of Jesus.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 16, 2012.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The Earliest Stories of Jesus: Stories Paul Heard
What were the very first stories of Jesus that were being told?
Before there were Gospels, what were people being told about Jesus?
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Earliest Stories of Jesus: Stories Paul Heard
I’ve been thinking about those old songs.
You remember: that old Fanny Crosby song, Tell Me the Story of Jesus?
(We’ll be singing that coming up.)
And there is the other one:
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
So, I was thinking , let’s tell the stories of Jesus.
Let’s talk about the stories of Jesus.
So, for the next few Sundays, I will be telling some of the stories of Jesus.
I couldn’t get that other song out of my mind, either:
Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
So, I thought a place to begin would be to find and tell the very oldest stories we can find about Jesus.
Just what are oldest stories about Jesus? –
The first stories of Jesus?
Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated:
no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.
And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.
We know that almost all of our Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.
And, it has become clear from studies in last 60 years, or so, studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphases,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.
All Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
(This document is called Mark because it stems from a community that was influenced by the Apostle Mark.
No one thinks that the Gospel of Mark was written by the Apostle called Mark –
The Gospel of Mark was written around 80 AD – about 50 years after Jesus was executed.
That would make the Apostle Mark an unbelievably old man for his day.
But we have found out that there were a number of Christian communities that came to be because of Mark and his work as an apostle after the death of Jesus.
These people heard Mark’s preaching,
followed Mark’s teaching,
and heard Mark’s stories of Jesus.
(The old, old, stories . . .)
Mark is the first Gospel to be written,
but Mark is not the earliest document we have in the New Testament.
Curiously, the very first documents we know of to be written about Jesus were some of the letters of the Apostle Paul.
The very earliest document we have that Paul wrote is the first letter he wrote to the believers in Thessalonia.
This letter can be dated to 50 AD – around 20 years after the execution of Jesus.
Again, when Paul wrote these early letters, none of the Gospels had been written,
no stories of Jesus had been written down yet.
We know that before the stories like these get written down they are told and retold over and over again,
and are transmitted from person to person,
from people to people,
from generation to generation –
orally – by word of mouth.
Tell me the old, old, stories . . .
As I thought about this topic, my curiosity got the better of me:
just what were the oldest of the old, old, stories?
What were the very first stories of Jesus that were being told?
Before there were Gospels, what were people being told about Jesus?
So, it seems to me, the place to look for the very ‘earliest” stories of Jesus, were the early letters of the Apostle Paul.
Not only were these letters written before any of the Gospels and their stories,
but, unlike the disciples who lived with Jesus,
who experienced the resurrected Jesus,
and were commissioned by Jesus to go spread the word to the world around them,
Paul didn’t know Jesus.
Paul never met Jesus.
Paul was a devout Jew –
who apparently had a reputation of harassing Christian believers.
Paul’s “conversion” experience did not occur until years after the execution of Jesus.
So, Paul didn’t know Jesus.
Paul never met Jesus.
Paul never read any stories about Jesus.
And, yet, Paul must have heard stories told about Jesus –
stories of Jesus that made him open to recognizing what was happening when he had that experience on the road to Damascus.
Paul had heard stories of Jesus –
stories that became so real to him that he could teach and interpret and translate a vision of life based upon the stories he had heard.
(Now, we are told after his conversion experience, Paul went to visit the Apostle Peter for a time –
presumably for a crash course in Jesus theology – but, this visit happened three years after Paul’s conversion experience
and after he began his preaching and teaching an organizing –
and it only lasted two weeks.)
So, if Paul never knew Jesus,
if Paul never read one of the Gospels,
where did Paul get his information about Jesus?
The stories that Paul heard about Jesus have to be the very earliest stories of Jesus that were being passed around –
the very oldest of the old, old, stories.
So, what were they?
I think it is interesting what the stories were not about:
the were no stories about the birth of Jesus,
there were no stories about Jesus growing up and doing Jewish things,
there were no miracle stories,
there were no parables for illustrating the life we are called to live,
there was no sermon on the mount,
there was no lord’s prayer,
no betrayal by Judas Iscariot,
no Gethsemane story,
no story about the transfiguration,
and the list goes on.
(If these stories existed and were passed on, Paul either never hear them,
or ignored them.)
The Jesus Paul talks about came from stories of Jesus’ death,
and Jesus’ resurrection.
The stories of Jesus that Paul heard stem from the community’s experience after the execution and resurrection of Jesus.
Paul heard these stories and spoke of these stories.
They affected his understanding of Jesus and the purpose and reason for believer’s faith.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
If there was no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
if Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. . .
If Christ has been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
It would appear that very earliest stories of Jesus that were passed on among believers of most of the communities of faith before Gospels were written,
were those of Jesus’ execution and resurrection
and the experience of the early believers with the Risen Christ.
Of course, Paul wrote about the Lord’s Supper.
This was probably not a story heard,
nor a story delivered by direct revelation,
but, most scholars agree that Peter must have shared the communion with him when he came for that visit.
Interestingly, Paul’s description of the Lord’s Supper was written in 54 AD –
long before the Gospel of Mark was published in 67.
Matthew copied Paul’s words later,
and Luke copied Paul’s words years after that.
I find it fascinating that most of the stories of Jesus that we like to hear –
our favorite stories that we like to repeat –
the Christmas stories,
the parables,
the sermon of the mount,
the Lord’s prayer –
these were not the oldest, old stories,
these were not the earliest stories of Jesus,
It took 50 years, 100 years, before these stories came into being and were being told within and to the Christian communities.
Tell me the stories of Jesus that I long to hear . . .
Tell me the old, old, story of Jesus and his love.
I encourage you to continue singing the songs,
and continue telling the stories.
There is no one but you and I that are telling the stories.
These stories are not being told on television,
these stories are not being told in the schools,
these stories are not being told by many parents these days.
The only place these stories are being told today are in churches like this.
Keeping the stories alive is a sacred task.
I will keep on searching for the old, old, stories of Jesus –
and keep you posted on what I find out.
As we continue next week with another episode of The Stories of Jesus.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 9, 2012.
Before there were Gospels, what were people being told about Jesus?
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Earliest Stories of Jesus: Stories Paul Heard
I’ve been thinking about those old songs.
You remember: that old Fanny Crosby song, Tell Me the Story of Jesus?
(We’ll be singing that coming up.)
And there is the other one:
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
So, I was thinking , let’s tell the stories of Jesus.
Let’s talk about the stories of Jesus.
So, for the next few Sundays, I will be telling some of the stories of Jesus.
I couldn’t get that other song out of my mind, either:
Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
So, I thought a place to begin would be to find and tell the very oldest stories we can find about Jesus.
Just what are oldest stories about Jesus? –
The first stories of Jesus?
Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated:
no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.
And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.
We know that almost all of our Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.
And, it has become clear from studies in last 60 years, or so, studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphases,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.
All Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
(This document is called Mark because it stems from a community that was influenced by the Apostle Mark.
No one thinks that the Gospel of Mark was written by the Apostle called Mark –
The Gospel of Mark was written around 80 AD – about 50 years after Jesus was executed.
That would make the Apostle Mark an unbelievably old man for his day.
But we have found out that there were a number of Christian communities that came to be because of Mark and his work as an apostle after the death of Jesus.
These people heard Mark’s preaching,
followed Mark’s teaching,
and heard Mark’s stories of Jesus.
(The old, old, stories . . .)
Mark is the first Gospel to be written,
but Mark is not the earliest document we have in the New Testament.
Curiously, the very first documents we know of to be written about Jesus were some of the letters of the Apostle Paul.
The very earliest document we have that Paul wrote is the first letter he wrote to the believers in Thessalonia.
This letter can be dated to 50 AD – around 20 years after the execution of Jesus.
Again, when Paul wrote these early letters, none of the Gospels had been written,
no stories of Jesus had been written down yet.
We know that before the stories like these get written down they are told and retold over and over again,
and are transmitted from person to person,
from people to people,
from generation to generation –
orally – by word of mouth.
Tell me the old, old, stories . . .
As I thought about this topic, my curiosity got the better of me:
just what were the oldest of the old, old, stories?
What were the very first stories of Jesus that were being told?
Before there were Gospels, what were people being told about Jesus?
So, it seems to me, the place to look for the very ‘earliest” stories of Jesus, were the early letters of the Apostle Paul.
Not only were these letters written before any of the Gospels and their stories,
but, unlike the disciples who lived with Jesus,
who experienced the resurrected Jesus,
and were commissioned by Jesus to go spread the word to the world around them,
Paul didn’t know Jesus.
Paul never met Jesus.
Paul was a devout Jew –
who apparently had a reputation of harassing Christian believers.
Paul’s “conversion” experience did not occur until years after the execution of Jesus.
So, Paul didn’t know Jesus.
Paul never met Jesus.
Paul never read any stories about Jesus.
And, yet, Paul must have heard stories told about Jesus –
stories of Jesus that made him open to recognizing what was happening when he had that experience on the road to Damascus.
Paul had heard stories of Jesus –
stories that became so real to him that he could teach and interpret and translate a vision of life based upon the stories he had heard.
(Now, we are told after his conversion experience, Paul went to visit the Apostle Peter for a time –
presumably for a crash course in Jesus theology – but, this visit happened three years after Paul’s conversion experience
and after he began his preaching and teaching an organizing –
and it only lasted two weeks.)
So, if Paul never knew Jesus,
if Paul never read one of the Gospels,
where did Paul get his information about Jesus?
The stories that Paul heard about Jesus have to be the very earliest stories of Jesus that were being passed around –
the very oldest of the old, old, stories.
So, what were they?
I think it is interesting what the stories were not about:
the were no stories about the birth of Jesus,
there were no stories about Jesus growing up and doing Jewish things,
there were no miracle stories,
there were no parables for illustrating the life we are called to live,
there was no sermon on the mount,
there was no lord’s prayer,
no betrayal by Judas Iscariot,
no Gethsemane story,
no story about the transfiguration,
and the list goes on.
(If these stories existed and were passed on, Paul either never hear them,
or ignored them.)
The Jesus Paul talks about came from stories of Jesus’ death,
and Jesus’ resurrection.
The stories of Jesus that Paul heard stem from the community’s experience after the execution and resurrection of Jesus.
Paul heard these stories and spoke of these stories.
They affected his understanding of Jesus and the purpose and reason for believer’s faith.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
If there was no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
if Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. . .
If Christ has been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
It would appear that very earliest stories of Jesus that were passed on among believers of most of the communities of faith before Gospels were written,
were those of Jesus’ execution and resurrection
and the experience of the early believers with the Risen Christ.
Of course, Paul wrote about the Lord’s Supper.
This was probably not a story heard,
nor a story delivered by direct revelation,
but, most scholars agree that Peter must have shared the communion with him when he came for that visit.
Interestingly, Paul’s description of the Lord’s Supper was written in 54 AD –
long before the Gospel of Mark was published in 67.
Matthew copied Paul’s words later,
and Luke copied Paul’s words years after that.
I find it fascinating that most of the stories of Jesus that we like to hear –
our favorite stories that we like to repeat –
the Christmas stories,
the parables,
the sermon of the mount,
the Lord’s prayer –
these were not the oldest, old stories,
these were not the earliest stories of Jesus,
It took 50 years, 100 years, before these stories came into being and were being told within and to the Christian communities.
Tell me the stories of Jesus that I long to hear . . .
Tell me the old, old, story of Jesus and his love.
I encourage you to continue singing the songs,
and continue telling the stories.
There is no one but you and I that are telling the stories.
These stories are not being told on television,
these stories are not being told in the schools,
these stories are not being told by many parents these days.
The only place these stories are being told today are in churches like this.
Keeping the stories alive is a sacred task.
I will keep on searching for the old, old, stories of Jesus –
and keep you posted on what I find out.
As we continue next week with another episode of The Stories of Jesus.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 9, 2012.
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