I know you!
Commentary
Object:
To know and to be known are important to our well-being. In these three scriptures we receive recognition from God, the community of faith, and ourselves. In the Acts of the Apostles, Tabitha is recognized for her ministries through the lamentations of those who mourn her. She hears her name being called and is raised from the dead. And the result is not that believers focus on Peter and praise him, but that people come to recognize God who is the source of the miracle. They believe in the Lord. In the passage from John some of the Judeans press Jesus, saying, “Tell us if you are the Messiah.” His response is that he’s already made it clear and his own know him, as sheep know the shepherd. And in the great gathering beyond time the redeemed of the Lord know and honor the Lamb! The Lord recognizes us! We ought to recognize the shepherd by now!
Acts 9:36-43
Peter has been involved in a series of healing miracles. Earlier, a paraplegic who begged for money outside the Temple was restored to health. Right before this story, Aeneas was healed of paralysis. This one tops them all. Tabitha was raised from the dead. It’s interesting that Luke, in both his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, does not limit women to traditional women’s roles. Luke shows women in important positions. In this passage she is described as a female disciple, the only time this word is used in the New Testament. Her ministry is vital to the community. She is not just someone doing charitable works. In our own era someone who provides clothing does important work, but we have lots of clothes. In the ancient world many ordinary people had their day-to-day garment and perhaps their Sunday go-to-meeting tunic -- or perhaps not. She was crucial to the life of the community, not just someone doing charitable works. Getting an extra shirt might be a nice little surprise for us. The reason the lamenting women showed Peter the clothes she had made is because they were essential, expensive, and rare.
Ministries do not need to die with the person who supported them. When one of our saints dies, does their work die with them? Is there no one to pick up the torch and run with it, perhaps even in their memory?
Note as well that there is the theme of recognition. Peter calls Tabitha by name, and she answers. When we recognize someone in a congregation but do not know their name, the longer this goes on the more embarrassing it is to ask. About twice a year I declare an amnesty in church and invite everyone at worship to stand up and go to someone and ask their name, or ask questions about jobs, background, family, etc.
Finally, it’s worth noting that this great deed does not mean everyone treats Peter like a god. Instead, people recognize God’s hand in this and give God the glory.
Revelation 7:9-17
This particular passage comes between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. There are many different ways to look at the three sets of seven. One way is to see the first four of each set as a description of the present world, the fifth and sixth as intensification of our struggles in this world, and after a brief respite (which is where we find ourselves in this passage) we see heaven. This first time through it will be the briefest of glimpses, but each time our eyes get used to what’s happening and we see more, and we see it more clearly. (I base this on a book by the late Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book of the Bible,which is now available for free on the internet.)
In this chapter John the Revelator gives us a glimpse of the real church, a church that includes both the living and the dead in one communion linking heaven and earth. Though Christianity may seem weak in the eyes of those who run the empire, it is extraordinarily strong. The redeemed are beyond counting.
Within the confines of these verses, the Revelator gets a glimpse of the martyrs in heaven. Because of the trials they had gone through, we might think Rome is triumphant. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, after a great fire gutted Rome “Nero looked around for a scapegoat!” and decided to blame Christians for what happened.
According to Tacitus they were “dressed in the skins of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or were crucified, or burned to death; when night came, they served as human torches to provide lights.” Although he refers to Christianity as an “abominable superstition,” he goes on to say: “These Christians were guilty and well deserved their fate, but a sort of compassion for them arose, because they were being destroyed to glut the cruelty of a single man and for no public end.”
But in this passage we see them in heaven, and they’re singing the praises of the Lamb. They know the Lamb, and the Lamb knows them. The Revelator asks who these people are, and he’s told. They stand before the Lamb, who like them was slaughtered, and who now rules forever -- and in language reminiscent of Isaiah 49:10 and Psalm 23 we are told that their suffering is over forever. They’re home for good! It’s the kind of thing we have come to expect among the community of faith!
John 10:22-30
John weaves feast days throughout his narrative. The Feast of Dedication -- Hannukah -- is a deliverance holiday. After returning from exile in Babylon, the people came back not to a nation but to a state governed from afar. But first the Persians and later the inheritors of Alexander the Great’s empire practiced tolerance for the religious practices of others. Pay your taxes and you could believe as you chose. The people discovered that they could live without a king and didn’t need to be an independent nation in order to be faithful. Their unique religious practices were respected.
However, under Antiochus IV Epiphanus that all changed. Antiochus tortured and murdered God’s people, including those who tried to cooperate with the rulers. Many were sold into slavery. The temple was profaned in a manner so foul that it was remembered as the “abomination of desolation.” Resistance arose and led to a deliverance holiday. That deliverance was short-lived. Infighting followed, leading to an invitation to Rome to come into Judea to restore order. Rome didn’t leave.
This gives some insight into the question being asked of Jesus -- are you the Messiah? Are you the political deliverer who will drive away the Romans just as the Maccabees drove out the Selucids?
Other insights? This is a winter festival, and the portico of Solomon provided some shelter from the harsh east winds that blew during the season.
And when John says “the Jews” there is a tendency to lump all Jews together in a manner that borders on anti-Semitism. Remember that Jesus, the apostles, the good guys and the bad guys in the gospels -- just about everyone we meet is Jewish. It is likely that by this term John is referring to Judeans, or using the term as a synonym for religious authorities.
Keeping with our theme of recognition, Jesus says, “...but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).
Let’s hope so.
Acts 9:36-43
Peter has been involved in a series of healing miracles. Earlier, a paraplegic who begged for money outside the Temple was restored to health. Right before this story, Aeneas was healed of paralysis. This one tops them all. Tabitha was raised from the dead. It’s interesting that Luke, in both his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, does not limit women to traditional women’s roles. Luke shows women in important positions. In this passage she is described as a female disciple, the only time this word is used in the New Testament. Her ministry is vital to the community. She is not just someone doing charitable works. In our own era someone who provides clothing does important work, but we have lots of clothes. In the ancient world many ordinary people had their day-to-day garment and perhaps their Sunday go-to-meeting tunic -- or perhaps not. She was crucial to the life of the community, not just someone doing charitable works. Getting an extra shirt might be a nice little surprise for us. The reason the lamenting women showed Peter the clothes she had made is because they were essential, expensive, and rare.
Ministries do not need to die with the person who supported them. When one of our saints dies, does their work die with them? Is there no one to pick up the torch and run with it, perhaps even in their memory?
Note as well that there is the theme of recognition. Peter calls Tabitha by name, and she answers. When we recognize someone in a congregation but do not know their name, the longer this goes on the more embarrassing it is to ask. About twice a year I declare an amnesty in church and invite everyone at worship to stand up and go to someone and ask their name, or ask questions about jobs, background, family, etc.
Finally, it’s worth noting that this great deed does not mean everyone treats Peter like a god. Instead, people recognize God’s hand in this and give God the glory.
Revelation 7:9-17
This particular passage comes between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. There are many different ways to look at the three sets of seven. One way is to see the first four of each set as a description of the present world, the fifth and sixth as intensification of our struggles in this world, and after a brief respite (which is where we find ourselves in this passage) we see heaven. This first time through it will be the briefest of glimpses, but each time our eyes get used to what’s happening and we see more, and we see it more clearly. (I base this on a book by the late Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book of the Bible,which is now available for free on the internet.)
In this chapter John the Revelator gives us a glimpse of the real church, a church that includes both the living and the dead in one communion linking heaven and earth. Though Christianity may seem weak in the eyes of those who run the empire, it is extraordinarily strong. The redeemed are beyond counting.
Within the confines of these verses, the Revelator gets a glimpse of the martyrs in heaven. Because of the trials they had gone through, we might think Rome is triumphant. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, after a great fire gutted Rome “Nero looked around for a scapegoat!” and decided to blame Christians for what happened.
According to Tacitus they were “dressed in the skins of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or were crucified, or burned to death; when night came, they served as human torches to provide lights.” Although he refers to Christianity as an “abominable superstition,” he goes on to say: “These Christians were guilty and well deserved their fate, but a sort of compassion for them arose, because they were being destroyed to glut the cruelty of a single man and for no public end.”
But in this passage we see them in heaven, and they’re singing the praises of the Lamb. They know the Lamb, and the Lamb knows them. The Revelator asks who these people are, and he’s told. They stand before the Lamb, who like them was slaughtered, and who now rules forever -- and in language reminiscent of Isaiah 49:10 and Psalm 23 we are told that their suffering is over forever. They’re home for good! It’s the kind of thing we have come to expect among the community of faith!
John 10:22-30
John weaves feast days throughout his narrative. The Feast of Dedication -- Hannukah -- is a deliverance holiday. After returning from exile in Babylon, the people came back not to a nation but to a state governed from afar. But first the Persians and later the inheritors of Alexander the Great’s empire practiced tolerance for the religious practices of others. Pay your taxes and you could believe as you chose. The people discovered that they could live without a king and didn’t need to be an independent nation in order to be faithful. Their unique religious practices were respected.
However, under Antiochus IV Epiphanus that all changed. Antiochus tortured and murdered God’s people, including those who tried to cooperate with the rulers. Many were sold into slavery. The temple was profaned in a manner so foul that it was remembered as the “abomination of desolation.” Resistance arose and led to a deliverance holiday. That deliverance was short-lived. Infighting followed, leading to an invitation to Rome to come into Judea to restore order. Rome didn’t leave.
This gives some insight into the question being asked of Jesus -- are you the Messiah? Are you the political deliverer who will drive away the Romans just as the Maccabees drove out the Selucids?
Other insights? This is a winter festival, and the portico of Solomon provided some shelter from the harsh east winds that blew during the season.
And when John says “the Jews” there is a tendency to lump all Jews together in a manner that borders on anti-Semitism. Remember that Jesus, the apostles, the good guys and the bad guys in the gospels -- just about everyone we meet is Jewish. It is likely that by this term John is referring to Judeans, or using the term as a synonym for religious authorities.
Keeping with our theme of recognition, Jesus says, “...but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).
Let’s hope so.
