Introducing the special Advent and Christmas readings

Most of the time during the Read the Bible schedule, we read Biblical books more or less in their entirety and in order.  But during Advent and Christmas, special attention is given to seasonally appropriate themes and passages.  So, at various points, we'll abandon the more orderly approach to follow a theme.  Here are some of the themes we'll visit:

• John the Baptist-John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin.  He was a powerful prophet in his own right, but he is best known as a herald for Jesus.  During the last week of Advent, as the time of waiting for Jesus draws to a climax, our gospel readings focus on John, the one who came just before Jesus, to let everyone know that Jesus would soon arrive;
• The 'Second Coming'-as I mention in the section on the church calendar, Advent serves a dual purpose.  It's a preparation for celebrating Christmas, and also a time for remembering Jesus' promise that he would someday return.  The New Testament readings during the latter half of Advent and into the first couple of days of Christmas address this theme of the Second Coming.  In the Bible, the Second Coming is the end of the age, or even the end of this world and the beginning of a new one; so it is also frequently referred to as 'the last days';
• Jesus' birth-as you might expect, for several days starting Christmas Eve, we'll read the stories surrounding Jesus' birth;
• Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and expectations-the Old Testament readings during the twelve days of Christmas are prophecies Jesus fulfills.
• Reflections on Jesus' nature-the New Testament readings during the Christmas season are various reflections on Jesus' nature;
• The 'I am' statements-the Christmas gospel readings also follow this theme of the nature of Jesus, by leading us through a series of 'I am' statements Jesus makes in the Gospel of John;
• Jesus as Savior for the whole world-as I mentioned in the section on the church calendar, Epiphany is the celebration of the coming of the Wise Men to pay respects to Jesus.  Since the Wise Men were non-Jews who nonetheless recognized this Jewish child as king, Epiphany is a day to celebrate the fact that Jesus is a rescuer not just of Jews-as, probably surprising to us, many of the earliest followers of Jesus were tempted to think-but of anyone in the whole world.  The readings on the day of Epiphany follow that theme.

Introducing the Psalms

The Psalms are the Bible's model prayers.  About half of them are written by the famous king David, as well known as a musician and worshipper as he was as a warrior and giant-slayer.  There's a psalm for almost every occasion we're likely to experience in life.  In the Psalms, we find beautiful songs of praise, testimonies to God's goodness, pleas for help, and questions asked when things don't work out as they're supposed to.  The Psalms are really meant to be prayed-sung even-rather than just read.  I find that I get the most out of them when I adopt them as my own, praying them as my own prayers.  I tend to pray them verbatim-doing so aloud and with gusto whenever possible seems to improve the experience immensely-but I know other people who use them as jumping off points into further prayer in their own words.  You might even want to try occasionally reading a psalm aloud together with someone else.  Take turns reading stanzas aloud.  At the end of the psalm-or in the middle of longer psalms-you could jump off-book to pray further about the ways the psalm connects to your own current life circumstances.

If you're like me, praying two common types of psalms might initially make you a bit uncomfortable:

1. Extravagant claims of righteousness-occasionally, I find myself gulping when, aloud and with gusto, I end up praying something like, 'I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered' (Psalm 26:1).  I wonder if the proverbial lightning will strike me down.  Despite the fears of divine punishment, a few things have kept me praying these absurd boasts:
   1. First of all, I've noticed that my praying of these psalms take on a tone of aspiration: it makes me want to be the kind of person who can pray those things without blushing.  That seems like a pretty good result to me.
   2. Secondly, I get the feeling that the psalmist doesn't mean that he has never made any mistakes.  I think what he's saying is that he has never abandoned God.  That's still a pretty gutsy thing to say, but it's not quite a claim to perfection.  While the 'not faltering' thing still kind of trips me up, I think I can honestly say that ever since I met God I've taken my relationship with God seriously.
   3. Thirdly, I have a growing suspicion that these extravagant claims to righteousness have less to do with my moral report card, as it were, and more to do with how God sees me.  I noticed that sometimes in the same psalm the author will ask for God's forgiveness and will make one of these audacious claims to utter blamelessness.  Once he's confessed and been forgiven, it's as if he never even took a mis-step.  Perhaps these psalms are saying that, because of God's goodness, we can be certain that God likes us, sees the best in us, and wants the best for us.  If that's the case-and I'm beginning to believe it is-then we can pray those crazy things with confidence and excitement.
2. Calls for violent retribution-some of the psalms seem like they're more suited to a Quentin Tarantino movie than to the Bible.  While I sometimes still find myself a little squeamish at the sheer bloodthirstiness of some of these 'crush my enemy' psalms, I've been surprised to find them among the most helpful psalms to pray, for a few reasons:
   1. They help me prepare for the difficulties of the day-if I start the day with one of these psalms, it reminds me that not everything is going to go my way.  I can prepare myself, and ask for God's help in facing the difficulties that are sure to come;
   2. It's a faithful and non-violent way to vent-it's extremely liberating to unabashedly express just how I feel about the people who treat me poorly and unfairly.  But in the end, it's harmless.  I'm expressing it to God, not letting it leak out in my interactions with people.  I express my anger and my desire for revenge; then I leave it in God's hands to protect me and to vindicate me when appropriate.  Once I've expressed my feelings and left action in God's hands, I can much more easily let it go;
   3. I primarily focus the prayers on my true enemies-the New Testament author Paul tells us that our real enemies aren't other people, but destructive spiritual forces whose entire purpose is to do us harm (Ephesians 6:12).  I have no problem praying that these enemies die a gruesome death.

Introducing Isaiah

Isaiah is an Old Testament prophet.  The primary role of the Old Testament prophets was not necessarily to predict the future, but to interpret current events from God's perspective.  Just like most other Old Testament prophets, Isaiah's starting place is the local politics of Israel and Judah-in Isaiah's case, around 800 B.C.  But the scope of Isaiah's prophecies is especially grand, encompassing surrounding nations, the future, and eventually all of the world and all of history.

Introducing 1 and 2 Thessalonians

Thessalonica was (and is) an important city in the Greek region of Macedon.  Paul was rather quickly forced out of Thessalonica by disruptions caused by a mob (Acts 17:1-10).  So, he wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians shortly after his departure, to give some of the basic teaching he never had a chance to tell them in person.  For some reason, death and the end of the world are topics of particular interest to the Thessalonians.  Paul addresses them somewhat in the first letter, and spends a significant amount of the second letter further clarifying his understanding of the topics.

In applying the lessons of these letters to our lives, it's helpful to recognize that Paul is writing to a specific group of people with specific questions and problems.  It's not always possible or beneficial to apply Paul's instructions without some interpretation.  A helpful sequence of questions for me is,

• What problem or question is Paul addressing?
• What is his answer to his audience?
• What's the general principle behind his answer?
• Are there circumstances in my life where that principle would apply?
• What would it look like for me to take Paul's advice?

Introducing 2 Peter

2 Peter is part of the 'Second Coming' or 'Last Days' Advent theme, but since we read the entire book, I thought it would be worth giving a few more details.  2 Peter, like its companion 1 Peter, is a letter from Peter to some churches in modern-day Turkey.  Peter was one of Jesus' twelve apostles.  He was one of Jesus' closest friends, and the primary leader of the first church-the church of Jerusalem-during its earliest days.  Sometime (we don't know exactly when), Peter left Jerusalem to spread the message about Jesus more widely.  We believe he's writing 2 Peter from Rome, shortly before his death.  This letter is a collection of final encouragements and warnings from one of the few remaining eyewitnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection, written down so that they wouldn't be forgotten after his death.

Introducing Luke

As we mentioned in the introduction to Acts, the book of Luke is part of a two-volume set with the book of Acts.  The book of Luke tells the story of Jesus' life and teachings; Acts tells us what happens to his followers later.   The author never gives his own name, but from very early in church history the books of Luke and Acts have been ascribed to Luke, a traveling companion of Paul, a famous early follower of Jesus who was largely responsible for spreading the good news of Jesus to Europe.  Luke was part of a small company who worked with Paul, sharing the good news and starting churches throughout the Mediterranean world.  Luke was a medical doctor by profession, and he was almost certainly the only non-Jewish author of the New Testament (and quite possibly of the entire Bible).  The audience for Luke may have been cultured, highly-educated Greeks (Greek was the dominant culture of the eastern Roman Empire): he writes in the same formal historical style that was fashionable in Greek society at the time.  There is some evidence that Luke intended his writings for wide publication: the Gospel of Luke and Acts are almost exactly the same length, which happens to be the length that was common in scrolls used for publication (IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 187: InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1993).
Luke's gospel was probably written after Mark's gospel, another of the four biblical gospels, and is apparently based upon it.  Luke follows the same basic storyline as Mark, and about 40 percent of the material is drawn directly from Mark.  But Luke also has much material that isn't found in any of the other gospels.  Luke's unique contributions show up particularly in his stories about Jesus' birth and the teachings of Jesus he shares with us.  Perhaps because he is outside of Jewish society himself, he also shows a particular concern for Jesus' interaction with people who would be outsiders in ancient Jewish society: non-Jews, women, and the poor.
If you want more on Luke, you can find a Daily Bible Guide for Luke on the Leap of Faith page.  The dates and passage splits don't match our current schedule, but you may be able to glean some helpful insights on the story and how to apply it to your life.