Does God Have the Power to Move Empires? (Yes!)

1 Peter 2:6

‘For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

God is speaking to Cyrus, the king of the Persians.  Cyrus is going to serve a special purpose in God’s plan.  The people of the Southern Kingdom, the people of Judah, had been conquered by the Babylonians.  The Babylonians were, in turn, conquered by the Persians. 

The Persians were then going to send the people of Judah back, to reconstruct Jerusalem.  The Books of Nehemiah and Ezra tell this tale.

God is putting himself in front of Cyrus, in front of Persia, claiming that God, the God of Israel, who is the only real God, is going to empower Persia, under Cyrus to do His bidding. 

Now, this is a bit of an aside, but there are two interpretations of this passage in Isaiah. 

The first is that this is truly prophetic, written before these events ever happened.  It was the power of God that revealed the name that Isaiah wrote down.

The second is the party-pooper version, that this was written after the events of Cyrus restoring the people of Israel to their homeland.  It was then branded as coming as prophecy, thus reading in the power of God to explain political events that had already come to pass.

I do not care for the party-pooper version.  How can one truly critique the power of the living God?  Peter is certainly not quoting a party pooper version of Isaiah.  He is pulling down on the power of the Living God, the one who manipulates Empires to free His people.

That is my favorite part of the Christmas story, God manipulating empires to make things happen.  He manipulates the Romans to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.  This is the precedent, God’s maneuvering of the Persian Empire.

“And whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”  Whoever believes in the God that made Cyrus restore His people to their homeland, after seventy years in the Babylonian Captivity, they will not be put to shame.  That is the power that Peter is referencing as he brings this quote into his letter.

What Shall We Do With Those Weird, Incomprehensible Passages in the Old Testament?

1 Peter 2:6

‘For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”’

In the prophet Isaiah, it seems that the Northern Kingdom, which was taken into permanent captivity by Assyria, to disappear off the historic scene, is the subject of the prophet’s words.  There are talks about covenants with Sheol, what, in the Old Testament, is the realm of the dead. 

Against this captivity, this giving up of hope, enters the word of the Lord.  This is the cornerstone God is laying in Zion, a structure to stand against the destruction that the people of Ephraim, the leading tribe of the Northern Kingdom.  The prophet is proclaiming God’s hope against the condemnation.

So what does that have to do with the people to whom Peter is writing?  Not a blessed thing, directly.  Like many of the lessons of history, if you apply them too directly, you are going to run into trouble.  Rather, there is a principle to be drawn here.

The passage in Isaiah proclaims God standing against a feeling among the people of hopelessness, hopelessness even unto death.  It is centuries later and the same kind of hopelessness, the apparently eternal dominance of the Romans, is in place.

But the power of God, his laying a cornerstone in Zion, that cornerstone finding its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the fulfillment of that prophecy in the current age of Peter.

Can Christians and Jews Share A Bible?

1 Peter 2:6

‘For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”’

There are two scriptures that speak to our faith.  The first is what we have in the pew bibles of our churches, Genesis to Revelation, the Old Testament and the New Testament, sixty six books written over thousands of years by dozens of authors, covering a multitude of literary types, a grand mishmash.

Then there is the scripture in which Peter is standing.  It runs Genesis to Malachi, what we call the Old Testament, or, when we do not want to offend our Jewish brothers and sisters by implying they use something outdated, we call it the ‘Hebrew Bible’.  From what I have been told, Judaism refers to it as the Tanahk. 

Peter is reaching into the book of the prophet Isaiah, drawing together a couple of passages to connect to Jesus, building on the argument that has come before. 

This is a level of authority above and beyond the authority that Peter received from Jesus directly as his head disciple (look for ‘keys of the kingdom’ as a Google word search for more).  Peter is talking to other Jews and seeking to convince them of the reality of the authority of Jesus. 

So he goes where he knows they will go, into the Tanakh.  Now, we Christians can look at those passages and smile while we declare that we have found Jesus in the Old Testament.  A number of Jews who have come to the same conclusion (the largest group call themselves “Messianic Jews”, not adopting the title of ‘Christian’-which I cannot blame them for considering our bloody history), well, these Jews, I believe, will find Jesus in the pages of the Old Testament.  But the mainline Jews of Judaism, who have a very different relationship with Jesus, well, they are not so convinced.

What Peter has done is coopted ‘their’ Holy Book, although it was technically his as well, and overlaid Jesus in its interpretation.  And that is okay because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, so there, want to argue with the Son of God?

What I have found is that a healthy respect for the preservation of the text of the Tanakh as a Jewish Holy Book, and not the Christian ‘prequel’ to the coming of Jesus, has a whole lot to teach us.  Theirs is the complexity of the religion of Jesus, lived through the eyes of countless generations before Jesus ever came on the scene.

What I have come to realize is that our faith can be ever more deepened if we take the theology of the Jewish faith, even when it is separate from our own, when we take it seriously, we cannot help but learn even more about the God who gave us both.

 

1 Peter 2:6

‘For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”’

Peter is quoting from the Old Testament, Isaiah 28:16: ^“therefore thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: “One who trusts will not panic.” and also from Isaiah 45:17, ^“But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.”

There is a conflation of the verses going on, and Peter is adding a new dimension to their interpretation, that of Jesus as the fulfillment of their meanings.  We will look at the context of the two verses as we explore this sentence.

For it stand in scripture-Peter is looking to the authority of the bible that they had, what we call our Old Testament.

See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious…this is the passage from Isaiah 28, in brief.

And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.  This concludes the sentence, coming from Isaiah 45.

How Peter puts them together in this ‘modern’ (for him) formulation we can contrast against the original prophecies in Isaiah.

Who Decides What Is Acceptable To God?

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Isn’t that the whole reason for Jesus?  He’s offered himself as a sacrifice to make us acceptable to our God once again.  Jesus did it in the middle of history so that all who came before could look forward to the event, and all those who came after could look back on the event.

But in this case, we are not talking about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in and of itself, but rather in an applied fashion.  Through Jesus Christ, not only are we made acceptable to God, but our spiritual sacrifices are also made acceptable.

But if we are going to talk about acceptable, it is inevitable that we are also going to talk about unacceptable.  If we are the living stones, building spiritual houses, following in the path of Jesus as the original living stone rejected by the builders, then there should be no issues, should there?  The things we do in the name of Jesus are cool and acceptable with God.

Who gets to decide what is unacceptable to God?  There are a lot of church leaders who think they have the spiritual ****s to make that call.  Arrogant, the lot of them.  I have been that kind of arrogant one.  And I have come to a place in my life where I am comfortable releasing that decision to God.  I do not need the responsibility. 

Do something for someone with a motivation of love, a desire for change, a movement to bring in the peace, because it is the proper thing to do under your code of conduct, because it is simply the right thing to do, I think that rises to the level of acceptance by God.  Because it comes through Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for everyone, not simply the elect or the chosen by God.

If you are worried that what you are doing is a spiritual sacrifice to God, ask yourself this question, “Does it demonstrate my love for God and/or for neighbor?”  If yes, I think acceptance is yours.

Shall We Offer A Sacrifice?

 

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What is a ‘spiritual sacrifice’?  It is the updated version of the animal sacrifices found in the law of Moses.  I must admit, I am glad we have moved beyond the need of animal sacrifice.

According to the law of Moses, sacrifices were offered as a substitutionary atonement for the life of the person.  It goes back to the “lex talionis”, the law of an eye for an eye, life for life, blood for blood.  Life for sin-for breaking the law of God.  In the law of Moses, the animal was offered as a sacrifice in place of the human.

These sacrifices were brought to their conclusion with the final and once for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  He died, the perfect sacrifice, that we shall live. 

So we no longer engage in sacrifice.

Except that Peter tells us something different.  It is a spiritual sacrifice.  Sacrificing the spirit?  A sacrifice from the spirit.  Offering spiritual sacrifice as we have let ourselves be built into a spiritual house…built of living stones…

A spiritual sacrifice, it is something that we are offering to another.  It is when we reach out with that which we have received by the love and grace of Jesus Christ to another.

When We Are All Priests

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, the priesthood was limited to members of the family of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi.  In fact, the tribe of Levi was devoted to the Lord as the servants of the Lord.  They did not inherit land as did the other tribes of Israel, but rather were scattered among the people, presumably to serve in positions of religious leadership.  How that shifted when the focus of Israel’s worship moved to Jerusalem under King David, that is more than I know.

But in Christ, the holy priesthood is expanded, to all believers.  We are all called upon to be servants of the Living God, yes, servants to friends to children to living stones…  The universality of the priesthood is not limited to Peter, but occurs also in the book of Hebrews.

But why is that important, that we are all ‘in the priesthood’?  Why the move away from the religious hierarchy?  Because, face it, we have that hierarchy back in place today. 

I think the question does not have to do so much with religious leadership as it does to relationship to God.  In Jesus, each of us has a relationship with the Almighty.  We are all saved by Jesus, we are all responsible to Jesus, the Great Commission at the end of Matthew sent us out to make disciples of the whole earth, replicating the disciples Jesus called.

The priest came before God to make sacrifice, as we shall talk about next time.  It seems we all have the joy of coming before God on our own, given that gift by our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are all God’s priests.

Promoted to Living Stone

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

A spiritual house built of living stones, I could think of worse ways to describe the church. 

There is a progression in the New Testament of our relationship with Jesus.  We are, in the beginning, servants, created by God, coming back into his service.  But through Jesus, we are no longer called servants, but we are called friends.  But we move even closer, not friends, but actually brothers and sisters of Jesus, adopted by our Father who art in heaven.  He is the firstborn, who has redeemed us all.

But here is yet another step.  We are promoted to “living stone”.  Yes, at first glance, that may not seem like a promotion.  Brother of Jesus to living stone, human being to geological entity…  But the living stone that is Jesus was the stone rejected by mortals, but set up by God as the cornerstone to his new temple, his spiritual house.

Jesus was in the unique position of Lord and Savior.  It was through Jesus’ death on the cross, on his resurrection, that grace has come upon us.  He is our Mediator.  He was unique as the living stone, until now. 

In this verse, a measure of Jesus’ divine power is extended to us.  He is the cornerstone, but we are the walls and floor and roof of the spiritual house.  Instead of being those who are welcomed INTO the house, we are the house, built for the benefit of others.  It would seem that the house will continue to be built as more come to Christ. 

Promoted to a point of carrying, at least in some measure, that which Jesus has brought from the Father.  That is pretty awesome, and a little frightening.

 

Jesus, Precious In God’s Sight

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Matthew 21: 42, a quote of Psalm 118: 22, “the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone…”  Peter remembers Jesus quoting the Psalms, slightly paraphrased for use that he has for them.  Jesus is the living stone, rejected by mortals, but chosen and precious in God’s sight… 

Rejected by mortals…leading to his death on the cross.  What a painful contrast to the Jesus who is precious in God’s sight.  What was it for God to release Jesus to us that he might die on our behalf?  We know of God’s love for us.  The bible tells us so. 

One of the most painful passages to read in the gospels is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In that moment, he asks God to release him from the plan that is to come, not that Jesus’ will be done, but that God’s will be done.  And God does not release him.  Now I have read of people who consider God to be cold for that moment.  But can we imagine instead that our God felt pain because of His love for us?

A military commander knows that the young soldiers he is currently watching, the pride of their nation and their generation, he knows many will not be coming home because of the mission that they are about to embark upon.

A police commander looks over the outgoing shift of officers gathered in the muster room and must face the real possibility that, on any given day, something might happen to one of these individuals.

Can these images begin to capture what was in our God’s heart?  We are like him, knowing good and evil.  We are created in his image and we can know pain.  Even in his knowledge and ability to raise Jesus from the dead, we have it from Jesus himself that weeping is not out of the question.  Jesus knew his friend Lazarus would arise, but he wept at his graveside.

How precious are we in God’s sight that he would send the living stone to be among us, that we might live?

What Kind Of Jesus Is Worth Coming To?

1 Peter 2: 4-5

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

            That is the point, is it not?  Come to Jesus.  What is it that we are coming to?  Are we coming to a judgmental Jesus who does not like homosexuals, Muslims, Liberals, the media, the annoying, or anyone else that we can condemn from the Bible?   Makes you wonder what else we might get condemned for from Scripture.

            The Judgmental Jesus might just condemn us for failing to feed the hungry, not giving the thirsty something to drink, maybe for failing to welcome the stranger (immigrant…), failing to clothe the naked (or any without), taking care of the sick (while some still fight Obamacare…),  or for failing to visit someone in prison (chances are we know somebody, we imprison more of our own than just about any nation on the planet, except for, like, North Korea).  Do we want to come to this guy?

            Peter was there when Jesus started the conversation, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  These would be the 95%’ers, I think, not the top 5 % who control 95% of the wealth of the nation.  They are rich enough to have rest on their own.  Except for something else Jesus talked about, in a parable.

            He talked about this rich guy whose barns were overstuffed.  So he was going to pull them down and build bigger ones, but the Lord said his time on earth was up that very night (HE WAS GOING TO DIE).  Makes me think of a contest I heard about once, the one who dies with the most toys wins.  Actually, his or her heirs win.

            So come to Him, says Peter.  Jesus is well worth it.

1 Peter 2: 4-5: Lots of Rocky metaphors in this one.

1 Peter 2: 4-5

4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

            Now we draw upon a metaphor expressed in the gospels.  Jesus is the cornerstone, rejected by the builders, but accepted by God.  Jesus is the temple to be destroyed yet repaired again in three days-the spiritual house of God, not the pile of stone that took 70 years to build in Jerusalem.

            If there is one thing that is very familiar to anyone who has traveled in Israel from the times before Jesus to the present day, it is that there are rocks everywhere.  They build with them, they seek vainly to empty their fields of them, they have served as pillows (Jacob), and are the building blocks of altars to God (uncut stones-look up Elijah versus the Priests of Baal).

Come to him,--One will not get a better offer than that.

 a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight,--this is the recap of the quotes from the gospels.

 and like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house,--so we stretch the metaphor to include we who believe.

to be a holy priesthood,--mixing of the metaphors, the building blocks of the spiritual house and the priests serving within it, but since God is the creator of metaphor…

to offer spiritual sacrifices—this is the duty of the priesthood

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.—but now these sacrifices have a new means of being okay with our God.

          Peter means ‘rock’ and Jesus said “Upon this rock-Peter-I will build my church.”  I know his spirit was sincere as he wrote these words, but I wonder if Peter’s tongue was in his cheek, just a little bit, as he shared these with his readers.