This week my
son Daniel asked me if he can read Apocrypha from my library. I directed him to annotated Cambridge
edition, so he’s reading extra chapters of Daniel, about Bel & the Dragon,
Susanna, books of Maccabees. In the past few years similar questions were
raised from time to time, either from adults who find an old Bible with 73
books, or from teens attending a Catholic High School and learning about the
Bible with apocrypha. Could we read it? Should we read? Is it of any importance to our 21st
century?
For one –
these writings help us to understand cultural environment in which Jesus came,
a mindset and beliefs of the times when disciples tried to understand the
Gospel of Jesus. Secondly, Ellen White
had all 73 books in her personal Bible, and she even referred to some of the
Apocrypha in her writings. Thirdly, you
could better understand the culture and traditions of the Jewish community
today, if you care to connect and do cross-cultural ministry. For instance, do you ever wonder why some
menorahs have 9 branches instead of 7?
In days of
Jesus there were two dominant groups in the church – Pharisees and Sadducees,
and they had one thing in common – both hated Jesus! They were as opposite from each as can be. Pharisees on the extreme right, totally
separating themselves from the culture, sunning anything that was not produced
by them, criticising secular art just because it was secular, labeling sinful
everything that did not have their copyright trademark. They tried to preserve their identity by
completely separating from the world. To
them Jesus was flaming liberal – mingling with sinners, doing taboo things,
breaking their rules of holiness. On the
other extreme were Sadducees, assimilating with the culture so much that one
could not tell the difference between them and Greco-Roman cultured
intelligencia. They were abandoning their identity for sake of acceptance, to
be cool. They were believing and living
just like the pagan world. They drink
worldly drinks, ate regardless of Biblical instructions, lived common law, and
considered church a business. To them Jesus was a fanatic, radical extremist,
believing in the Kingdom of God, instead of the kingdom of this world,
preaching resurrection, believing in Creation and claiming that God was
Love! In such a culture Jesus started
countercultural revolution, against both extremes, being IN the world, but not
OF the world, mingling with people in their reality, but offering Gospel
values. Apostles continued this
revolution, freely quoting cultural secular poets, latest art production, and
using cultural worldview to invite people to consider greater supernatural
reality of God.
As an
Adventist, are you a Pharisee conservative, fighting for points that separate
“us from them,” even if such are unbiblical; a Sadducee, so worldly that your
value system is “get-get,” and you are willing to compromise any and every
thing to be cool and popular; or a Disciple, following Jesus Revolution of
countercultural life of simplicity and giving?
As I read
Gospels I find that Jesus did pay attention to the cultural setting of his day.
John 10:22 tells us about Jesus
engagement with people at Hanukkah, the fest of Maccabean Dedication of the
Temple in mid-December (Menorah’s 9th branch). I wonder where was Jesus and what He was up
to in February, on Purim (this weekend! & the reason for Menorah’s 8th
branch). The feast commemorating
liberation of Jews by Esther from Haman was the most joyous one of all feasts. Scholars examining Gospels say that John 5
describes the Purim, as it is the only feast that fell on the Sabbath in
AD28. The most joyous celebration was
the occasion for Jesus to heal, declare Himself Son of God, and announce
Himself to be equal with God. He probably attended one of 480 synagogues that
were in Jerusalem that year to hear the reading of the Scroll of Esther. He probably ate the "Haman's ears"
cookies. He definitely observed the commandment to give gifts to the poor, and
did even more in healing. He used their cultural understanding to communicate
greater message of God's preservation of His unbelieving people. Stay relevant, like Jesus. Connect, mingle, serve J
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