The Prayer Book of the Rabbi

Shavuot - Jesus' Festival of Weeks/Pentecost

Shavuot - Jesus' Festival of Weeks

Shavuot/Weeks/Pentecost
 

Our journey through the Jewishness of Jesus ends with Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks.  Shavuot occurs seven weeks (seven sevens, or a week of weeks) and one day after the Day of Firstfruits (Easter).  Because Shavuot is 50 days after Firstfruits, it is also called Pentecost, from the Greek work "pentaconta" meaning 50.  

Shavuot in the Old Testament
 

Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals in the Old Testament, where Israelite men were expected to journey to Jerusalem to worship.  Unlike the other pilgrimage festivals of Tabernacles and Passover/Unleavened Bread which last 7 days, Shavuot is only a one-day event (ironically, since it's called the Festival of Weeks!).

Like the other pilgrimage festivals, Shavuot has both an agricultural component, and a connection to the Exodus story.  The timing of this holiday corresponds to the collection of the first wheat crop, and thus an opportunity to give thanks to God that the first full crop has been collected.  In the Exodus story, 49 days after Passover is approximately the time when the people arrive at Mt. Sinai and receive the law and the 10 Commandments.
 


Shavuot in the New Testament
 

Because of its brevity and timing, Shavuot was the least well-attended of the three major festivals.  Nevertheless, huge crowds of Jews would have flooded the city from all over the world.  In Acts 2, we see these crowds, representing many languages.  

In Acts, the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples on Shavuot.  After Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the disciples back to the city; then, on the same day that Israel received the law, the church received the Spirit.  This is traditionally called "the birthday of the church."

The Dust of the Rabbi - Tying It Together


In both the Old and New Testaments, Shavuot is a day where God miraculously "comes down" to us and equips us to respond to his great salvation (of the Exodus/the Cross) by beginning a new way of life with him.  Note that the salvation precedes our response, and that even our response is a gift of God.

Most critical in this holiday is the shift from the Old to the New.  In the Old Covenant, God journeyed with us, but remained external, living in a tabernacle in our company.  In the New Covenant, God the Holy Spirit tabernacles in us.

Extras:
 

We finished our "Prayer Book of the Rabbi" series last week; however, I wanted to include one final resource on prayer and the Psalms, Jesus's prayer book.  This is a video with Bono (lead singer for U2) and Eugene Peterson (bible scholar, translator of The Message) and their reflections on the book of Psalms.  This is well worth your time - I hope you'll check it out.

You Do Not Know What You Are Asking

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi


Jesus consistently teaches that we are to pray boldly for God's intervention in our lives and world.  A few examples:

"Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)  
"If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."  (John 14:14)  
"Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find."  (Luke 11:9)
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?"  (Matthew 7:11)

Yet almost every Christian has asked God for something and not received it.  Even the most desperate prayers for the sick, poor and forgotten (prayers that seem to be clearly "in Jesus' name") occasionally languish without resolution, despite the Scriptures above.

What do we do when God is silent in the face of our prayers?  What do we do when God says "no" to our requests?

 

Sitting and the Right and Left Hand of the King

In Mark 10:35-45, James and John, sons of Zebedee, approach Jesus with a request.  They say, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."  Jesus' response is telling.  He replies, "You do not know what you are asking."

How often do we make requests of God without knowing the full significance of what we ask?  I imagine we do this daily.  Like with James and John, God's unwillingness to grant our requests is often rooted more in his love and protection of us than in our perception of the Lord's distance and indifference.

James and John also discover that their prayer has collided with God's plan.  Jesus says, "To sit at my right and at my left is not mine to grant; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."  Again, while God will respond to our prayers, and while he involves us in his plan of redemption, the Father never allows us to endanger his larger design for salvation.

Our prayer requests must always be filtered through the lenses of God's sovereignty and God's provision; for he will give us only "good gifts," whatever we may ask of him.  How can these two ideas help you wrestle with your own "unanswered" prayers?
 

Extras:

Our second Scripture this week, Psalm 139, reminds us of both the providential plan of God, and also his loving care for us since before our birth.  Furthermore, Psalm 139 affirms God's foreknowledge of all his creatures.  We are "fearfully and wonderfully made."  God's foreknowledge extends to every aspect of our lives; for example, the psalmist writes, "even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely."  

Understanding the fullness of God's loving plan of our lives is beyond our capability.  Indeed, the psalmist exclaims, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it."  Yet this knowledge speaks again to the extraordinary love of the Father, Son and Spirit for their world.  Rather than becoming tangled up in the complexity of thoughts that are above our own, let us instead affirm our gratitude to God for his unending faithfulness and mercy to us.

Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi
 

Because Jesus lived a sinless life, he never offered a prayer of confession.  Yet for all of us who follow him, confession remains a critical component of our spiritual lives and our relationships with God.

Each week we offer a "Prayer of Confession" as a congregation, admitting our sinful actions and thoughts and asking for Christ's forgiveness.  Because that prayer must speak for our entire family of faith, it tends to incorporate broad themes and concepts.  But like in any relationship, we also must make time for specific, personal apologies and forgiveness-requests.  Because of our innate selfishness, and because all sin is first and foremost against God, we should find ourselves regularly confessing to our Father and asking for his mercy.

Psalm 51 - the Story of King David
 


King David was a "man after God's own heart."  As King, he had immense capacity to work good for his people and his God.  And, when David sinned, he did so in proportion to that same capacity.  David's most famous exploit involved committing adultery with Bathsheba, then murdering her husband, Uriah (one of David's 30 closest friends) to cover up his sin.  You can find the full account of that story in 2 Samuel 11-12.

After the prophet Nathan confronts David, the king has a change of heart; overwhelmed with his regret, sorrow and shame, David prays Psalm 51.  In this Psalm, David says,


Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.


In the midst of our own struggles with sin, we too need a clean heart, and a new and right spirit.  Scripture promises that, "if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

However, we need more than the occasional prayer in the "big" sins of our lives; following Jesus requires us to live a life of confession, constantly bringing our flaws to light and allowing our Father to restore to us the joy of his salvation.

Extras:
 

The prayer of Blind Bartimaeus, "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!", appears not just in Mark 10:46-52, but throughout the New Testament.  Perhaps most famously, a version of this prayer comes from Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14.  From these passages, we receive what is often called "The Jesus Prayer."

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.


In seasons when we cannot find the right words to say, the Jesus Prayer can be almost a mantra.  More than merely a prayer of confession, this cry for mercy is applicable to innumerable life situations.  Though the Jesus Prayer emerged in the eastern Orthodox tradition, from the Egyptian deserts during the 5th Century, today it can be heard on the lips of Christians around the world.

 

Eloi, Eloi, Lema Sabachthani?

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi


No prayer in Scripture evokes more sorrow than that offered by our Savior on the cross - "Eloi, Eloi, Lema Sabachthani", or "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

These heartbreaking words remind us of the terrible price Jesus paid for our sins; not just the physical suffering, but the cosmic separation between the Father and the Son that stems from the Selfless One bearing the penalty of our self-centeredness.

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?  

In the account from Mark 15:25-39, Jesus cries out to his Father, and for the first time, hears nothing in response.  No voice from heaven proclaims "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased", and no "angels waited on him" as occurred at his baptism and after his temptation in the wilderness.  Instead of comfort, Jesus hears only an awful silence.

This silence reveals a critical concept.  Jesus is not speaking in hyperbole; he has been forsaken by his Father.  On the cross, God "imputed" our sin upon Jesus, and Jesus' righteousness upon us.  At the moment of crucifixion, therefore, Jesus took upon himself all the sin that ever was or ever will be.  He became abhorrent to his Father, and there was a divorce in the Godhead - a separation of the Trinity that lasted for three days.  When we proclaim that Jesus "descended into hell" in the Apostles Creed each week, we confess that Jesus endure that divine divorce; a fate far worse than any fire or brimstone or darkness that we could ever imagine.

And yet, this is not a story without hope.  Jesus prays the first verse of Psalm 22 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me), knowing full well how that Psalm changes in tone after the sorrow and suffering:

"From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.  I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you." (v21-22)
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him." (v27)


Through his cross, Jesus will bring all the ends of the earth and all the families of the nations to his Father.  And after the cross, Jesus will still stand in the midst of his loved ones and praise the name of his Father, who will raise him from the grave.

Extras

Psalm 22 is an enormously important Psalm in the story of Jesus and throughout the New Testament.  Here are just some of the places Psalm 22 is quoted.

Jesus quotes verse 1 here in Mark 15:34.  
The crowds quote verse 8 to Jesus in Matthew 27:43.
The Gospel author quotes verse 18 in Mark 15:24, as a fulfilled prophecy about the Messiah.
The author of Hebrews quotes verse 22 in Hebrews 2:12.

 

 

 

 

 

Not What I Want, But What You Want

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi
 

Last week we discussed Petitionary prayer, aka "Asking God to do stuff."  We mentioned that Moses, in Exodus 32:11-14, famously talked to God and "the LORD changed his mind."  This week, we tackle the other half of that conversation; when we ask God, not to change his mind, but to change ours.  Balancing these two aspects of petitionary prayer is one of the great challenges of the Christian prayer life.

Not What I Want, But What You Want

In the Garden of Gethsemane (see Mark 14:32-42), Jesus offers up a desperate and heartfelt prayer to his Father.  Knowing what is to come, Jesus prays "Abba, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me."  But then he adds a caveat that enables salvation itself; "But not what I want, but what you want."

In the moments of his deepest fear and distress, Jesus chose not to pray with the goal of changing his Fathers' heart, but rather his own.  We too, are called to follow this example of prayer and submission.

How do we know when to pray with certainty, and when to pray with submission?  Perhaps the connecting thread is the knowledge of God's will.  When Jesus prays with certainty, it is not merely because he wants something, but because he knows it is in his Father's will to heal the sick, or raise the dead.  In Gethsemane, while he understandably dreads the cross and the burden of sin, his Father's will still remains clear.  And so, Jesus prays against his own desires, and for the desire's of his Father's heart.

Where are we expected to model the same submission of Christ to God's will?  Are we willing to pay the cost, as Jesus did, of seeking God's wants over ours?

Extras: 


Psalm 40 is one of Scriptures' most beautiful prayers for patience and trust in the LORD.  In the seasons where we are called to submit our wants to those of God, patience and waiting become essential Christian disciplines.

The band U2 wrote a fantastic version of this Psalm, simply called "40."  Click here to see that song performed live.

Whatever You Ask for in Prayer ... It Will Be Yours.

Prayer Book of the Rabbi


One of Jesus' most complicated instructions for prayer comes from a conversation in Mark 11:12-26, where Jesus says,

"Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." - Mark 12:23-24

How do we apply this teaching?  Does Jesus mean to imply that every prayer is merely a referendum on the quantity and quality of our faith, and that sufficient faith can accomplish anything we ask?  Are we really to pray so boldly that we presume to instruct God on what we want him to do?

Whatever You Ask For in Prayer ...

In this passage in Mark, Jesus begins by cursing a fig tree (seemingly somewhat below the dignity of the Son of God).  When the disciples return later and see that the fig tree has wilted, they are shocked; Jesus then uses this as a teachable moment about the power of prayer.

Praying with confidence, as Jesus does at the fig tree, is a critical component of the story of Scripture and especially of the miracles of Jesus.  We are enjoined to utilize prayer not merely as a comfort or crutch, but as a springboard for radical trust.  This requires us to pray in such a way that God is able to answer - with enough specificity that we are forced to take a risk in our prayers, and with enough clarity that we can tell, without a doubt, whether or not God granted our request.

Jesus does not suggest here that prayer can turn God into a divine vending machine; only that our Father knows how to give us good gifts if we but ask in faith.

This brings up several two critical elements to the practice of prayer.  First, we are NOT to believe that prayer is a "faith test"; not all prayers go unanswered because of our lack of faith.  Second, prayer cannot become a substitute for action in the midst of a crisis.  Rather, we are expected to pray as though we can do nothing, and then live as though we (Christ-in-me) can do everything.

Extras:

The great challenge with this passage is that it stands in opposition to other passages about prayer (for example, next Sunday's prayer from the Garden of Gethsemane - "Not what I will, but what you will"). 

C.S. Lewis has a marvelous essay on the balancing of these two types of prayers.  It's called "Petitionary Prayer: A Problem without an Answer" from his book, Christian Reflections.  The book is excellent and well worth a read, but you can download just the essay here as well.  This is essential reading for this topic!

 

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi

The Prayer Book of the Rabbi

Sunday we will begin our final section of our Dust of the Rabbi series - The Prayer Book of the Rabbi.  This new series emphasizes the imminence of God - His closeness to us - and our ability to respond to Him through the gift of prayer.  Our Scriptural focus during this series will be on the Psalms (the prayer book of Jesus)  and on Jesus' own teaching on the topic throughout the Gospel of Mark.

Prayer is both a great comfort and a great source of confusion to so many people.  Communicating with the Creator of the Universe brings many questions.  How do you talk to God?  What do you talk about?  How do you listen?  Are there some topics that are inappropriate for God?  Even the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us how to pray."


Between Passover and Pentecost:
The Imminence of God
 

This period between the holidays of Passover/Easter and Weeks/Pentecost is a particularly appropriate time to consider the Imminence of God and our communication with Him.  

In the Old Testament, the time between the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Weeks marked the journey from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, where God made His covenant through Moses with the people of Israel. The Feast of Weeks (so named because it falls seven weeks after Passover) was both a celebration of the first harvest, and more importantly, the giving of the Law and Covenant on Mount Sinai. During the journey to Mount Sinai, God was present with the Israelites as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night; on Mount Sinai, the LORD spoke to all the people, gave the Ten Commandments and the Law to Moses, and appeared to Moses, Aaron and seventy elders.

In the New Testament, that same period between Passover and Weeks is the period between Easter and Pentecost (Pentecost was the Greek name for the Festival of Weeks; pente=50, or the number of days in seven weeks plus one).  For forty days after Easter, Jesus was present with the disciples and appeared to a great many people.  Then, a week after He ascended into heaven, on the Festival of Weeks, the Holy Spirit came from God to the apostles and birthed the church.

In both the Old and New Testaments, this season was one of the intense experience of God's amazing presence, culminating in the giving of a new way of life as the people of God. As we look forward to the Festival of Weeks, we too will seek and experience God's presence through the amazing gift of prayer. And we hope, as well, that as we become a people of prayer, we also might discover a new way of living in the Kingdom of God.

Extras:
 

In the Jewish world, this season between Passover and Weeks is called "Sefirat HaOmer", or "Counting the Omer."  From the Day of the Firstfruits, we count 49 days until Pentecost.  This season is seen as one of reflection and preparation, like that for a bride purifying herself for her wedding day.  For more information on the practice and season of "Counting the Omer," visit this page on Chabad.org.