We have been through some perplexing books and now we come to Joshua.  A small side note, Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus.  Poor Moses did not get to make it to the promised land but it is Joshua who leads the people of Israel out of the wilderness into the promised land to inherit the land that is promised to him. That’s what it sounds like right?  What is interesting is the contradictions of the narrative and archeological evidence against the stories themselves. 

Wait, shouldn’t we take the Bible literally?  The readers and authors of Joshua did not intend so.  Let us look at some of the contradictions.  Almost immediately, the Israelites violate God’s law and are not punished, but prevail in the huge victory at Jericho.  “Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy,” reads Deuteronomy 7:2.  Yet, they make a covenant with Rahab and their family and show them mercy.  In Chapter 9, the Israelites also make a pact with the Gibeonites violating Deuteronomy!  This happens on several occurrences and we are not appalled, but there must be something there to which we should pay attention. 

Ok, but God promised them victory of all nations and that happens.  (Maybe we should deal with the fact that this sounds like genocide in another post). They utterly destroyed many towns and conquered everyone because the Lord was on their side. “There was not a town that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all were taken in battle” (Jos 11:19).  Hmmm, but “None of the Anakim was left in the land of the Israelites!” Well, except “some remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.” (Jos 11:22).  There are examples of this slight contradictions peppered through the narrative.  As you can see, this voice is often injected into sentences amidst the overwhelming triumphant voice. 

In addition, there is no known evidence for all of the battles and destruction that took place, but likely there were smaller skirmishes for the tribe of Israel.  For example, we do not find evidence for the destruction at Jericho.  So, what do we make of this subversive voice that permeates through the book?    

Perhaps as Christians reading this Scripture we can see this voice through a Christ-like lens.  Perhaps us, like Rahab, find ourselves brought into the fold as the gentiles were brought in by Christ.  The triumphant voice of God prevails, but so do the stories of God’s mercy.  As we read and have read Joshua, look at this different voices, motifs, and images coming through.  What does it tell you about God?  God’s mercy, power, love, forgiveness and our own humanity?  As humans we are not very good at keeping covenants over centuries and we have a God who has an unceasing mercy and love for all of God’s people. 

We all know the Christmas story and we hear it each year, but each Christmas we also hear a different version depending from which Gospel we read.  We often hear the birth story from Matthew and Luke, but sometimes we do read John.  Our pageants tend to blend them together, but each of these Gospels has its own author and draws from different sources.  These various narratives communicate different components of the Incarnation and enable the Holy Spirit to move in different ways to and through us today. It is important to understand each Gospel narrative and, to really squeeze this analogy, have a deconstructed reading!

The Church has always loved Matthew and we often hear this Gospel’s birth narrative. Matthew first makes painstaking efforts to link the genealogy of Jesus to Abraham and David.  You will also notice that this is Joseph’s Gospel to shine.  Joseph is a “righteous man” who doesn’t divorce his wife Mary for her pregnancy.  Joseph had a dream with a flashback to Isaiah, “’Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means God is with us.” Did you ever notice how Joseph has more attention in Matthew?  The wise men (the Greek has them as magi or astrologers as well), followed the star and did not follow Herod’s orders to tell Herod of Jesus’ location.  Instead, Joseph dreams (again) where he is warned and they flee to Egypt until it is safe.  Then they travel to Nazareth. 

We will skip ahead to the second most popular birth narrative…Luke.  We begin Luke with an account of Elizabeth and Zechariah who find out they will be parents to John the Baptist.  It is then in Luke when the Angel appears to Mary and she is told the Holy Spirit will enable her to have a baby.  Joseph is mentioned, but certainly not a prominent character here.  The angel tells Mary to name the baby “Jesus.” Mary responds to this news with “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Elizabeth and Mary meet and John the Baptist leaps in Mary’s womb!  Mary then says the wonderful Song of Mary, also called the Magnificat, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”  This song is based upon Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. 

Continuing in Matthew, Elizabeth gives birth and we enter into more of the birth narrative for Jesus.  There was a registration (census) taking place and Joseph and Mary returned “to their own towns to be registered.” While going home, it was time to give birth in Bethlehem and we have a single line about being “laid in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.” Then, enter the Shepherds in the field who were terrified and told to go to Jesus (no star? No gifts?).  There is even more detail of Jesus’ infancy, his presentation in the temple, circumcision.  Let us not forget the prophet Anna!  Yes, there is so much here on Jesus’ infancy. 

Ok, phew, no wonder we often hear so much of Luke. But did you notice the differences?  Joseph prominent in one and Mary in the other.  Wise men/magi/astrologers (we call them kings…) with star in one and shepherds in the other.  Manger in one, not in the other. 

In Mark, the oldest Gospel, we jump into the ministry of John the Baptist who baptizes Jesus. John sees Jesus, who comes from Nazareth and John “saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.”  We do not hear the birth narrative!

The Gospel of John begins, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This references Jesus’ existence before his birth into humanity.  In verse 14, we hear, “and the Word became flesh and lived among us…” John was written later and is much more theological and was written for a particular audience; the Johanine community.
 
Each of these Gospels teaches and tells us about the Incarnation of our God in different ways.  We often mix our Gospels up into Gospel soup! Each story is important!  What does reading a single narrative, forgetting the others momentarily, communicate to you about Jesus and the nature of God?  Imagine if you only had Matthew, or Luke, or Mark, or John! 

Reading through history, it is often surprising how well messages, reports, stories, news and general information circulated before modern means of communication we take for granted today. I find it equally remarkable pondering the distances covered by travelers long before modern modes of transportation. We read about the travels of people in biblical times and can only wonder at vast lengths of distances covered when their only options were riding plodding animals, not even horses, by sail, or on foot. As we read Exodus and Deuteronomy, it marvels me to consider how Moses led the Israelites in their long journey through difficult unmapped wilderness and uncertain conditions. I’m sure we will certainly consider the challenges of long-distance travel and communication over land and sea when we later read about the missionary journeys and letters of the Apostle Paul.

- Colgate Salomon

Advent is the word used to translate the Greek word parousia.  Adventus, the Latin term originated in the Latin translation of the Bible by St. Jerome called the Vulgate.  The original Greek word is found in the New Testament numerous times and holds connotations of the word "coming." It usually means Jesus is coming (at Christmas) or Jesus is coming (at the end times). 

The Church includes Advent as a separate season; a season of preparation and patience.  We are in the time of "already" and "not yet," meaning Christ "already" became Incarnate in the person Jesus and "not yet" meaning Christ is still to come at the end of time.  As we read the Scripture, the Old Testament is written in a time of all "not yet."  These Scriptures detail God's movement and presence in ancient Israel and lays the foundation for a God to become Incarnate.  As you read the Old Testament, live into the "not yet."  Christ is still to come and these words help us prepare the way for God's coming.

The New Testament, especially our Gospels, describes the time when Christ is present! When Christ came in a particular moment in time.  We do not know if Christ will take the same form of a middle eastern man again, but we do know that Christ will come again.  Read these texts with the joy of a Christ who is present and as a way to prepare for Christ to come again.

Entering Scriptures allows us to partake in the anticipation, the excitement of God who has come, is present, and will come again.  This Advent season continue in this exercise of reading the Bible daily in fellowship with about 50 other people.  Christ is present.