Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction.
They say to the seers,
"See no more visions!"
and to the prophets,
"Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
Leave this way, get off this path,
and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"
(Is. 30:8-11)
Years ago, when I was still working, one of my office mates asked me this question one morning at 7:30 am, a half-hour before my first class: Why do the Jews suffer and Catholics feel guilty?
I paused for a moment to absorb the question, in the midst of gathering materials and my lesson plan for the 8:00 am class. "Do you want the answer in 25 words or less?" I asked her.
What a question! ---one that would take a lifetime to explore fully. Still today, 20 years later, I can only begin to probe at an answer to the first part of the question----and now, only because of all the questions on Facebook about Tim Tebow. People are asking why he has aroused so much venom in the sports world, just because he acknowledges God.
I think the answer to the Facebook questions can be found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and every one of the prophets, including Moses and Jesus Himself. The Jews became prophets to the rest of the world; they inscribed the Law of God on a scroll, as a witness to the truth and justice of God. And the rest of the world reacts throughout history and even today just like they did in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah and in the time of Jesus: Stop it! We don't want to hear it! We don't want to see it! Your words and actions are offensive to us!
The Jews suffer because, as the Scripture says, The blows who have hated You have fallen upon me! (Ps. 69:). Psalm 69---all of it---is a graphic portrayal of what happens to those who proclaim God to the world:
- many are my enemies without cause
- they hate me without reason
- they seek to destroy me
- I endure scorn for your sake
- scorn has broken my heart and left me helpless
- I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but found none.
- They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst (written 1000 years before Jesus' death on the cross).
Jesus warned His disciples---His last words to them---that the world would hate them as it hated Him: if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own....but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you....They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent me....He who hates me hates my Father as well (Jn. 15: 18ff).
The Jews suffer today for the same reason that the Apostles were martyred and for the same reason that Tim Tebow is both respected and hated---because they have all testified to the Truth.
But for those who reject the message, Isaiah 30:12 says this:
Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression and depended on deceit,
this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
Anyone who asks why the Jews suffer, why Jesus was crucified, why Tim Tebow is scorned for witnessing to his faith, has only to read Isaiah. The answer is there: Stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!
"What the Christian Scriptures say about public prayer:
ReplyDeleteThe author of the Gospel of Matthew contrasted public and private prayer. He recorded Jesus as saying:
Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...."
The reference to go into thy closet has been translated in other versions of the Bible as "go into your inner room." "go away by yourself," "all alone," "your [most] private room," "enter into thy chamber," and "go into your room."
Two of the largest Jewish religious movements in 1st century Judea were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus is recorded as having repeatedly criticized both -- often with rather hateful and vicious language. Much of Jesus' anger may have been motivated by their prayer methods which were very public.
Many liberal Christians interpret Matthew 6:6 literally. Jesus believed that prayers are to be an intensely personal event between a person and God; no one else should be present. Prayer to him was a private matter. Jesus condemns prayers in situations where other people are present. For example, in terms of today's culture, this would include:
bullet In religious settings like churches or synagogues,in a private or public school,in a legislature or municipal government meeting, or
in the street or other public place.
Most conservative Christians tend to downplay Jesus' instruction about the importance of going off by oneself and pray alone and in secret. After all, if public prayer is not permitted, then just about every Christian service is seriously in error, with the possible exception of some by the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Conservatives interpret Matthew 6:5 as not condemning public prayer. Rather, it criticizes only that prayer in public that is motivated by a desire to show off. Prayer "may be offered in any circumstances, however open, if not promoted by the spirit of ostentation..." (source:ReligiousTolerance.org)