ALKITAB JESOES FULL

The two incidents of hospitality are explained in exactly the same language. The two angels then left Abraham and the Lord and travelled into Sodom (19:1) where they met Lot, Abraham’s nephew. What did Abraham and his wife Sarah do? They offered hospitality. The story begins in Genesis 18 when three visitors (God and two angels, appearing as “men”) came before Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch.

Their interpretation of the story is that it is about homosexuality. Those who would exclude homosexuals from God’s kingdom choose to ignore Jesus, turning instead to the Old Testament – most particularly to Genesis 19, the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In answer to the scribe’s question on the most important laws, Jesus summarised the theological ethic of his gospel: love of God and love of neighbour ( 12:29-31).

This message of inclusion becomes even clearer when Jesus is later confronted by a single scribe ( 12:28). The ordinary people who followed Jesus understood that he represented a different understanding of God. Jesus was saying God refused to be the exclusive property of the Sadducees. Thus they limited God’s power to be different from traditional understandings of him. Jesus recognised that they chose to interpret Scripture in a way that prevented it from being understood in non-traditional ways. Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? Among those who confronted Jesus, they represented the group that held to a conservative theological position and used their interpretation of the Scripture to exclude. In Mark 12:24, Jesus addresses the Sadducees, who were the traditional high priests of ancient Israel and played an important role in the temple. They eagerly embraced him as he walked through the temple. The “ordinary people” ( 11:32 and 12:12) recognised that Jesus proclaimed a gospel of inclusion. Each of these leadership sectors used their interpretation of Scripture to exclude rather than to include.

ALKITAB JESOES FULL

He met the full array of temple leadership, including chief priests, teachers of the law and elders. On his third visit, Jesus spent considerable time in the temple itself ( 11:27-13:2). Jesus specifically targeted those who exploited the poorest of the people coming to the temple. On the second visit he acted, driving “out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves” ( 11:15). First, he visited briefly, and “looked around at everything” ( 11:11). Mark’s Gospel, found in the New Testament, records that Jesus entered the Jerusalem temple on three occasions. There are several instances in the Bible that underscore my point. Instead, they allow their patriarchal fears to distort it, seeking to find in the Bible proof-texts that will support attitudes of exclusion. The Bible is always interpreted by our churches through their particular theological lenses.Īs a biblical scholar, I would suggest that church leaders who use their cultures and theology to exclude homosexuals don’t read Scripture carefully. When church leaders refer to “the Bible” or “the Scriptures”, they usually mean “the Bible as we understand it through our theological doctrines”. Scripture is particularly important for Christians. Some of these Catholics may argue that Pope Francis’s approach to LGBTI matters is a misinterpretation of Scripture (or the Bible). Pope Francis' visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church

Alkitab jesoes