Seeing God (part 9 of 9)

Now why does this matter?  It matters because of what happens in conjunction with this particular report of the activity of the Son of Man.  Jesus goes on to say that “All the nations will be assembled before Him, and He will separate people from one another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for  you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:32-34) 

Paying close attention now, it is possible to learn why they will inherit the kingdom (mind you, this is not about going to a place called heaven, but rather, living in and possessing and establishing the Creator God’s kingdom brought to earth), as Jesus (the Son of Man, the Son of God, the King) says “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I was naked and you gave Me clothing, I was sick and you took care of Me, I was in prison and you visited Me” (25:35-36).  This sounds an awful lot like the use of treasure.  Might it be the case that one is supposed to think, at this point, about the construct of purity in heart from earlier in Matthew? 

Matthew goes on to report the response from those to whom Jesus has spoken, as he records Jesus saying “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or naked and clothe You?  When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’” (25:37-39)  After Jesus has detailed, and after His hearers have repeated the use of treasure, illustrated by food, drink, hospitality and shelter, clothing, and the gift of self and time, which can now be understood as the demonstration of purity of heart (it is not difficult to see in these things the care that the Creator God demands be given to resident foreigners, orphans, widows, and the poor), the righteous respond most interestingly. 

Just in case it passed un-noticed, the response contains three uses of “see You.”  It is asked, “when did we see You.”  Here there is a demonstration of purity of heart directed towards the King (Jesus, God), followed by a seeing.  There it is!  This is the answer for which we this study been searching.  To seal the deal and close out this study, look at what comes next.  “And the King will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me” (25:40).  Those that give of themselves and their treasure in these ways: providing food, drink, clothing, shelter, and care to fellow travelers in this world that also, however broken and marred, bear the same divine image with which all have been endowed, reveal that they are pure in heart.  Yes, according to Jesus, in doing these things they have seen, and do indeed see God.          

Abraham's Justification (part 2 of 2)

Fully cognizant of the scope of the Abraham story, Paul bluntly states “For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law,” or if Abraham was justified (placed under the auspices of God’s covenant) by the act of circumcision (encapsulating covenant markers with “circumcision”), “he has something to boast about” (4:2a).  So yes, if Abraham has been declared to be in right standing with God because of his circumcision, then he could point to that very circumcision as the source of his right standing.  This, however, would be to get the cart before the horse so to speak, so Paul adds “but not before God” (4:2b).  He may be able to convince the people around him that God found him righteous (in right covenant standing), and therefore had Abraham undergo circumcision as a mark of that prior right standing, but he certainly could not put that over on God. 

So Paul, seeking to elevate faith, with faith being belief in Jesus as Messiah, as the means by which one gains righteousness, inquires as to what the Scripture says (4:3a) and answers his own question with “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (4:3b).  It is not a matter of works versus faith, but it is a matter of order.  For Abraham, it was belief in the faithful, covenant God that was primary, and which eventually led to the mark of the covenant that he would come to bear.  This is what Paul believes God is now doing in relation to Jesus and the extension of the covenant to Gentiles. 

The covenant marker of circumcision, that began with Abraham, is not the means of entrance upon the covenant, but is only the mark of trust in the God of the covenant.  For Gentiles, justification comes from belief in the God of the covenant, which entails a belief in Jesus as Lord of all, and the mark of circumcision will be that of the heart rather than of the flesh.  In this way then, Paul has identified Abraham with the Gentiles, placing him on par with the Gentiles, and so elevating the Gentiles to the status of Abraham.  This is a bold, rhetorical move. 

Using this very obvious and undeniable example of Abraham and his “order of salvation” (belief, assumption under covenant, then covenant marker), Paul writes “Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation” (4:4).  We here must resist the tendency to fall back into old habits of thought that equates “works” with “attempting to earn righteousness and therefore a trip to heaven upon death through doing good deeds.”  Though Paul is using the analogy of actual work and actual payment for actual work, the larger analogy, which is that of works of the law as covenant marker and means of justification, versus belief in Jesus as covenant marker and means of justification, holds sway.  Continuing then, Paul adds “But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness” (4:5).  This is precisely the example that both Jew and Gentile have in Abraham.  

Abraham is introduced into the story of God’s covenant people (that begins with Adam) at the close of the eleventh chapter of Genesis.  There, we hear about Abraham’s (Abram’s) father, his brothers, his nephew, his wife, and his sister-in-law, but we do not have any biographical information about Abraham that would allow us to make a determination as to his nature as a person and whether or not he could be considered to be “righteous” in a moral sense, or “saved” in the popular sense, and thus worthy of his coming communication with the Creator God of the universe.  It is immediately after learning about nothing more than Abraham’s immediate family that the story of God’s covenant people proceeds to the record of God bringing Abraham into covenant with him, and the making of promises concerning him and his descendants (that will be reiterated, expanded upon, and eventually passed along to son, grandson, and to succeeding generations). 

God simply comes to Abraham.  There is no evidence of pre-Torah or pre-Torah-based-tradition activity on Abraham’s part that could be construed as justification-indicating covenant markers.  As far as we know, Abraham is as ungodly as the rest of humanity.  If we are hearing or reading Genesis for the first time, and have just come across this information about Abraham’s family that follows the story of the Tower of Babel, the division of the nations, and the genealogy of Shem, we would not have any basis to expect that, following the record of Abraham’s father’s death, that the God of creation is going to speak to this character named Abraham (Abram) for the purpose of creating an eternal covenant by which He is eventually going to re-unite the peoples of the world (that had just been divided into distinct language groups and scattered to the four winds).  In all reality, God’s selection of Abraham, and His speaking to Abraham in the way that is recorded here in Genesis, should be of considerable and paradoxical surprise to a member of Israel, especially considering that the God of Israel speaks and makes promises to one who is not circumcised and who does not adhere to the covenantal practices that indicate that one is in a position of right standing and thus reasonably able to expect to experience such an encounter.  Nevertheless, this is precisely what happened, and it is precisely that by which the Abraham tale, so crucial to the collective consciousness of Israel, is composed.