Do not be afraid

When people hear that I've been studying New Testament Greek this year, often they ask me, "So, what difference does it make?"

Someone once told me that it's like "seeing in 3D".  You could also say it's like going from black and white to colour TV; or from mono to stereo. At the time I did not really understand what that meant; but now I think I'm beginning to have a taste of the sweetness of understanding the Biblical text as it's originally written.

This week at Small Group, we came across the story in Mark 6:45-52 where Jesus was walking on top of the water on a lake in the middle of the storm. He had sent the disciples ahead earlier, but they were struggling in the middle of the storm. When they saw Him, they were terrified because they thought He was a ghost!

'Immediately he spoke to them: "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid."' (Mark 6:50 HCSB)

When you look at it in the English, it doesn't really stand out too much. But when you look at the Greek, it gets a little interesting: 

"καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμι· μὴ φοβεῖσθε"

(Literally: "And he is saying to them, "Have courage, I I am. Do not be afraid.")

 I I am? What's that about? Why the two I's?

So a little background to know is that in Koine Greek (the Greek of the time of the Bible), the personal pronoun is actually embeded within the verb. So instead of needing two words to express "I am", it can actually just be encompassed with the single word "εἰμι" (pronounced "ey-mee"). To change who it refers to, what you do is you change the word: so for example, the second person form "you are" is represented by "εἶ".

What this means is that the word for "I" (ἐγώ; pronounced "eh-goe") is actually redundant in this context! To say ἐγώ εἰμι is the equivalent of saying "I I am" in English.

What's going on there?

Well, it's kind of the Greek equivalent of emphasising "I am". Or something like "I AM". It highlights it, makes you take notice of it.

Now why would the author do that?

The attentive reader who remembers their Old Testament would instantly recognise echoes of Exodus 3:14, where God gives His personal Name to Moses: "I AM WHO I AM"

And that was where it hit me. Jesus wasn't just telling His disciples not to worry just because He was there. He was telling them, "You don't need to be afraid because I AM GOD." He's in control. Even when everything seemed like everything was going crazy, He was in complete control of the situation, because of who He is.

Now, at this point, I need to point out that we need to be careful not to overstate the ἐγώ εἰμι thing. There are actually instances where other characters use the same wording, and I'm pretty sure they're not saying they were God too! And I'm sure there are probably reasons why many translators go for "It is I" rather than "I am". It's a dangerous thing to know a little bit of Greek! Can make you think you know things that you don't really know… haha…

However, the context of the passage actually makes it a very safe interpretation. Those who've been studying Mark with me will know that up to this point the Big Question that keeps getting asked is "who the heck is this guy?!" Is He just a teacher? Is He a prophet? Or might He be…God?

At this point, Mark is starting to really push the buttons to point at Jesus as God. In the section just before, He feeds bread to the multitude in the wilderness just as God fed bread (manna) to Israel in the wilderness. His mastery over the storm and the sea is reminiscent of passages from Psalms and Isaiah where it describes God as the only one who can control the elements. Even the way that he was "passing by" is written in a way that is reminiscent of how God "passed by" in front of Moses in Exodus!

So whether or not "ἐγώ εἰμι" really is about Jesus proclaiming His Godhood, everything else in the passage is screaming that out!

Which brings us to an interesting observation: I could have probably come to a similar conclusion even without understanding much about "ἐγώ εἰμι"! If I was paying attention to everything else that was happening in the scene, I would probably draw the same conclusion that Jesus' Godhood was on display here.

But the message I "heard" because of "ἐγώ εἰμι" was quite profoundly… sharper? Colourful? Beautiful? "Have courage, I am. Do not be afraid" When I heard that, I was hit in the pit of my stomach. Life is a bit of a storm for me at the moment, and I am very much afraid. But Jesus comes along and says, "Don't be afraid. Hold on to courage, because I am God." Don't be afraid, because I am in control. Don't be afraid, because I love you more than you can imagine. Don't be afraid, because I am.

So yeah, it's not like you're necessarily missing out on HEAPS if you don't know Koine Greek, thanks to the hard work of many faithful translators and preachers. But… you really are missing out on something beautiful if you can't read the original text for yourself ;) Why hear about ice cream when you can taste it for yourself?

Come to Bible College! ;)

Disclaimer: Everything said above is the opinion of a mere first year part-time Bible College student XD 

What does it mean to Believe?

A friend recently asked me a question, and I wrote a rather lengthy reply. I thought it would be helpful to you as well, and so I thought I would post it up.

The verse: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  John 3:36

The question: May I take this passage literally? Does 'believing in' the son mean just acknowledging that He exists, or is there some hidden clause within the Bible that says I also haveta love Him/worship Him/whatever before I receive eternal life?

My response:

I'm glad you see that there might be something more to understanding the passage. I don't think it's about taking the passage "literally" or not; it's about having a comprehensive understanding of the passage in its proper context, rather than ripping them out of context.

I suppose the key to your question and the passage is this: What does it mean to "believe in" the Son?

One important thing to understand is that John the Baptist is making a "compare and contrast" statement. But what is John comparing and contrasting? The key is the little word, "but". We often notice the first clause, but we forget about the (very) important second clause joined by "but"! So here, it seems that John is comparing "believing" in the Son of God with "rejecting" the Son of God.

Why would "believing" be compared with "rejecting" at first thought it wouldn't make sense. You'd think the opposite of "believing" is "disbelieving" or something like that.

At this point I cheated a bit and went to the Greek hahaha. There's this really cool internet resource that let's you see what the Bible says in its original language, as well as go to the "dictionary meaning" of the word. You can see the section for John 3:36 here. If you click on the numbers (not the words themselves) then you can get to that dictionary I was talking about.

You will see there that "believe" actually comes from the word "pisteuōn"; whereas "reject" comes from "apeithōn". You will notice that "pisteuōn" means "I have faith/trust in" in the Greek, but it is derived from a word for "be persuaded". When you go over to the meaning for apeithōn, you will find it means, literally, "refuse to be persuaded", and is a word used to indicate disobedience and disloyalty. From there, it's a little easier to understand why John would decide to compare "pisteuōn" with "apeithōn", since both has something to do with persuasion.

There are a few important implications from this little word study:

• -          "believe" means more than just an acknowledgement that Jesus exists. ("Even the demons believe - and shudder!" James 2:19). To have eternal life, you have to need to have "pisteuōn" - "faith/trust in" Him. Intellectual assent does not mean saving faith.
• -          Rejecting the Son of God means you will not see life. Disobedience, disloyalty, to the Son means you will not get eternal life. A "refusal to be persuaded" by the Son will lead to death.
• -          When "pisteuōn" is directly compared with "apeithōn", it tells you that both are important criteria to consider. Having faith means obedience. Disobedience indicates lack of faith. They go hand in hand together - one leads to another - and so you cannot just say "I believe" and get a "get out of jail free" card.

What does "faith in the Son" mean anyway? It is much more than the intellectual acknowledgemeent that a single person existed. The entirety of the Bible points to this Son of God as the fulfilment of God's great Promises from ages past; "faith in the Son" means trusting in this very fulfilment. It is much, much more than just believing that Jesus existed. It is believing that "God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

It gets even more interesting when you get out of the single verse itself and consider it in its broader context. What has happened just before and after? Why did the author (John) place this story before/after?

Zooming out a bit you discover this verse was actually some words spoken by John the Baptist, acknowledging that it is good that Jesus was increasing in fame while John the Baptist was decreasing in fame, because ultimately humanity needed to come to faith in the Son, not John the Baptist. What a clear example of faith in the Son of God! He has such faith and trust in the Son that he's willing to step down in importance in order for Jesus to be raised up!

Going back just one more story, you realise that it is actually the story of the Pharisee Nicodemus that comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness to learn about Salvation from Jesus. This was where we get the famous, "For God so loved the world" verse. Notice that in this verse, it talks about "belief" (pisteuōn) as well! So you find out through this story actually starts off a whole section that talks about what "belief" in the Son of God means! Each story is geared to display an aspect of belief, and what it means to believe in the Son of God. After the story of John the Baptist's faith, comes the story of the faith of the Samaritan woman at the well. When she believes, she goes into town and tells everyone about Jesus! The story after that talks a bit about unbelief.

So in summary, paying careful attention to the words the author uses, where he puts the word, and how he shapes the story helps reveal a LOT about the verse. In this particular verse, we find out that Eternal Life can only be gained through faith, trust and obedience in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.