Episode 224 - "In the beginning, God . . . " Genesis 1:1-2

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Here we are at the beginning of a new book. Until now, I’ve only covered books in the New Testament. I thought it was time we looked at a book in the Old Testament or, as my Jewish friend would say, the Hebrew Scriptures. There are different reasons why I consider Genesis to be a good book for us to study. The first reason is that I’m more familiar with it than many other books in the Hebrew Scriptures. Secondly, Genesis is the beginning of a grand story with a crisis and plot that is not fully resolved until the end of the Bible. Yes. You read that correctly. There are many stories in Genesis as well as other Scriptures. But all of them are in some way or another connected within a greater story that extends through the entire canon of the Bible. If we don’t know Genesis, it’s difficult to understand much of the Bible as a whole. Jesus and the New Testament authors often cite, speak of, or allude to Genesis and the early books in the Testament. Their theology is significantly informed by what happens in Genesis. Finally, it’s just a wonderful book to read. Let’s take a quick look at the first few verses.

The Bible begins with three simple words, “In the beginning.” (Gen. 1:1a) Those words help establish our context of time. If there is any ambiguity in the reader’s mind as to the beginning of what, that ambiguity is dissolved with the words that follow, “God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1b) This is talking about the beginning of time as we know it. The time when the universe was created. But let’s not jump ahead too fast. What is vital that we learn from this already? The answer is that God was already there in the beginning. The implication is that God is eternal since there is no suggestion that God had a beginning. I was teaching this passage once to families with young children. I asked why it was so important that God did not have a beginning. A girl, probably around 10 or 11 years of age, promptly raised her hand and replied, “It means that God will not have an end.” If we believe the God of the Bible is good and powerful, it is encouraging to believe that He will always be there.

The term “heavens and the earth” is a literary device called a merism. In our American culture, we might say “from A to Z.” That is a merism. For the purpose of our text, the author of Genesis, (The Bible and tradition hold that Moses is the author of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.) is opening the story by saying God existed at the beginning of time and everything else that exists was made by God.

In good story form, the author now gives us a problem. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” (Gen. 1:2a) As much as I’ve enjoyed humankind’s adventures into space, going to the moon and sending rockets and robots to Mars, I cannot quite understand the obsession with going to Mars or even creating an outpost on the Moon. These objects are formless and void. There is no life. Even those who’ve gone into outer space speak of the awe they had when they could look back at the Earth with all its life. So, God created the earth. But there was a problem. It did not have life of any form, and it was dark. The dark condition is not just a condition that might make us fearful or otherwise not want to be in the darkness. But it also means there was no hope for life in the absence of light.

We are already on the edge of our seats, wondering, “What’s going to happen to change this?” The tension is fueled by the statement that follows, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2b) In the Hebrew language, the word that we translate as “hovering over” is the term used for a mother bird brooding over its nest, ready to bring forth life. In other words, “the Spirit of God” is about to change the void and darkness that is upon the earth.

In just two short verses, we have the making of an exciting story. We have an eternal God who is the primary character in this story, and this God is about to do something amazing! What is it? Tune in next week, and we’ll find out.

Until then, reflect upon God being eternal, powerful, and creative. How can that be valuable to you this week?

Episode 43 - Jesus walks on water

John 6:16   When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

So far John has given us four “signs” or miracles that Jesus performed; although he mentions at times that he’s worked many others. At the end of this book, John will say that the books of the world could not contain everything Jesus did. But, John is careful to select seven in the first half of this book to show who Jesus is. They are:

1. Jesus turning the water into wine.

2. Jesus healing the official’s son.

3. Jesus healing the lame man on the Sabbath near the the pool.

4. Jesus feeding the 5,000+.

Now the fifth miracle is Jesus walking on the water. That is an amazing thing and we would recognize that to be miraculous. The question is however, “What is it about this miracle that John decides it will be one of the few that he selects to give us detail.

In giving you my belief as to why, let me remind you that prior to the feeding of the multitude, Jesus told his antagonists that Moses wrote about him. Then, immediately after John tells us that, he tells us about how Jesus, in a manner even greater that Moses, miraculously fed this large multitude of people in a wilderness area. The people themselves noticed this because they said so and they wanted to make Jesus king. 

The scene here that John gives us is of the disciples getting into a boat on the Sea of Galilee without Jesus. (We are left to wonder whether Jesus told them to or whether they made an executive decision to leave without him.) Their intended destination is Capernaum on the other side of the sea. Scholars believe this may have been about seven miles from where they started. They are halfway across, a strong wind has come up making the water rough, and John says in verse 17, “It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” 

Did you see that? They left Jesus. It was dark. Jesus (the light of the world) had not yet come to them. I don’t deny that this was what happened. But, it seems to me that John is giving us this detail to indicate that the darkness they were in was not just because of the hour of the day or clouds obscuring any natural light. This physical reality also represented their own ignorance and perhaps lack of trust in Jesus still. They needed Jesus to come to them to give them His light.

When they are in the middle of the sea, Jesus comes walking on top of the water toward them and they are frightened. A few things I notice about this:

1. These men got a head start and were collectively rowing toward their intended destination. Yet, Jesus caught up with them walking; wind and water were no impedance to him.

2. Moses, God’s prophet, also came to a large body of water. God instructed him to hold out his staff and God parted the water so that Moses and the people could walk through on dry ground. Jesus, the Prophet like Moses, just walks over the top of it. 

3. In response to their fear, Jesus, the Light of the world, and also the Word of God speaks to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” This could also be understood as “It is I am; do not be afraid.” Maybe I’m reading too much into this. But, the fact of the matter is that this book is loaded with double-entendres and I personally believe that’s what is happening here. Clearly, they hear his voice and understand that Jesus is identifying himself. However, I think John, after the fact, realizes God’s providential intent in Jesus’ words to also say, “I am (the Creator, Redeemer God of your ancestors) here with you. You do not need to be afraid.”

When Jesus said that, John says they gladly took him into the boat. But, the last little note puts the icing on this cake. John writes that when they took him into the boat, they were “immediately at the land to which they were going.” Don’t forget that they were only halfway across the sea when Jesus appeared to them. When he got in the boat, they were immediately at their destination. Wow!

If we see the same things in this text, I think we have a better picture of why John included this miracle. It’s evidence that Jesus is the Prophet like Moses. But, he’s so much more. He is the Light of the world. He is the Word of God. He is “I am” meaning, he is God.

We need Jesus in our boat don’t we. We need him on our everyday journey. We need to trust him and knowing that he is with us, we don’t need to be afraid.