Podcasts about duhm

In dieser Podcastfolge hole ich den lieben Sebastian Duhm ans Mikrofon. Sebastian, ein Visionär, Baumpflanzer und absolutes Groß-Herz, begibt sich mit mir noch einmal zurück nach Japan und auf unsere gemeinsame Japanreise. Wir philosophieren gemeinsam über die Begriffe Ikigai, Nagomi und Ichi-Go-Ichi, die in der japanischen Kultur so viel Bedeutung haben. Vor allem aber sprechen wir auch darüber, wie Themen wie "Im Hier und Jetzt sein", "Harmonie und Nachhaltigkeit leben" und "Freude in kleinen Momenten entdecken" unser Leben und entsprechend unsere Gesundheit und Lebendigkeit verändern können! Ich wünsche Dir jetzt schon viel Spaß bei dieser Folge und danke, dass Du Dir Zeit für Deine Lebendigkeit, innere Stille und Achtsamkeit nimmst! Alles Liebe, Deine Miriam

Wie frei bist du wirklich? In 7 Minuten zum Ergebnis: Freiheits-Quiz Heute haben wir einen echten Spezial-Gast auf dem Podcast. Dieter Duhm ist ein echter Experte auf dem Gebiet der freien Liebe. Er ist Psychoanalytiker, Kunsthistoriker, promovierter Soziologie und Autor vieler Bücher, Initiator des Plans der Heilungsbiotope und Mitbegründer von Tamera. __ Wenn dir die Folge gefallen hat, freue ich mich über eine 5-Sterne-Bewertung bei Spotify und iTunes, einen Kommentar bei iTunes und natürlich einem Abo! Damit hilfst du uns den Podcast noch besser und bekannter zu machen. Die 3 Lügen, mit denen Du dich am Boden hältst - und wie Du endlich dein geilstes Leben führst: Kostenloser WORKSHOP Wenn du es wirklich ernst meinst: ChainlessMENTORING Du willst den Podcast auch in Videoformat erleben? Zu jedem Podcast findest du auch Videoinhalte auf unserem neuen: YouTube-Kanal ChainlessLIFE Bis zu 70% mehr Produktivität: FlowStateProductivity-Coaching Du willst lernen, wie du in 8 Wochen durch ethisches Verkaufen örtliche Unabhängigkeit und finanzielle Sicherheit erlangst? EHTICAL SALES COACHING Schreib mir deine Meinung bei Facebook in unsere Gruppe: Ich freue mich immer über ein Feedback Wenn dir die Folge gefallen hat, freue ich mich über eine 5-Sterne-Bewertung bei Spotify und iTunes, einen Kommentar bei iTunes und natürlich einem Abo! Damit hilfst du uns den Podcast noch besser und bekannter zu machen. Wenn du mehr geile Inhalte haben willst, dann abonniere die auf Ist wie dieser Podcast hier, nur kompakter und in Schriftform. Das Tool für deine persönliche Weiterentwicklung. ChainlessCHRONICLES Kooperationsanfragen gerne an: podcast@chainlesslife.com ___ Erfahre mehr über ChainlessLIFE: Instagram: https://bit.ly/Pod_InstagramCL YouTube: https://bit.ly/Pod_YouTubeCL Mein Buch: https://bit.ly/Pod_ChainlessLIFE-Buch ___ Erfahre mehr über Dieter und seine Arbeit 1. Das Buch "Und sie erkannten sich" (Print-Ausgabe / e-book) von Dieter Duhm und Sabine Lichtenfels, mit dem ja alles begonnen hat! 2. Der Online-Kurs zum Buch https://terra-nova.earth/heilungderliebe/ 3. Die Webseite von Tamera www.tamera.org/de

In 1892, a German scholar named Bernhard Duhm published a book titled, Das Buch Jesaiah (Gottingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1892). Duhm is credited with being the first to identify four “songs,” or “poems” within Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-66) which he called Servant Songs. These four Isaiah texts (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-7; 52:13-53:12) provide us with the basis [...]

Wie kann die Erde heilen? In dieser Podcastfolge möchte ich dir Dieter Duhm, einen Rebellen des Geistes, vorstellen.Dieter Duhm ist Psychoanalytiker, Kunsthistoriker, Autor und Mitbegründer von Tamera. Er ist mutig und radikal den wichtigsten Fragen des Lebens gefolgt und teilt in diesem Gespräch seine bewegende Geschichte. Zwei Männer. Zwei Liebende. Im Gespräch über den Zustand der äußeren Welt und die Matrix der Liebe. * Wie können wir Menschen ein Miteinander erschaffen, das nicht mehr zerstört, sondern stärkt und mit Allem co-creiert? * Wie können solche Heilungsbiotope ganz konkret aussehen? * Wie kann sich jede|r Einzelne tiefer und klarer für eine innere Führung aus dieser heiligen Matrix heraus öffnen?Ich wünsche dir viel Freude und Heilung beim Hören. * Alles zu Dieter Duhm. http://go.homodea.com/hd224 * Hier gehts zu homodea. http://go.homodea.com/hd191 * Alles zu Veit Lindau. https://go.veitlindau.com/bold-impact * Du kannst dir den Podcast überall auf iTunes, Spotify, meinem Blog, YouTube und allen Podcastapps kostenlos anhören. * Ich freu mich sehr, wenn dich die Folge inspiriert. Schreib mir sehr gern unter podcast@veitlindau.com dein Feedback oder deine Wünsche für weitere Themen und Gäste. In Verbundenheit, Dein Veit Folge direkt herunterladen

The audio and the full text of the sermon are below. There are also questions for reflection at the bottom. Feel free to discuss on our sermon discussion group on Facebook.This is part two in a five part series on The Servant Songs. Isaiah 42:1-61Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it,who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you;I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;before they spring forth, I tell you of them. In 1922, Bernhard Duhm identified the Servant Songs in Isaiah in a particular way. His theory was that someone other than the prophet, and indeed other than the author of second Isaiah, if there are multiple authors of the book, wrote the Servant Songs, and an editor inserted them into the book.This was really at the heart of Duhm’s identification of the Servant Songs. He contended that the character of the songs was different from much of what is found in second Isaiah. Declaring that they have a different author allows us to pull the songs out of Isaiah and interpret them without reference to the rest of the text.I don’t think we should do this, though. Even if Duhm is correct about the authorship of the Servant Songs, which is seriously disputed, someone did weave them into a particular text, and communities have accepted these as the prophets words, and in fact, God’s word, for centuries. All of this is to say that the context of the Servant Songs is important.Isaiah 42 is not the first use of the imagery of “servant” in Isaiah. In First Isaiah (ch. 1-39), the word is always used to refer to either someone specific (e.g. Isaiah 20:3 “…Just as my servant Isaiah has walked…”), or to servants in general (e.g. Isaiah 37 “When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah…”).In Second Isaiah we get the first instance of Israel being identified as the servant. This happens in Isaiah 41:8-9, one chapter before the first “Servant Song”:“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners,saying to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off ’;”The motif of Israel/Jacob being the servant continues strongly throughout much of Second Isaiah. Servant is used exclusively to refer to Israel/Jacob from Isaiah 44 to 48.It would seem that at least when it comes to the first Servant Song, we need to ask whether it may in fact be about Israel. This is our first question, because the context of second Isaiah demands it.Second Isaiah is addressed to those Israelites who are in exile from their homeland in Babylon. It begins at chapter 40 with a powerful image of a highway being made by God through the wilderness: the promise of a straight road to lead the exiles home. Chapter 41 assures the people that they are cared for by God. They are collectively his chosen servant, and God will strengthen them.Isaiah 42, uses the same language to talk about the servant as is found in Isaiah 41. The servant is a chosen one. This was about Israel in chapter 41. Can it still be about Israel?V. 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit on him he will bring forth justice to the nations.” This can only be about Israel if we see the servant as a personification of the nation, and if we believe that God’s intention was to bring justice to the earth through his chosen people. There is in fact strong evidence in the Old Testament to support that the very reason God had a chosen people was a bless and to bring about justice or righteousness to the world, through them.As you read through the other verses in the servant song, you will find that the words can be applied to Israel. V. 2 “He will not cry or lift up his voice…” This is in reference to the way God’s people would bring about justice: not through mighty declarations or speeches, but quietly, presumably through faithful actions.V. 3 “A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” A bruised reed and a dimly burning wick refer to those who are weak. This is saying that God’s chosen people will not bring forth justice by trampling on the weak. God’s justice will come not through the oppression of people. We could continue and draw out how this may refer to Israel, but we should know that this text is not to be seen as referring to what Israel did, but rather the hope of who Israel could be.You may not quite be with me in thinking that the first servant song refers to Israel. Perhaps you’ve been taught that all four of the songs must be about Jesus. We’re coming to that, I promise.But first, we need to know something about the Greek translation of the Old Testament. One of the earliest translations of the Old Testament took place over the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE. This version of the Old Testament, along with some other books that are not part of Scripture, is called the Septuagint.The Septuagint is what most of the New Testament writers used when they were quoting from the Old Testament, because it was in Greek. Most of the New Testament writers would have also known Hebrew and would have been familiar with the Hebrew text. Translations are problematic because meaning can be lost or slightly changed. The Septuagint is problematic in an even greater way because it was likely translated from a variant, or several variants of the Hebrew Bible. This means that the Septuagint may not have been translated from exactly the same version which became the authoritative Hebrew version of the Scriptures passed down by the Scribes.So, there are sometimes fairly large discrepancies between the Greek version of the Old Testament and the Hebrew version of the Old Testament. Some worry about these discrepancies, but they can give us insight into how the ancients were interpreting texts. We can get insight into how they understood a text based on the choices they made in translation.Isaiah 42 has a discrepancy. The Septuagint opens like this: “Jacob is my servant; I will uphold him. Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him. I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth judgment to the nations.”Clearly, someone at some point, very early in the interpretation of Isaiah, wished to identify the servant of Isaiah 42, as Israel - just like in the surrounding chapters. An argument can be made that the basic understanding before Christ was that this text was talking about Israel.Enter the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew quotes from the Old Testament more than any of the other gospels. There are quotes all over the place - and no single book is quoted more than the book of Isaiah. The longest quote in Matthew is found at Matthew 12:15-21, just as Matthew is reaching the mid-way point of his story.What does he quote? The first four verses of the first Servant Song: Isaiah 42:1-4.Matthew usually quotes from the Septuagint. But this time he doesn’t seem to. Matthew goes back to the original text, removing any hint of this being about Israel. Why? Because Matthew applies the text to Jesus.Did Matthew not know that the basic interpretation of this Servant Song was that it was talking about Israel? He knew, but Matthew was doing something magnificent. Matthew was saying that Israel being the chosen servant, establishing justice for all peoples, and doing it faithfully without trampling on the already downtrodden - Matthew was saying that all of that - is fulfilled in Jesus. The servant is Israel personified, yes - and that is Jesus. Jesus fulfils God’s hope for his chosen people.Frederick Dale Bruner has an excellent commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Im going to share some of what Bruner writes about Matthew’s use of Isaiah 42:1-4.But first, you need the context of the quote in Matthew 12. It is can be easily supplied by looking at Matthew 12:14-17. Just before this, Jesus had done a healing on the Sabbath day. Then we get this: “The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:”Bruner explains that there are two purposes in Matthew supplying the quote from Isaiah.1) To give an explanation for why Jesus withdrew and why he gave a command to keep silent about his identity.2) To give what Bruner calls a “mid-Gospel review of Jesus’ whole mission.” Bruner points out that withdrawal is “an unusual description of a Messiah.” “Messiahs do not ordinarily retreat, but advance. Messiahs do not seek to be hidden, but to be known.”Christian interpreters have made a big deal about the way in which Jesus went about his mission. This is commented on widely. It isn’t just that he is Savior and Lord, Messiah and King, it is vastly important how he exercises these roles. Matthew Henry commented “He could have secured himself by miracle but chose to do it in the ordinary way of flight and retirement.”What is interesting to me is that Jesus was already attracting great crowds. If he had wanted to lead a political revolution, he could have. But this is not his way. The way of Jesus is not to shout about his Messiahship. He simply heals people and teaches people. When the challenge about his identity comes, he flees and commands silence. This is mysterious, because shouldn’t we shout from the rooftops that He is Lord?The answer to this question, it seems, is no - or at least, not until we understand what it really means for Jesus to be Lord and Messiah. Jesus is Lord, Jesus is king and ruler in the sense of Isaiah’s text. He is a servant King. Jesus’ hesitation to claim his rightful title guards against our misunderstanding of who he really is. The piece about the bruised reeds and flickering wicks is important. Jesus is always one who pays attention to the least of these. We tend to follow powerful people who extend their power at the expense of the weak, even, sadly quite often, when they claim to be working for the weak. The Church has even done this for years and years holding so solidly to the truth that we stop caring for real people in the name of that truth. Jesus challenged the powerful, held to the truth, and never trampled on the least of these. It was as if he knew we needed to see him as servant before we proclaimed him Lord. Bruner puts it this way, quite beautifully, I think:“To be sure, his failure ‘to shout and scream’ as revolutionaries and the Spirit-filled of all times are wont to do, his failure to work at the great social intersections (as contemporary revolutionary and revivalist strategies both advise), and his strange penchant for working with bruised rather than with polished reeds, with flickering rather than with glowing flames, will still turn people away from Jesus.”Then, Bruner quotes Matthew 11:6 where Jesus says, “But blessed is the person who is not offended by me.”Jesus is supremely interested in righteousness, in justice. He works and ultimately gives his life to put us right with God. But while he gives his own life, notice that he sacrifices no one else’s. Jesus is the suffering servant of God. Only when we see him as such can we readily call him Lord, can we understand that his way of ruling over us is in fact to give himself up for us. When we see this, when we place him as the head of our movement, or of our body, we are saying that our gain ought never be at the expense of someone else’s loss, except his. Our King died for the least of these, not just for us. We must see him as servant King.So far, we have addressed the idea of the Isaiah text illuminating the fact that Jesus fled from a fight with his opponents and commanded his followers to keep quiet about his identity. Incidentally, Jesus stays quiet about his identity when on trial for his life as well.We have not addressed the idea of these few verses from Isaiah providing a mid-gospel summary of Jesus’ mission. I’d like us to look at two central aspects of Jesus’ life to this point in the gospel as key for understanding his overall mission. The first is to be found by looking at the opening of the Servant Song: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.”The word servant in Greek can also mean “child,” or possibly “son.” Knowing this, we discover that this phrase seems echoed in Jesus’ baptism. As Jesus comes up out of the water, God’s voice declares in Matthew 3:17, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”We spoke last week about Lent being a time to reflect on the vows we make in baptism, to think about renewing our life in Christ. Here we have another connection. God chooses his servant, as God has chosen you. The servant, Christ Jesus, is declared as God’s beloved in His baptism. You too are God’s beloved child and servant. The second aspect of Jesus’ ministry that is pointed to here is his teaching, and specifically how his teaching is intended to go throughout the world.In Isaiah 42:4 it is phrased like this: “and the coastlands wait for his teaching.”This gets changed by Matthew to “And in his name the Gentiles will hope.” That’s quite different. Where does Matthew get that from? He copied it word for word from the Septuagint. Earlier he followed the original Hebrew text. Here he follows the Greek text. Why? To point us to Jesus. When we reflect on this, we find that taking the Hebrew and Greek together, we find an even greater meaning.First, the easy one: the word “coastlands,” which can also be translated “islands.” This gets changed to “Gentiles.” The first description is geographical. The second is political or ethnic. The geographic description is meant to conjure the idea of those who are far off. The Septuagint interpreter can insert “Gentiles” here, because they are those who are politically and ethnically far off - they are those who are not part of Israel. This makes things more clear for Matthew’s purposes. He is not wanting to say that there are certain coastlands or islands that are awaiting Jesus. He wants to say that all people, even people traditionally outside of God’s covenant with Israel, are in need of Jesus.Saying Gentiles or Nations is perhaps more accurate. Saying coastlands or islands is maybe more poetic. It is like saying - until every last nook and cranny on earth has heard the message.The substitution of “name” for “teaching” is more difficult, however. We can’t know why the Septuagint inserted the word “name” there, but in some ways it is a blessing that it did. Looking at the Hebrew that is translated teaching, we find that it is actually the word Torah. That can be “teaching,” but it can also be “law.” We must also understand what is meant by the Gentiles hoping in Jesus’ name. It isn’t literally the name Jesus. It is who the name refers to. It is the person of the servant - of Jesus. What has happened here, even through translation and interpretation, is that the person of Jesus has taken the place of the law. It’s quite remarkable.As we look on Jesus’ actual teaching, we find that while he provides excellent commands that we ought to follow, the main thrust of what we learn, is in fact about Jesus himself. He is ultimately the content of the teaching, and he is the fulfillment of the ultimate teaching, God’s teaching, the law.This bit of Isaiah points to Jesus’ whole mission because his mission is one of connecting others to God. This was formally done through adherence to the law. Now it can be done in Christ. The new covenant is found in Christ, and is open to more than just Israel. The servant King’s mission is to the least of these, to those who are far off, to the Gentiles of the coastlands and islands.The mission involved obeying his commands, keeping our vows, but it’s more than that. His mission is for us to be connected to him, or as Jesus puts it, to be disciples. This all comes together at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel, where he sends out his closest followers. Listen to what he tells them to do, and where he commissions them to go.Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”With Jesus firmly in mind, the second half of our Servant Song comes alive for us.6bI have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;before they spring forth, I tell you of them. We should see right away that these verses can apply to both Israel and Christ. The themes of covenant and God’s chosen ones being a light to the nations are all over the Old Testament, but we believe those themes reach their climax in Jesus. Martin Luther said that Isaiah’s prophecy “paints the entire Christ.”Here we have the great themes that weave together in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus: covenant, light to the nations, healing, salvation and freedom, the old life being gone and new things being declared.The early believers saw these connections between their scriptures and this one who had come. He did not rule as anyone else. He did not lord over people, he was a suffering servant and is our king.Questions for Reflection1) Martin Luther said that Isaiah’s prophecy “paints the entire Christ.” What did Luther mean by this?2) In what ways does Jesus fulfill or complete the law? In what ways does Jesus fulfill the entire Hebrew Scriptures?3) How do you feel about the discrepancies between the different manuscripts of the Bible? Does this challenge your faith? Does it add to it in any way?4) How is saying “the Servant Songs are prophecies about Jesus” different from saying “the Servant Songs are to be applied to Jesus” (or “inform our understanding of Jesus”)?5) The argument was made that Jesus commanded his followers to remain silent about him to guard against a potential misunderstanding of his true identity as servant Messiah. Does this effect how we talk about Jesus with others today? 6) When discussing “dimly burning wicks” and “bruised reeds” the following statement was made: “The Church sometimes holds so solidly to the truth that we stop caring for real people in the name of that truth.” What do you think this means? How do you respond?7) If we apply the servant song to Jesus, what does it mean to say he is “a covenant to the people, a light to the nations?” Source Note:F. Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary (2 volumes; revised and expanded edition, Eerdmans, 2004)

The audio and the full text of the sermon are below. There are also questions for reflection at the bottom. Feel free to discuss on our sermon discussion group on Facebook.This is part one in a five part series on The Servant Songs. Acts 8:26-39 (NRSV)26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south[g] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.Phillip is told by an angel to go to a particular road. Phillip goes. On that road there was a chariot, parked for the time being I suppose, and in the chariot was an Ethiopian official who was in charge of the royal treasury. This official, who remains nameless, had come to Jerusalem to worship God and was returning home. The Holy Spirit tells Phillip to go over to the chariot. Phillip goes, and hears the Ethiopian official reading out loud from Isaiah. Phillip asks, “do you understand what you’re reading?” The official answers back, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And then the official invites Phillip to join him. After reading a section, specifically Isaiah 53:7-8, the Ethiopian official asks Phillip whether the prophet is referring to himself or to someone else. The passage the Ethiopian official read is from one of the four servant songs, which are found in Isaiah 42:1-9, Isaiah 49:1-13, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah 52:13-53:12.These four passages didn’t come to be known as the Servant Songs until Berhard Duhm identified them that way in 1922. Interestingly, they aren’t actual songs - they are simply part of the poetry of Isaiah. Duhm didn’t call them songs either. It is likely that the German word dichtung was simply mistranslated as song, rather than poem. “Servant Songs” does have a nicer ring to it, though. Duhm had some very specific theories about his Servant Poems, but ever since 1922, the great debate around these songs has echoed the Ethiopian Official’s question to Phillip, that was asked close to two millennia ago - about whom is the prophet speaking? Or, more directly - who is the servant of the Servant Songs?In 1948, Christopher North, in his book The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah summarized about 50 years of debate, some of which predated Duhm’s theories, about the servant’s identity. North found scholars in the first half of the twentieth century to be all over the map on this question. Here is a list of who scholars claimed the servant could be (don’t worry if you don’t recognize all these names):- Eleazar- Zerubbabel- Jehoiachin- Moses- Ezekiel- Hezekiah- Jeremiah- Uzziah- Cyrus- Isaiah himself- An unknown teacher of the law- An anonymous messianic figure already born in the prophet’s time- A personification of the collective Israel- A personification of an ideal Israel- A pious remnant of Israel- A future messianic figure- A mythological/symbolic figureSo, who is it? The Christian might want to immediate jump to identify the servant as a future messianic figure (i.e. Jesus), but remember that each of the early twentieth century scholars North cited were Christians themselves trying to solve a puzzle presented by a very ancient text.We may also be quick to claim that Phillip gives the answer. Phillip answers the servant identity question with “Jesus” so shouldn’t we. On closer examination of the exchange between Phillip and the Ethiopian Official, we find that Phillip didn’t simply jump to Jesus. Rather, we are told that “Phillip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.”We do not know whether Phillip drew a direct correlation between the servant and Jesus. What we do know is that Phillip pointed someone who did not know the good news toward Jesus by using this text. Had the Ethiopian Official been reading a different biblical text, surely Phillip would have still pointed him to the good news about Jesus by using whichever text was at hand. This tells us less about the servant songs and more about the truth that we cling to that Scripture in its entirety points to Jesus Christ.Whatever Phillip said to the Ethiopian Official, the Holy Spirit was at work in the man’s heart. Phillip told him the good news about Jesus and, as they drove along in the chariot, they saw some water by the side of the road. The Official stops the chariot and says “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”This is really quite remarkable. The official makes a connection between the good news that Phillip shares and his participation in the good news, and he makes that connection in an instant. The Ethiopian Official is basically saying “if what you are saying is true, then I should be baptized just like anyone else.” This makes a powerful statement about the good news. The good news as Phillip told it must have been focussed on the fact that anyone could be part of God’s covenant people through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus had made it possible for more that the Jewish people to be in this covenant and it was a done deal. It was news, news about an event, something that God had already accomplished through Jesus. Phillip was not asking the Ethiopian Official to make a choice, or to accept Jesus into his heart. He was simply telling him that God’s grace was available to him without the requirements of adhering to law or custom. God’s grace was for him because of Jesus. Period. The Official’s request, no, demand for baptism, came from his joy and enthusiasm to participate in the life that God was now offering him in Christ. “If this is really true, then I am claiming it. Try and stop me from being baptized. There’s some water - I’m in!”We could spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out who the servant is in the servant songs. We could try and answer the Ethiopian Official’s question. We could try and piece together exactly what Phillip said and whether he began by telling the Official that the prophet was in fact speaking of Jesus.We could also ask a different “who” question. Who are you in this story?Phillip and the Ethiopian are both strong characters in what is a wonderful narrative told by a master storyteller. Which one are you?Before you answer, let’s examine the character of each very briefly.The Ethiopian Official believes in God, he worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He reads from the Bible and tries to understand it. At the beginning of our story he does not yet know about Jesus, or at least, he does not know the implications of the good news. He is a seeker. He is interested in God. When he hears the good news, he is ready to receive it and it had a changing effect on him. Phillip acts as a mentor for the Ethiopian Official. He helps a seeker find. He explains scripture through the lens of Jesus and the gospel. Phillip proclaims the good news in a conversation. In so doing, Phillip re-affirms his own belief, his own convictions about God, and especially about Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus is to be found at the very centre of Phillip’s convictions about God.When the Ethiopian Official is baptized there is also an effect on Phillip. He would have remembered his own baptism and had it renewed.Are you a seeker needing to find? Or are you a mentor who also needs renewal? While this story is very unique in the New Testament, it’s overall theme is not. One mentors another in the gospel. This is essentially what Jesus asked his disciples to do when he commissioned them to go into all the world and make disciples of all manner of people. The church in the west went through a time where we shyed away from this, or perhaps felt that it was no longer needed. Institutions took care of this, culture took care of this. But mentoring others in faith is very much needed today. Every Christian at one time or another can see themselves in this story. Every believer will, at one time or another, feel very much like the Ethiopian Official - not quite understanding, but seeking, and hoping that the seeking is not hopeless. The hope is that every seeker and mentor will gain or regain an enthusiasm for faith - “you can’t stop me from being baptized!” The hope is also that every Christian will have opportunities to be Phillip, and share the gospel with someone who has not yet heard it. The opportunities for this are more and more frequent in our world.The Church needs to find ways of walking alongside seekers the way Phillip walked alongside. It’s not as though the Church never did this before - we have simply forgotten. One of the most powerful ways that this is displayed is in the season of Lent.For much of the history of the Church, people were baptized at Easter, and quite often, only at Easter. This is still true in many corners of the church. Also, for much of Christian history, those to be baptized or confirmed, if they were baptized as an infant, went through a long process of preparation. For many this process was a year, sometimes up to two years. The process was called catechesis, and those being prepared and trained where called the catechumenate, or catechumens.The final days of preparation to be baptized would be marked by fasting, prayer and self-examination. Catechumens would ask. Am I able to take a vow renouncing evil? Am I willing to take a vow accepting Christ as Saviour and Lord? Will I, with the help of the Spirit, live a life of repentance in the home of the Church - turning away from sin and turning toward God? These are self examination questions, and they are essential in what one promises at baptism or confirmation.The final days of preparation coincided with the observance of Lent by the whole Church. The entire Church would be praying, fasting, and examining themselves. The entire church would be focussed on repentance - turning away from sin, and toward God. Essentially, the whole Church would be walking with the catecumenate in their final preparation before being baptized. The whole Church was being Phillip for the new seeker.Think of the celebration when the baptisms happened at Easter. All would have their own vows renewed. All would remember their baptism and the grace that it represented. On Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our own mortality. Christians receive a sign of ashes to remind them that they are dust and to dust they shall return. Why do we do this? Is it to motivate us to live life well because time is short? Is it to scare us into believing? Neither of these is helpful as far as I’m concerned.The symbol and reminder of death, however, is significant, and once again related to baptism and the overall life of discipleship in Christ. sBaptism is a sign and seal of our union with Christ, who died and then rose again. When we embrace our baptism, we are embracing that we have died to an old way of life. We leave that part of life behind in the waters of baptism, either washed away or, more apt for our purposes here, dead in the water. We come up out of the water to a new life.The pattern of Christianity is not “live now for tomorrow we die.” It is this: “die to the old way of life and be reborn in Christ.” This is the journey through Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. We receive a sign of ash, of our death, on the Wednesday, and then celebrate as seekers come through the waters on the Sunday to new life. We are renewed in our own life in Christ as well.This journey of self-examination, prayer and fasting is spread out over 40 days in Lent, but is also found in smaller form on the Easter weekend. On Friday we remember Christ’s death, on Saturday we wait, on Sunday we celebrate the resurrection. We don’t always love the Friday and Saturday, particularly, to my thinking, the Saturday. We tend to ignore it, but this is the very place of prayer and preparation. What will we do with Holy Saturday? That day is Lent intensified. Jesus is in the tomb and we ought to place ourselves there too, at God’s mercy. We have died and hope to witness resurrection on the Sunday.Every year we have the opportunity for this renewal, where we can reclaim our baptism where we die and rise with Christ. Every year we check in with God to reorient our lives to him. And the Churches traditions remind us that that journey is not meant to be taken alone. The seeker needs the mentor, and in many ways, the disciple needs the seeker so that they can be reminded of the newness of life in Christ and what it really means.The excitement of the Ethiopian Official is infectious - seasoned disciples of Jesus need more of that. Bring on those who don’t quite understand what they read if they look at the sacred scriptures, or perhaps more likely today, those who don’t quite know what or who they are seeking. We have news for them, and it is very good news.We will spend some time using the servant songs as our jumping off point, just as Phillip did with the Ethiopian Official. There are certainly many threads to pull on in the servant songs without ever looking at the New Testament. We are however, going to take our cues from this encounter between Phillip and the Ethiopian Official. This is an occasion to engage with the good news about Jesus, not just conduct an intellectual exercise about particular poetry from Isaiah.We must pick up on the first thread of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Phillip is prompted by an angel to go to the south road. Then he is prompted by the Holy Spirit to stand near enough the chariot to hear the scroll being read. We must listen for the Holy Spirit and also must learn to obey. Who is the Spirit telling you to stand next to? Perhaps you are to mentor them in the good news.There are the threads of conversation, invitation and proclamation. Phillip and the Ethiopian Official have a two way conversation. Phillip doesn’t preach a sermon, but he does proclaim the good news. Most likely, you will be mentored or will mentor in conversation, but we must open ourselves to this. You may also ask yourself who in your life needs to be invited to the conversation. Who might need to hear the good news? Who is a seeker who you can talk to or even bring to Church so they can be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.We will pull on the thread of baptism. This may be an occasion for you to renew your baptism, to be reminded of what it means and to reclaim your vows. Perhaps you have not yet been baptized and this is an occasion to consider it, or like the Ethiopian Official, to enthusiastically claim it. Finally, we will all hopefully claim the thread of enthusiasm. The Ethiopian Official couldn’t be stopped as he claimed the promise of baptism. I pray that if you do not have it already, that you will find enthusiasm for the good news about Jesus in your life. That you will remember the fullness of your faith that culminates in a glorious new life in Christ.For Reflection1. What does it look like to be enthusiastic about the gospel? 2. Philip heard from an angel and was guided by the Holy Spirit. Try to imagine what Philip might have been doing (meditating? Praying? Dreaming?). Might the angel appeared in the form of a person? What can we do to hear from the Holy Spirit and to follow through on what we hear? 3. Are there any dangers in doing what we think the Holy Spirit is telling us to do? How can we avoid the pitfalls?4. Did Philip and the Ethiopian experience “church” on the desert road? Does the passage challenge us to think differently about what church might be?5. The claim was made that all of Scripture points to Jesus Christ. How can this be?6. Do you need a mentor in the gospel? Or, will you mentor someone in the gospel? What kinds of things can mentors do for seekers?7. Read Acts 8:9-24 (Simon the Sorcerer) to get some context for the story about Philip and the Ethiopian Official. Note the contrast between the two “seekers” (Simon -- who was wowed by the signs, miracles, and power that Philip seemed to have; as opposed to the Ethiopian, who was simply studying the scriptures in humility, with no thought of power or personal gain). Think of “seekers” you know, or times when you have been a “seeker.” What role does the Bible play for “seekers”? Feel free to discuss these or other questions on our sermon discussion group on Facebook.*Special thanks to Bonnie Zimmer for help formulating some of the above questions.

No matter what, I'll always remember STAND BY ME, featuring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell and Corey Feldman. It was a coming of age classic and all these years later I have never had another friend like it. Duhm da duhm-chick duhm, Duhm da duhm-chick duhm. Listen below, subscribe on iTunes. Follow us Twitter and support our Patreon campaign. WARNING: this podcast contains strong language and immature subject matter, please be advised.

In the Pre-modern tradition of Irenaeus and Calvin, there was understanding of the fundamental unity of the Old and New Testament. Irenaeus held that the fathers received and accepted revelation from the Son himself. Calvin held that the Old and New Testament converge on God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ. In modern times, recognition of the shared subject matter between the Old and New Testament has been lost. This lecture investigates the Critical approach and the loss of the figural or typological approach to reading the Old Testament. Explore how according to Wellhausen and Duhm, the prophets were creators of Israel's religion and its monotheistic claims. The Form-Critical approach or emphasis on the oral tradition of prophetic literature is also covered with its intention to isolate forms of speech from their literary context. Come to understand that the prophets speak in both a foretelling and forthtelling way.

Holly Herb from Johannesburg delivers his first mix for the "Deep Inspiraiton Show". I'm sure it's not the last one !

This week we interviewed Spencer Duhm. He left the game in episode 5 of Survivor Tocantins. Spencer made Survivor history by being the youngest person to play the game, and as a true fan of the show he tried to make the most of each step in the process. Listen to this interview to learn extra details about the reward challenge, how being a super fan affected his standing in the tribe, how he eventually lost the trust of his alliances and much more! If you are not a subscriber to the Survivor Fans Podcast, you can click the Listen Now button on the webpage and the interview will download and play on your computer. If you enjoyed this interview, check out our others here: SFP Audio Interviews SFP Videos Survivor Fans Podcast Homepage Links for Today's Show Spencer at CBS Survivor Tocantins News at Survivor Fever Survivor Links News Archive at Sir Linksalot Image is courtesy of and copyright CBS Contact Info: Voicemail: 206-350-1547 Email: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com Survivor Fans Podcast P.O. Box 2811 Orangevale, CA 95662 Enjoy, Jo Ann and Stacy