バイブルクラスが行われました

 

5月14日（土）この日のバイブルクラスは4名の出席でした。

聖書はルカ福音書の12章に入り、今回は1節から32節までを学びました。

今日学んだ個所の小見出しには、Can't Hide Behind a
Religious Mask：「信心深い仮面で隠すことはできない」　The Story of the Greedy Farmer 「欲深い農夫のたとえ」　Steep Yourself in God-Reality　「実存する神の世界に浸りなさい」と云う具合に、いつものように文中のキーワードからピックアップされてタイトルとなっています。

始めのパートは一見、前章同様に強烈に批判してきたパリサイ人や律法学者の糾弾のようにも読めたのですが、文中には「イエスの主要な問題は彼の弟子たちにある」と記されていて、今まで、そして今後の福音書の展開を少し考えさせられました。

すでにイエスとともに宣教の旅を重ねてきた弟子たちに、ここで敢えて弟子らにもパリサイ人に通じる不信仰の芽生えを察知していたのかもしれません。すでに民衆に福音を教えたり、病や悪霊退治の力と権威を与えられていた弟子たちに対して、出世や名誉欲、お金やモノの豊かさへの欲などで神一筋の信仰がぶれないよう釘をさしたという感じもします。

その後の二つの個所もたとえ話を用いて、イエスは全てを神にゆだねる霊的な生活を弟子たちに強く奨めています。

併読しているThe Voiceのこの章のコメンタリーでも、霊的生活とそれを阻む金欲について次のように述べられていました。

In
the kingdom of God, money is valued in a very different way. In fact, concern
for money can easily turn the spiritual life into a lukewarm, halfhearted
affair.：神の国では、お金は非常に異なる方向で評価されます。
実際、お金に対する懸念・問題は、霊的な生活をなまぬるい、本気でないものに、簡単に変えてしまうのです。

 

Luke 12The Message (MSG)

Can't Hide Behind a Religious Mask

12 ^1-3 By this time
the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other's toes, numbered into the
thousands. But Jesus' primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, "Watch yourselves
carefully so you don't get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee
phoniness. You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long
you'll be exposed. You can't hide
behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and
your true face will be known. You can't whisper one thing in private and
preach the opposite in public; the day's coming when those whispers will be
repeated all over town.

^4-5 "I'm speaking to you as dear friends. Don't be bluffed into silence
or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you,
but then what can they do? There's nothing they can do to your soul,
your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life--body and
soul--in his hands.

^6-7 "What's the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change,
right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention
to you, down to the last detail--even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't
be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million
canaries.

^8-9 "Stand up for me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will
stand up for you before all God's angels. But if you pretend you don't know me,
do you think I'll defend you before God's angels?

¹⁰ "If
you bad-mouth the Son of Man out of misunderstanding or ignorance, that can be
overlooked. But if you're knowingly attacking God himself, taking aim at the
Holy Spirit, that won't be overlooked.

^11-12 "When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts
and before judges, don't worry about defending yourselves--what you'll say or
how you'll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you
the right words when the time comes."

The Story of the Greedy Farmer

¹³ Someone
out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of
the family inheritance."

¹⁴ He
replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or
mediator for you?"

¹⁵ Speaking
to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit
of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."

^16-19 Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain rich man
produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't
big enough for this harvest.' Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear
down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and
goods, and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and
can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!'

²⁰ "Just
then God showed up and said, 'Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of
goods--who gets it?'

²¹ "That's
what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God."

Steep Yourself in God-Reality

^22-24 He continued this subject with his disciples. "Don't fuss about
what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in
fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your
stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.
Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description,
carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.

^25-28 "Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so
much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the
fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance--but
have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and
women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to
the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to
you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

^29-32 "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so
preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving.
People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you
know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative,
God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't
be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give
you the very kingdom itself.