A NOT-SO-HARD SAYING OF JESUS
Matthew 8:22
“But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”
Twice in the Gospels, Jesus is asked by a disciple for a leave of absence to bury his father. In each case, Jesus tells the disciple to let the dead bury their own dead.
This has been described as one of Jesus’ hard sayings, since it suggests that a son should follow Jesus rather than honor his father. The passage is usually explained as meaning that the spiritually dead - that is, those not following Jesus - should bury the physically dead. This explanation still doesn’t explain the apparent advice to break the commandment about honoring our parents.
A better explanation is offered in an article in Archaeology and Biblical Research. Archaeologist Gordon Franz explains Jewish burial practices at the time of Jesus. At death, the body would be placed in the family burial cave. After about a year, the body would have decomposed. Then the final act of mourning would take place. The bones were placed in a chest in what was called a secondary burial. According to the rabbis, the decomposition of the flesh was a person’s final atonement for sin. Once this atonement was made, the bones could finally be laid to rest.
Franz says it is this secondary burial for which the disciples wanted leave time. Jesus’ reference to the dead burying the dead was a reference to the other corpses in the burial cave. He was teaching that the rabbis’ teaching about atonement was wrong. Atonement is found only in the saving work of Jesus Christ – the very message that the disciples should have been proclaiming.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, that in Your innocent suffering and death You made full and complete atonement for my sin. Equip me to better tell others that You have made our peace with God, and let my life reflect Your love. Amen.
Franz, Gordon. 1992. “Let the dead bury their own dead.” Archaeology and Biblical Research, Vol. 5, n. 2, Spring, p. 55. Photo: Remnants of the Monolith of Silwan, a First Temple period tomb. (PD)
Matthew 8:22
“But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”
Twice in the Gospels, Jesus is asked by a disciple for a leave of absence to bury his father. In each case, Jesus tells the disciple to let the dead bury their own dead.
This has been described as one of Jesus’ hard sayings, since it suggests that a son should follow Jesus rather than honor his father. The passage is usually explained as meaning that the spiritually dead - that is, those not following Jesus - should bury the physically dead. This explanation still doesn’t explain the apparent advice to break the commandment about honoring our parents.
A better explanation is offered in an article in Archaeology and Biblical Research. Archaeologist Gordon Franz explains Jewish burial practices at the time of Jesus. At death, the body would be placed in the family burial cave. After about a year, the body would have decomposed. Then the final act of mourning would take place. The bones were placed in a chest in what was called a secondary burial. According to the rabbis, the decomposition of the flesh was a person’s final atonement for sin. Once this atonement was made, the bones could finally be laid to rest.
Franz says it is this secondary burial for which the disciples wanted leave time. Jesus’ reference to the dead burying the dead was a reference to the other corpses in the burial cave. He was teaching that the rabbis’ teaching about atonement was wrong. Atonement is found only in the saving work of Jesus Christ – the very message that the disciples should have been proclaiming.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, that in Your innocent suffering and death You made full and complete atonement for my sin. Equip me to better tell others that You have made our peace with God, and let my life reflect Your love. Amen.
Franz, Gordon. 1992. “Let the dead bury their own dead.” Archaeology and Biblical Research, Vol. 5, n. 2, Spring, p. 55. Photo: Remnants of the Monolith of Silwan, a First Temple period tomb. (PD)
ANT EMPIRES
Romans 13:13
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Like an ancient empire, there is a species of ant whose entire society is built on slavery. In fact, raids to capture more slaves are about the only thing resembling work that western slavemaker ants do.
Western slavemakers are a species of red ant. Their survival depends on making slaves out of a related species of ant. Their slave- capturing raids are dramatic. After a scout finds a suitable nest to raid, an impressive raiding party is formed. As many as 2,500 individual ants swarm into an army that can be 3 feet wide and 16 feet long. When they reach the nest, the ants spray it with a chemical that causes the inhabitants to leave. Raiders then capture the pupae and return them to the slavemaker nest. The only life the captives will ever know is one of slavery. A single slavemaker colony may steal as many as 30,000 slaves a year.
A slavemaker nest may have 6,000 slaves to serve every need of 3,000 inhabitants. Scientists have found that hunger in the slavemaker nest is the primary cause of raids to increase the slave population. Well-fed colonies engage in fewer raids. If the slavemaker colony moves, the slaves must carry each slavemaker ant to the new location.
We see a connection between the slavemakers, who work only to bring what we would regard as misery to others, and their failure to produce anything positive. This illustrates the Bible�s warning that unproductive lives and strife go hand in hand.
Dear Father, I thank You that through the innocent suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, on my behalf, I am freed from slavery to sin. Help my life to be productive for You and free from the strife that results from our sin. In Jesus� Name. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. �Slave-making ants rob the cradle.� Science News, Vol. 127, p. 164. Photo: Polyergus mexicanus is a species of slave-making ant in the subfamily Formicinae. It is the most widely distributed species of Polyergus in North America. Courtesy of www.AntWeb.org . (CC BY 4.0)
Romans 13:13
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Like an ancient empire, there is a species of ant whose entire society is built on slavery. In fact, raids to capture more slaves are about the only thing resembling work that western slavemaker ants do.
Western slavemakers are a species of red ant. Their survival depends on making slaves out of a related species of ant. Their slave- capturing raids are dramatic. After a scout finds a suitable nest to raid, an impressive raiding party is formed. As many as 2,500 individual ants swarm into an army that can be 3 feet wide and 16 feet long. When they reach the nest, the ants spray it with a chemical that causes the inhabitants to leave. Raiders then capture the pupae and return them to the slavemaker nest. The only life the captives will ever know is one of slavery. A single slavemaker colony may steal as many as 30,000 slaves a year.
A slavemaker nest may have 6,000 slaves to serve every need of 3,000 inhabitants. Scientists have found that hunger in the slavemaker nest is the primary cause of raids to increase the slave population. Well-fed colonies engage in fewer raids. If the slavemaker colony moves, the slaves must carry each slavemaker ant to the new location.
We see a connection between the slavemakers, who work only to bring what we would regard as misery to others, and their failure to produce anything positive. This illustrates the Bible�s warning that unproductive lives and strife go hand in hand.
Dear Father, I thank You that through the innocent suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, on my behalf, I am freed from slavery to sin. Help my life to be productive for You and free from the strife that results from our sin. In Jesus� Name. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. �Slave-making ants rob the cradle.� Science News, Vol. 127, p. 164. Photo: Polyergus mexicanus is a species of slave-making ant in the subfamily Formicinae. It is the most widely distributed species of Polyergus in North America. Courtesy of www.AntWeb.org . (CC BY 4.0)
BEAUTIFUL LOYALTY
1 Corinthians 7:10
And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
Most water fowl are faithful to one mate over long periods of time. The swan, in particular, champions marital fidelity.
In North America they are called whistling swans or tundra swans. Another member of the same species is usually found in Europe and Asia, where it is called Bewick�s swan. Researchers report that each has a unique pattern of yellow and black on its bill, making individuals easy to identify. This allowed researchers to trace their lives over many years.
These beautiful creatures have relatively long life spans. One individual was traced for 26 years. Typically laying four eggs in nesting season, they breed for most of their lives. They are highly territorial. In a face-off for food or nesting area, the largest male is usually the winner. When there is a disagreement, the males face each other while their mates cheer them from the sidelines. Single swans enjoying a nice discovery of food are often driven off by couples. Couples are faithful for life. Researchers say that they have recorded no cases of divorce among successfully reproducing couples. Nor do they report any case of marital infidelity among swans. If a mate is lost, the survivor often takes over a year to settle down with another mate. In one case, a survivor waited for six years.
Marital fidelity is also God�s instruction to humans. Today many factors are allowed to challenge marital infidelity. Often, infidelity before or after marriage is portrayed as simply normal. But if swans can manage fidelity, we humans have no excuse for infidelity.
I thank You, dear Father, for the gift of marriage. Help Christians, both young and old, to resist the pressures around us to misuse sex. Help us to be a positive example in a society that shows a decreasing respect for marriage and that increasingly suffers from the curses brought about by infidelity. In Jesus� Name. Amen.
Scott, Dafila. 1992. �Swans semper fidelis.� Natural History, July, p. 26. Photo: Head of a Bewick�s swan. (PD)
1 Corinthians 7:10
And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
Most water fowl are faithful to one mate over long periods of time. The swan, in particular, champions marital fidelity.
In North America they are called whistling swans or tundra swans. Another member of the same species is usually found in Europe and Asia, where it is called Bewick�s swan. Researchers report that each has a unique pattern of yellow and black on its bill, making individuals easy to identify. This allowed researchers to trace their lives over many years.
These beautiful creatures have relatively long life spans. One individual was traced for 26 years. Typically laying four eggs in nesting season, they breed for most of their lives. They are highly territorial. In a face-off for food or nesting area, the largest male is usually the winner. When there is a disagreement, the males face each other while their mates cheer them from the sidelines. Single swans enjoying a nice discovery of food are often driven off by couples. Couples are faithful for life. Researchers say that they have recorded no cases of divorce among successfully reproducing couples. Nor do they report any case of marital infidelity among swans. If a mate is lost, the survivor often takes over a year to settle down with another mate. In one case, a survivor waited for six years.
Marital fidelity is also God�s instruction to humans. Today many factors are allowed to challenge marital infidelity. Often, infidelity before or after marriage is portrayed as simply normal. But if swans can manage fidelity, we humans have no excuse for infidelity.
I thank You, dear Father, for the gift of marriage. Help Christians, both young and old, to resist the pressures around us to misuse sex. Help us to be a positive example in a society that shows a decreasing respect for marriage and that increasingly suffers from the curses brought about by infidelity. In Jesus� Name. Amen.
Scott, Dafila. 1992. �Swans semper fidelis.� Natural History, July, p. 26. Photo: Head of a Bewick�s swan. (PD)
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK FLOWERS
Psalm 96:12-13a
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD:
Researchers at Stanford University surprised scientific colleagues several years ago when they proved that plants were not � well, vegetative. We think of plants as things that sit and grow, not as living things that can react to their environment. Now researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, have shown that plants not only react to the environment, they react with the same immediacy as animals.
The Edinburgh researchers knew that plants react to a breeze or other wind movement by adding calcium to their cell walls. Plant cell walls typically have calcium in them. The calcium acts as an internal skeleton, giving strength to the plant. When stressed by wind currents, plants strengthen themselves by adding more calcium to their cell walls.
Researchers used a novel method to study how quickly plants react. They added to the plants jellyfish genes that bind to calcium and glow blue as the calcium level increases. Then they squirted the plants with puffs of air. The increased blue glow showed that plants react almost immediately to air movement by adding calcium to their cells. The researchers have been contacted by private companies that want to find out whether this technique can be used to develop glow- in-the-dark flowers or glowing grass to plant around airport runways.
When God created plants, He gave them abilities that seem surprising to those who think that they are a simple form of life.
I thank You, Lord, that You have filled Your creation with wonders beyond counting. I ask that You would help me identify the effects of evolutionary thinking that devalue the wonder of Your creation in my thinking so that I may better praise You. Amen.
�Glow little stressed plant, glow.� Science News, Vol. 141, June 6, p. 379. Graphic: Fair Use.
Psalm 96:12-13a
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD:
Researchers at Stanford University surprised scientific colleagues several years ago when they proved that plants were not � well, vegetative. We think of plants as things that sit and grow, not as living things that can react to their environment. Now researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, have shown that plants not only react to the environment, they react with the same immediacy as animals.
The Edinburgh researchers knew that plants react to a breeze or other wind movement by adding calcium to their cell walls. Plant cell walls typically have calcium in them. The calcium acts as an internal skeleton, giving strength to the plant. When stressed by wind currents, plants strengthen themselves by adding more calcium to their cell walls.
Researchers used a novel method to study how quickly plants react. They added to the plants jellyfish genes that bind to calcium and glow blue as the calcium level increases. Then they squirted the plants with puffs of air. The increased blue glow showed that plants react almost immediately to air movement by adding calcium to their cells. The researchers have been contacted by private companies that want to find out whether this technique can be used to develop glow- in-the-dark flowers or glowing grass to plant around airport runways.
When God created plants, He gave them abilities that seem surprising to those who think that they are a simple form of life.
I thank You, Lord, that You have filled Your creation with wonders beyond counting. I ask that You would help me identify the effects of evolutionary thinking that devalue the wonder of Your creation in my thinking so that I may better praise You. Amen.
�Glow little stressed plant, glow.� Science News, Vol. 141, June 6, p. 379. Graphic: Fair Use.
HAIRY DRUG FACTORIES
Matthew 13:22
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
We are all familiar with the fact that the very tips of most plant roots have tiny hairs. These hairs seek out water and nourishment from the soil and absorb them for distribution in the plant. Few people beyond some biologists and chemists are aware that these delicate portions of some plants are able to produce a large variety of important medicines. Often, the hairy parts of plant roots are able to make medicines that even our best chemists and genetic engineers cannot make.
The hairy roots of plants have been used to make certain medications for over two generations. But it was only recently that scientists discovered that by infecting seedlings with a certain bacterium, they could produce versions of plants that were nothing but hairy roots. Another benefit of this new procedure was that the hairy roots never stopped growing or making medicine.
Periwinkle hair roots make 75 different alkaloids, including caffeine, nicotine, and two medications important in cancer treatment. Antidotes for motion sickness and nerve gas poisoning are made by henbane roots. Gourd roots make important agricultural chemicals. Relatives of the Chinese cucumber make anti-fungus chemicals. And, as many gardeners know, marigold roots make chemicals that act against nematodes and fungus.
While human sin has made the creation less than perfect, our merciful Creator has, with foresight, provided solutions to many of our earthly problems.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have so generously provided us with solutions to so many of the problems we face because sin has ruined Your creation. Never let my earthly problems, or their solutions, distract me from my need for forgiveness of my sins through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pennisi, Elizabeth. 1992. �Hairy harvest: bacteria turn roots into chemical factories.� Science News, Vol. 141, May 30, p. 366. Illustration: Drawing of root tip, showing young root hairs. (PD)
Matthew 13:22
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
We are all familiar with the fact that the very tips of most plant roots have tiny hairs. These hairs seek out water and nourishment from the soil and absorb them for distribution in the plant. Few people beyond some biologists and chemists are aware that these delicate portions of some plants are able to produce a large variety of important medicines. Often, the hairy parts of plant roots are able to make medicines that even our best chemists and genetic engineers cannot make.
The hairy roots of plants have been used to make certain medications for over two generations. But it was only recently that scientists discovered that by infecting seedlings with a certain bacterium, they could produce versions of plants that were nothing but hairy roots. Another benefit of this new procedure was that the hairy roots never stopped growing or making medicine.
Periwinkle hair roots make 75 different alkaloids, including caffeine, nicotine, and two medications important in cancer treatment. Antidotes for motion sickness and nerve gas poisoning are made by henbane roots. Gourd roots make important agricultural chemicals. Relatives of the Chinese cucumber make anti-fungus chemicals. And, as many gardeners know, marigold roots make chemicals that act against nematodes and fungus.
While human sin has made the creation less than perfect, our merciful Creator has, with foresight, provided solutions to many of our earthly problems.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have so generously provided us with solutions to so many of the problems we face because sin has ruined Your creation. Never let my earthly problems, or their solutions, distract me from my need for forgiveness of my sins through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pennisi, Elizabeth. 1992. �Hairy harvest: bacteria turn roots into chemical factories.� Science News, Vol. 141, May 30, p. 366. Illustration: Drawing of root tip, showing young root hairs. (PD)
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