One In Jesus

We’ve considered church discipline in earlier posts, but there’s an interesting aspect brought up by Jesus’ use of ekklēsia in Matt 18:17 —

(Matt. 18:14-17 ESV) should perish.  15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Among the many challenging questions presented by this passage is just how is the decision to disfellowship this sinner to be made? What is the process? Who decides? Continue reading →

In the Gospels, ekklēsia is only used twice, both in Matthew. Both are familiar
passages —

(Matt. 16:17-18 ESV)  17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Imagine a Jew overhearing this conversation before the crucifixion. To his ears, “I will build my church” would sound very much like “I will build my nation” or “my Israel.” No student of the Torah would have heard “my religion” or “my spirituality” or even “my denomination.” Jesus chose language referring to a nation in relationship with God. Continue reading →

Historically, scholarship has paid very little attention to the use of ekklēsia in the Greek translation of the OT used by First Century Jews, the Septuagint (the LXX). Scholars have assumed that the NT church chose this term with little regard for its OT history. And yet the early church was entirely Jewish, and there were other Greek words that might have been used for “church.” Why this term?

Increasingly, it’s now being recognized that the NT church chose ekklēsia as the preferred term for a congregation or the church-universal because of its OT roots. In fact, its Jewish roots are of critical importance to understanding the early church’s self-understanding. Continue reading →

This may be familiar ground for long-time readers, but we need to review the use of ekklēsia in the Old Testament.

First, we need to dispense with a couple of sermon clichés. The word does not mean “called out.” That’s the etymology of the word, but long before the First Century, the meaning had shifted to refer to a gathering, any gathering, even a rioting mob (as in Acts 19:32; note v. 40) (insert here very inappropriate sardonic remark about the Bible’s use of the same word for both “church” and “rioting mob”).

Second, for some reason, countless lessons (for example) make the point that the English word comes from the German kirche, meaning, well, “church” — either the building or the people. (And this is from the Greek κυριακόν ‎(kuriakón) meaning “belonging to the Lord.”) Which is really neither here nor there, because English definitions and etymologies are rarely of much use in interpreting a Bible written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. But it’s interesting. The problem is that such sermons assume that the English translation is somehow in error in using “church.” Continue reading →