Philip the Apostle

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip foundNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” -John 1:43-45

Philip is always listed fifth among the apostles. He was from the city of Bethsaida as was Andrew and Peter. He introduced Bartholomew (Nathanael) to Jesus. Tradition has it that he preached the gospel in Phrygia (west central Turkey) before being Martyred there at Hieropolis.

Matthew 28:19-20 - The Great Commission

"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,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is probably one of the most misunderstood verses ever, so I will break it down here.

• Jesus was saying these things to his disciples this after they had finished their training with him, so this verse is primarily for pastors.
• In the Greek, the word "go" is not a command. It is more of "as you are going." The command is the phrase make disciples, which is specifically their job.
• Baptism saves you and you are made a disciple through it. It is done to you, not a work of you, so age does not matter.
• In the Greek the word observe, is not so much obey commands as abide in teaching (or doctrine).
• This makes sense because in John 8:31 Jesus defines discipleship in just such a way: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
• If you hold to the true doctrine of the Bible (and are therefore a disciple) the world will hate you and persecute you for it (John 15:18-27).

Therefore, Jesus is telling Pastors, that as they are going about their ministry, the way they are to make people believe in Jesus and his doctrine is by baptizing all people of any ethnicity and age and teaching them the doctrine.

Additionally, Parents are primarily evangelists. The main job of parents is to get their kids baptized and teach them about Jesus. Parenting is fulfilling the great commission.

Siddhartha (Herman Hesse) and Ecclessiastes

     

Ecclesiastes

• The son of King David, in Jerusalem, Solomon became the last king of the united kingdom of Israel. He reined between c. 970 BC and c. 931 BC. 
• Ecclesiastes has taken its literary form from the Middle Eastern tradition of the fictional autobiography, in which a character, often a king, relates his experiences and draws lessons from them, often self-critical: Koheleth likewise identifies himself as a king, speaks of his search for wisdom, relates his conclusions, and recognizes his limitations.
• He first studied wisdom, but it’s all vanity
• Then he went for earthly pleasures, such as alcohol, money, power, sex, arts and entertainment
• He Observes humanity
• Time and chance happen to all and it is frustrating, elusive, everyone still dies in the end
• Then he turns to God and realizes it is all about God and our hope is in the world to come.

Siddhartha

• Published in 1922 in Germany by Herman Hesse about Siddhartha in India ~500sBC
• The son of a Brahmin (highest caste in Hidu, priest), Siddhartha enjoys a near-idyllic existence with his best friend, Govinda, but he is secretly dissatisfied. He performs all the rituals of religion, and he does what religion says should bring him happiness and peace. Nonetheless, he feels something is missing. His father and the other elders have still not achieved enlightenment, and he feels that staying with them will not settle the questions he has about the nature of his existence.
• The path of self-denial does not provide a permanent solution for him. He points out that the oldest Samanas have lived the life for many years but have yet to attain true spiritual enlightenment. Wondering ascetics, gave rise to Janism, Buddhism, Yoga, and cycle of birth and death.
• Buddha lived sometime between c. 563 BC 411 BC. Buddha’s name was also Siddhartha, this path kind of models his own search.
• He then learns from the pleasures of the body. The more he obtains in the material world, the less it satisfies him, and he is soon caught in a cycle of unhappiness that he tries to escape by engaging in even more gambling, drinking, and sex. 
• In Siddhartha, Siddhartha learns that enlightenment cannot be reached through teachers because it cannot be taught—enlightenment comes from within. However, the ferryman was a guide and the river was a conduit. Govinda had to kiss Siddhartha’s forehead to get it.
• The book is full of Polarities (e.g. spiritual vs. material and others). The river is life and the two banks the poles. Ferrymen help navigate between the two, so only they can teach, help others find enlightenment.
• Natural Law can only get you so far and in the end, people turn inward and there is not real hope. The Scripture points to God, in whom our true hope rests, as the Preacher discovered.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 - Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters

I have always like reading Ecclesiastes, but the first two verses of chapter 11 always confused me.  The more research I did into their meaning, the more divergence I found also.

1. Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
1. Could be referring to commercially shipping goods for a business that returns a profit, to be a good steward (Matthew 25:14-30). Some say that talk here about commercial trade, or investments seems out of place and does not fit the context.
1. Ship commodities on many routes (waters) to diversify in case bad things happen to one ship.
2. Don't be overly cautious in investments, just do it, like sowing. Consistent with not being paralyzed with indecision in farming in vv. 4-6)
2. Could be referring to bread soaking in water, which was an ancient method of brewing beer.
3. Could be referring to a method of sowing seeds that was the practice in Egypt of scattering them during the inundation of the Nile. Consistent with v. 6 saying, just sow your seed and God will take care of you by making it grow.
4. Could be a proverb akin to the Greek proverb Σπείρειν ἐπὶ πόντῳ (which means "to sow in the ocean"), which is a reference to a thankless toil. Basically doing good deeds for their own sake, but good things still comes from them.
5. Could be a reference to fulfilling your vocation, such as the wife who "provides for her family" being "like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from afar." Proverbs 31:14-15. This would be consistent with Ecclesiastes 3:22 message of God's calling to do your work.
6. In context, the previous chapter (10) was about interacting with superiors. This one could be all about interacting with inferiors. Cast your bread on the waters could mean to give generously and spread "bread" (a symbol of necessities of life) out to everyone. Give away what you need and God will give it back, or take care of you.
2. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
1. Be generous in sharing the dividends from those investments and commercial ventures.
2. Drink the beer you make with friends because no one knows when future calamity is coming. Consistent with eat, drink and be merry message in Ecclesiates 2:24.
3. When God takes care of you and gives you more than you need, share it with others, you might not always have excess, and be unable to give to the poor later.
4. The thankless toil is giving to the poor when disasters happen.
5. Serve others in and through your vocation. Love your neighbor as yourself.
6. Give to the poor in good times and in bad.

 Luckily, things get a lot more clear after verse 2, and 3-10 are fairly well agreed upon.

3. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
• Things happen according to nature and there is nothing we can do about it, so we should not worry about it, like the first line of the Serenity Prayer.

4. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
• There is always uncertainty about the future, and always an excuse, or reason why it might not be the right time for an endeavor. We could always put things off to a "better time." However, if you wait for the perfect time, it will never come.

5. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
• Even with our advance science and understanding there are many mysteries in nature. Likewise, we do not understand acts of God, so we should just deal with them.
6. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
• Go about your life and just sow and reap. Don't worry or be paralyzed by indecision. God will take care of your daily needs.
7. Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
8. So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.
1. be glad with what life God fives you. May be a long time until the resurrection and new life
2. bad days in life?
9. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
• Enjoy, but know you will make mistakes and be judged, so repent when necessary.
• Youth here means anywhere from newborns to when married.
10. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity
• This last verse is reiterating and summarizing that worrying won’t do any good and that getting older and dying just happens, so deal with it.

kύριε ἐλέησον

As discussed before, Mercy is God not giving us the punishment that we deserve.  When we say "Lord have mercy", we greet the Lord in confident prayer, welcoming the king, trusting in the ruler to provide for our need, recognizing that he is showing us mercy.

Psalm 51:1
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

The prayer is simultaneously a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgment of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. It is discussed further in the Parable of The tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), "God, have mercy on me, a sinner", which shows more clearly its connection with the Jesus Prayer.


Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

John 8:12-38,48-59 - The Light of the World, The Truth, The Great I AM

Jesus is explicitly claiming to be God and the Messiah to the Jews.

Light (vv. 12-30)
God is light (1 John 1:5). The light of the world light is good and from God, and the glory of God. The messiah will the the light of the world - referring to (2 Samuel 22:29, 23:4; Psalm 77:18; Isaiah 42:6, etc...)

The Pharisees called him a liar, claiming that he was giving witness to himself only, which was not valid in court, because two witnesses were needed. When they asked, "Where is your father?", they were asking for his witness. Himself and God the Father are the two witnesses necessary. God did testy to Jesus in the Old Testament, as well as at his baptism and transfiguration.

When he says "die in your sin", the word sin here is singular, the sin of unbelief. Claiming he was not of this world, and sent by the heavenly Father, is claiming to be divine. In verse 28, "lifted up" has a double meaning of things that should be opposites. It usually means exalted, but here it also means lifted up on the cross for crucifixion. Therefore, he will be exalted when most humiliated by being tortured to death. In verse 30 we find that Jesus' word brings faith.

Truth (vv. 31-38)

Jesus is God. If you abide in his teaching, you are a disciple. If your father is the devil, then you cannot believe. Baptizing makes you become a son of God. Teaching always goes with it, just like in the Great Commission.

John 8:31b-32

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” –ESV

 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” –NIV

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” –KJV

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” –NRSV

“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” –NLT

μένω (meno): remain, stay, wait, abide: acknowledge, respect, accept, hold to, stick to, stand by, keep to, conform to, defer to, observe, follow, heed, and act in accordance with

λόγος (logos): word (reasoning expressed by words), speech to a conclusion, message, divine utterance (the Son expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit)

            μαθητής (mathétés): disciple, learner, pupil, student of

God's truth is not a philosophical truth, but a truth that leads to salvation. John begins with stating Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. God can speak only truth, Jesus is "Truth" God is the God of truth, and the Lord God speaks only truth, all truth comes from God (1 Kings 17:24, Isaiah 45:19, Isaiah 65:16)

Jesus stating that he is both light and truth together is also claiming to be God, "Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!" -Psalm 43:3

I AM (48-59)
48: They don;t really think he is a Samaritan, but means that he is lax in the law
52: Jesus is "life"
53: expected the answer no, but gave the answer yes, greater than Abraham
Jesus said to them,“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” vs. 58 

Calling himself I am was referring to him being the God of the Old Testmanet: "Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” -Exodus 3:13-14