New Eunuchs, Old Eunuchs
1/ The Rejected Stone
Jesus loves to quote Psalm 118:22:
The Stone
that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. This is the second most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament (see Matthew 21:42, Mark 8:31, 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:4,7), and it is a stunning picture. The Pharisees are pictured as masons, and they throw out a rock as useless, but the Lord picks that stone out of the trash heap and uses it as the most important rock in the building.
(I discussed Jesus’ use of this passage in the What-Not podcast from yesterday.)
2/ On Eunuchs, Old & New
I spent some time this week reading up on the old pagan practice of having eunuchs serve as priests in the goddess cults. This was a common practice in the ancient world.
In Ephesus and the cult of Artemis, for example, the priests would self-mutilate, and then be baptized in a pit full of bull’s blood, and afterward don women’s clothing for service in the temple. That’s about as pagan as you can get. All of this grows out of gnosticism, the false spirituality of loathing of creation.
Hippolytus, the ancient church father , was describing the gnostic tendencies toward asexuality (or eunuchism, or androgony, here hermaphroditism):
For (the Naassene) says, there is the hermaphrodite man. According to this account of theirs, the intercourse of woman with man is demonstrated, in conformity with such teaching, to be an exceedingly wicked and filthy (practice). For, says (the Naassene), Attis has been emasculated, that is, he has passed over from the earthly parts of the nether world to the everlasting substance above, where, he says, there is neither female or male, but a new creature, a new man, which is hermaphrodite. (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, V.2)
What does all this mean?
Transgenderism is nothing new.
Transgenderism is gnosticism, pagan, and connected to pagan spirituality.
Most important: there is a place in the Lord’s church for the eunuchs who turn to the Lord.
This is the LORD’s explicit preaching in Isaiah 56:3-5
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
For thus says the LORD:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
(That last line! What a joyfully sarcastic way of preaching the Gospel.)
More to come on this topic.
3/ Ghost Stories
I wrote this article (Mythbusting Ghost Stories) for the Lutheran Witness in Denmark, in the middle of the night, which I think is very Shakespearean.
Enter Ghost
MARCELLUS: Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again! (Hamlet I:1)It was fun to consider the Bible passages about ghosts, and what the Lutherans thought about the ghost stories. There is a lot more there than we might expect.
Luther says:
Evil spirits have produced many wicked tricks by appearing as the souls of the departed (1 Samuel 28), and with unspeakable lies and tricks demanded Masses, vigils, pilgrimages, and other alms.
4/ Drive to School podcast
Harrison Goodman and Higher Things are producing a Drive-to-School podcast. Give it a listen, especially if you are driving High Schoolers to school. I was on the podcast last week answering the question: “Why can’t my church love my gay best friend like it loves me?”
5/ Another podcast: Lutheran Answers
I was also on the Lutheran Answers podcast this week. We had a wide-ranging conversation, about witchcraft, paganism, and how Christianity is different.
6/ The Passion of Jesus from All Four Gospels
I edited together the texts of the four Gospels for a continuous account of the life and death of Jesus, beginning with the Passover meal on Maundy Thursday through the burial of Jesus on late Friday afternoon. Find that here.
(You can also download a chart of all the events of Holy Week here.)
7/ Thursday Morning Greek Study
If you are interested in joining a Greek Study on the upcoming Gospel readings, there is such a meeting on Thursday morning, 8:30-9:30 Central time.
Pastor Chris Matthis is the point person. His email is: pastorchris@epiphanylc.org
Our Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85774762965?pwd=aVVlWS82M2ZwTGRyZXdJTTdyNkVmQT09
Remember to go to your pastor's Bible Class this week and, read old theology books. (If you don't have a pastor or congregation, click here. If you don't have old theology books, click here.)
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Thank you, again, for your time and attention, and for your prayers. Please keep in touch.
Lord's Blessings, Pastor Wolfmueller
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
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I had a feeling He could make room for those who get there in different guises.
Thank you Pastor