The Synagogue

First, in both yesterday's and today's readings, we read the story of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. I wrote on the animus between Judeans and Samaritans some time back, and if you wish, you can view it here.

Today's reading contains the first teachings of Jesus as he began to travel and preach. I'll go ahead in include the map that I used in my presentation yesterday to help give a sense of where Jesus was going, since there is plenty of movement in this reading:

In the various places where Jesus preached, we're told that he preached in the synagogue. I covered this in my comments briefly on September 25th, but let me review where the Israelites worshiped as times changed:

1. Initially, in altars set up to commemorate important events. We saw this numerous times in Genesis as God would visit the Patriarchs. Examples include Genesis 13:14-18 (p68) and Genesis 28:10-19 (pp92-93).

2. When in the desert after the Exodus, they worshiped in the Tabernacle, a portable structure meant to be moved from place to place.

3. After the final vanquishing of all enemies in the Promised Land, Solomon's Temple, followed by Zerubbabel's Temple and in the time of Jesus, Herod's Temple.

4. Upon the diaspora (click the word for a more in-depth discussion), the synagogue was established, for a Jewish people that were scattered throughout the world. They couldn't get to the temple, but still wanted to worship.

Jesus preached in the Temple, but his primary place of teaching was two-fold--either in synagogues, or to groups of people that gathered around him. Of course, this wasn't exclusive, since there were many occasions where Christ taught one-on-one (the Samaritan at the well being a prime example), but there's a pretty clear message in there for us as we work to spread Christ's message. Christ spoke to a people that were generally open to hearing the word. They may not agree with him, but they weren't openly hostile and antagonistic to what he was saying. Jesus did NOT go to the pagan Roman temples (at least, it wasn't recorded that he did) and attempt to tell the people there that they were on the wrong path, nor are we shown any occasions where he attempted to talk to a people that had no idea what the source of his message was.

Why do you suspect this might be the case? Think about this, and then consider a point I'll make in far greater detail on November 11th when we read the story of Pentecost. In particular, I take great comfort in Acts 2:6, which tells us that the listeners to Peter that day heard his message in their own language. Obviously, the Holy Spirit allowed this to happen, but we need to be certain that we're speaking the language of our listeners when we speak to them about Christ. This is why I've never been a fan of blanket canvassing to tell the message--it's a shotgun approach where we hope that we'll have some success, when we might have far greater benefits if we were to go out to our lapsed members and see how they're doing--they at least have some familiarity with what we're about, had been involved at one point and would be more receptive than a person who might not even know what God is. Am I suggesting we never talk to the person with no knowledge of God? Of course not--the Holy Spirit will enable anything the Lord wants, but we're going to see that Jesus usually talks to people that have some idea of what his message is. If it worked for Christ, it will probably work for us as well.

Scott