Originally Posted by aron
2 Timothy 2:8
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel
Pretty simple.
Also I like,
Romans 1:1-4
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
There's nothing wrong from teasing esotericism from abstruse readings of Greek and Hebrew clauses, or from comments made by some inter-testamental "Second Temple" source like the Qumran caves, or from early non-canonical Christian writings like the Shepherd of Hermas. But everything - everything - points to this gospel, this event. When we see the earthly, suffering Christ, descended from David, now raised to glory, we lose sight of everything else. Everything else is subsumed by this singular experiential reality. An informative phrase is used by John, who saw this One and simply dissolved his consciousness onto the floor (Rev 1:17). And remember, this was a close disciple who'd hung out with him for 3+ years!
Some may say the words "Processed Triune God" speak to this very thing, but my experience is, look at how quickly that encapsulating label became the vehicle for focusing on self, on applying this "Processed God" to our subjective and fickle sensory life, this abstract "Christ is everything" and "all-inclusive Christ" becoming a cipher manipulated by charlatans for personal gain.
And I got onto this riff on Psalm 3, on post #882, because I was trying to make the case that the Psalms are a proverbial mother-lode of imagery of the "buried" Christ. Abandoned, betrayed, shamed, persecuted, and given up for dead. David in a cave, with Absalom and the nobles on a warpath, wondering if he'd ever make it out. Or, Saul and others hunting him. Or the Philistines eyeing him with muttering distrust. Then deciding, "Well, God has all power. If he put me here, He can take me out again." The link with Jonah is there. I showed the verses that overlap.
I just feel like, if "this gospel" referenced in the cited NT verses above is interesting, then this poetic imagery might be as well. Again, it's somewhat of a subjective response and isn't truth per se, but much of our sharing in the 'ekklesia' is in this vein: as long as we don't force the issue we shouldn't be afraid to present such ruminations. And I do thank all our readers for the grace afforded me here.
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