Monday, May 18, 2009

A quick heads-up (John 16)

The idiomatic English expression "heads-up" means warning. "Let me give you a quick heads-up ..." means "Be alert. This could harm you." As Jesus faced his own political execution, he warned his remaining disciples that they could expect the same kind of intimidation, harassment, and even death.
Joh 16:1 "Bunları size, sendeleyip düşmeyesiniz diye söyledim.
Joh 16:2 Sizi havra dışı edecekler. Evet, öyle bir saat geliyor ki, sizi öldüren herkes Tanrı'ya hizmet ettiğini sanacak.
Joh 16:3 Bunları, Baba'yı ve beni tanımadıkları için yapacaklar.
Let's dissect a few sentences:
  • Bunları size, sendeleyip düşmeyesiniz diye söyledim -- These things / to you / scandal, shame, embarrassment / that you may not fall into / therefore / I have told you.
  • Sizi havra dışı edecekler -- You / synagogue / out of / they will throw.
  • Evet, öyle bir saat geliyor ki -- Yes, / thus / an / hour / will come / that
  • sizi öldüren herkes Tanrı'ya hizmet ettiğini sanacak -- you / who kills / everyone / to God / service / done / will suppose
  • Bunları, Baba'yı ve beni tanımadıkları için yapacaklar -- These things / the Father / and / me / they have not known / because / they will do.
"Listen up, folks. Hard times coming. I'm warning you now, so that you won't be shocked when stuff happens." To be thrown out of the synagogue meant to be denied access to the religious life they'd grown up with, the rituals, the fellowship, the sense of common transcendent purpose they shared with their neighbors. And it gets even better! Those who you once worshipped with, will soon add a new sacrament to their religious menu: hounding you to death!

However, Jesus goes on to promise his followers that these trials are insignificant, compared to the good things in store for them. They are, he assures them, like a woman's labor pains, painful at the moment, but forgotten in the joy of bringing forth a son into the world. There are better things to come, a happy ending to the story.

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