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One of the things I love about God is His insistence --
something we'd perhaps call bull-headedness in a human -- and His persistence in getting things done.
No earthly ruler, no force of nature, no abiding situation is beyond His power to immediately
and irrevocably override. As the psalmist notes, "He does whatever pleases Him."
(Only in one aspect is there an exception to the way He moves kingdoms, people, and minds around to
suit His purposes. That exception is in prayer. God wants us to see a cause-and-effect
relationship between our prayers and His actions, so He sometimes waits on us to ask, so that He can
grant. The philosopher Pascal said that God allows us the dignity of being the "cause" of some
of His actions. I prefer what the author Tim Stafford in Knowing the Face of God
says: "God's decision to wait for our prayers is His second humiliation to the flesh. In the
first, He stripped off His glory and became a man to destroy the forces keeping man and God apart.
In the second, He holds His power in check and waits for us to care.")
But generally speaking, God's purposes move implacably forward. He doesn't wait for anyone
or anything to "let" Him do His will. That's why I had to respectfully disagree when a Bible
school teacher said that God had waited until the stable political situation of the Roman world --
including high-quality roads that allowed safe transportation-- and the universality of the Greek
language were both in place. Then, said the teacher, God could send forth His Son knowing that
all was "set" for the efficient dissemination of the Gospel by His followers after His death.
Poppycock! God didn't wait around till things were all in order so He could do His will.
In fact, it would be entirely reasonable to say that the same God who moved the ancient pagan
Persian ruler Cyrus (in fact, Isaiah 45:1
actually says God anointed him) to free the Israelites from bondage and to help them rebuild their
temple -- this same God could set up the Roman roads by inspiring their designers and builders.
And the same God who could create a whole assortment of new languages at the tower of Babel --
instantly, all their grammar and syntaxes complete -- could certainly have engineered the development
of just the right language to spread His gospel. Thus, He didn't just choose the best language
-- He made the best language, and made it universal.
Ancient Greek, or koine Greek, is marvelously suited for conveying complex and yet
satisfying renditions of the mind of God. You probably don't want a detailed lesson on ancient
Greek, but here's something that will help you understand how versatile it is. All Greek words
have a stem, or core meaning. Then, by adding prefixes and suffixes to that stem meaning, you
have an infinite variety of meanings and tenses. It is a rich and luxuriant language capable of
carrying both subtle nuances and blockbuster, in-your-face impacts.
This is the language that God chose, and I remember my excitement when I began to study it.
I took Greek classes with my best friend, and on that first lesson when we were able to read aloud the
name of Jesus --  (pronounced Yay-suse)
we turned to one another and giggled out loud. I've loved the language ever since. I'm
no scholar, but a student of the language, and it is one of my greatest treasures.
Now, it will probably occur to you if you study the Bible that Jesus probably didn't speak Greek to
most of His audiences. Remember, He said He was sent to the "lost sheep of Israel;" and at that
time, Jews in Palestine spoke Aramaic. Most of the times when we have the exact words of Jesus
recorded, they're Aramaic -- such as when He raised a little girl from the dead by saying, "Talitha koum!"
which is Aramaic for, "Little girl, get up."
But here's another way that our Greek text recording the words of Jesus is so special. Though
He spoke words in Aramaic, when Matthew, Mark, Luke and John got ready to write down His words in a form
that could travel all over the world, those words were translated into Greek. And it wasn't the
gospel writers who did this -- the Holy Spirit cooperated in a joint effort, moving these holy men to
choose just the right Greek words to convey the richness of His holy words.
That same Greek language and variants of it remained in use from that point on. We have
literally hundreds of thousands of fragments of ancient manuscripts -- some dating to the very lifetimes
of their writers -- that confirm that not only could Almighty God make a language for His own purposes,
He could maintain it and even keep safe enough copies of those gospel writers' documents so we can be
assured that as we read, we are reading the very words of God.
What a powerful, praiseworthy God He is!
Now all of this is not to say that only people who can read Biblical Greek can understand the
"true" meaning in Scripture. The Bible tells us that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation. There are no "hidden truths" available only to an elect few.
In fact, for almost two thousand years, millions of people who couldn't even read or write listened
to the words of Jesus and made a decision that anyone who could raise Himself from the dead could tell
them how to run their lives. If He said, be baptized, deny yourself, wait for Me -- they were
willing to do that even if it cost them their lives.
But although Scripture's truths aren't just for an educated few, it's still true that any deeper
study of God's words will greatly bless the reader or hearer with increased insight. Paul said
in that reflecting on his words would bring insight
(2 Timothy 2:7,
Ephesians 3:4).
A great bounty of understanding awaits us as we listen to, meditate on, and talk about God's word
together. So much to share! So little time!
-- Latayne C Scott |
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