Torture, Part 2

Posted on January 3, 2014 by admin

And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture (βασανισταῖς, a form of βασανιστής)^[1] him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive (ἀφῆτε, a form of ἀφίημι)^[2] your brother from your heart.^[3] It seems here that Jesus stated rather matter-of-factly that his Father would turn the unforgiving over to torturers. He did not say that God would torture them Himself but implied that others would do it for Him. Perhaps I was too hasty dismissing Jonathan Edward’s claim that God is the superlative torturer.

This metaphor—the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts (λόγον, a form of λόγος)^[4] with his slaves^[5]—was given in answer to Peter’s question, Lord, how many times must I forgive (ἀφήσω, a form of ἀφίημι) my brother who sins against me?^[6] The settling of these accounts is very reminiscent of, I tell you, Jesus said, that on the day of judgment, people will give an account (λόγον) for every worthless word (πᾶν^[7] ρῆμα^[8] ἀργὸν^[9]) they speak (λαλήσουσιν, a form of λαλέω).^[10]

A man who owed ten thousand talents was brought to the king.^[11] When he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made.^[12] I suggested that the only account that matters at a moment like this is, God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!^[13] That is essentially the account this slave gave. He did not try to dispute the debt. He threw himself to the ground before him, saying, “Be patient (μακροθύμησον, a form of μακροθυμέω)^[14] with me, and I will repay you everything.”^[15]

Love is patient (μακροθυμεῖ, another form of μακροθυμέω),^[16] so, The lord had compassion on that slave and released (ἀπέλυσεν, a form of ἀπολύω)^[17] him, and forgave (ἀφῆκεν, a form of ἀφίημι) him the debt.^[18] I can’t help but connect ἀπέλυσεν (a form of ἀπολύω) here with λύω^[19] in, I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release (λύσητε, a form of λύω) on earth will have been released (λελυμένα, a form of λύω) in heaven.^[20] It causes me to suspect that Jesus has his thumb on the scale of binding and releasing in favor of releasing, and that this metaphor is also aimed back at that statement.

After he went out, the metaphor about the kingdom of heaven continued, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins.^[21] The fellow slave asked for the same patience, but the first slave threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.^[22] Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, “Evil slave! I forgave (ἀφῆκα, a form of ἀφίημι) you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy (ἐλεῆσαι, a form of ἐλεέω)^[23] to your fellow slave, just as I showed it (ἠλέησα, a form of ἐλεέω) to you?”^[24]

That brings me back to the beginning of this essay: And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture (βασανισταῖς, a form of βασανιστής) him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive (ἀφῆτε, a form of ἀφίημι) your brother from your heart.^[25] So it seems that debt in the metaphor is equivalent to sins in the kingdom of heaven.

If I accept Edward’s contention that Jesus’ heavenly Father is the superlative torturer, then this metaphor seems to describe how one might expiate his own sins by becoming God’s victim, by satisfying some portion of the Father’s desire to torture someone for some unspecified period of time. That interpretation would make this a unique passage in all the New Testament to say the least. And it doesn’t offer much guidance why this “Torturer” would let some off easy. Why should any escape the torture he so desired to give them by forgiving sins, the very currency that justified the “Torturer’s” torture? In fact, why would this “Torturer” ever forgive anyone’s sins at all, or encourage such forgiveness?

On the other hand, if I consider that a man who could not pay a debt before being handed over to daily torture is unlikely to raise the funds after he is so preoccupied, then I might consider that—So also my heavenly Father will do to you—means that the unforgiving will never get out of the prison into which He confines them. That sounds like Christians, the forgiven, who do not forgive others will go to hell.

Most Christians I know have rules against that. In fact, I suspect that most Christians I know would not consider themselves to be great sinners who were forgiven much and were called by God to forgive lesser sinners than themselves. I think most would consider themselves to be more like the second slave, relatively good people who deserve to be forgiven for their relatively few sins but are not forgiven, rather they are persecuted by greater sinners than they are and long for the day when God will rise up and send their persecutors to hell.

This is one of the first times I’ve used the term Christian in these essays. I’m not sure if the Christians I know would be willing to accept me as a Christian if they read these essays. Frankly, if Christian has come to mean something other than little Christ, a repentant sinner following Jesus into the righteousness of love, I’m not sure I would fight very hard over the word. It can go the way of charity and temperance for all I care. For all I know more people would repent of their sinfulness and follow Jesus into the righteousness of love if they didn’t have to become Christians to do it. But fundamentalist Christians are my people by birth.

I still feel embarrassment and shame that the word Christian is practically synonymous with unforgiving. Still, I can’t say that the Holy Spirit has brought this metaphor to my mind to remind me to forgive others. My daily prayer asking the Lord to forgive us as we ourselves have forgiven^[26] others has been sufficient for that. The only time this metaphor comes to mind is when my Christian friends use their rules or reasons to attempt to persuade me that I am too forgiving.

I don’t think I respond to this metaphor in fear of hell or torture. I think I recognize that I am not an Apostle. I don’t present the Gospel with the signs of an apostle…by signs and wonders and powerful deeds.^[27] Except for the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and the willingness to forgive others that the Lord can force into, and wrench out of, this repentant sinner my Gospel presentation is idle talk; and the kingdom of God is demonstrated not in idle talk but with power.^[28]

Still, this metaphor includes a category of lesser sinners. Is this my error? I have assumed that—I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh^[29]—applied to Paul. Not all Christians do. For I want to do the good, Paul continued, but I cannot do it.^[30] That certainly applied to me, and I reasoned backward that—nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh—also applied to me. But beyond that I have assumed that it applied to all sinners. I am completely dependent on God’s mercy and grace, no question about it. But are there others who are not so dependent?

Are there Christians who are lesser sinners? Christians who are mostly righteous by their own innate goodness and/or their own obedience to the law? Christians who require less forgiveness, less of the fruit of God’s Spirit, less grace and less mercy than I require because of their own righteousness? I don’t see that in Scripture, but does that mean it isn’t there? Or is it due to my own blindness because I am such a great sinner? Are the things that concern me in these essays just nitpicking persecution of the good Christians who are more righteous than I am? Or are the good Christians in error when they assume that—nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh—could not have applied to Saul after he was called by Jesus as the Apostle Paul? Do they overestimate their own righteousness when they assume that—nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh—could not possibly apply to them as the redeemed of the Lord?

As a repentant great sinner I have no objective place to stand to answer those questions. I need to approach it differently.

In Matthew’s Gospel account I read, Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating (βασανιζόμενον, a form of βασανίζω)^[31] from the waves because the wind was against it.^[32] Here, βασανιζόμενον, a form of βασανίζω, the root word of βασανιστής (βασανισταῖς, torture, is a form of βασανιστής), expressed the conflict of a contrary wind. And in Mark’s Gospel account Jesus saw his disciples straining (βασανιζομένους, a form of βασανίζω) at the oars, because the wind was against them.^[33] Here “torture” is the strain of rowing against a contrary wind.

As I considered these things I saw the film “Adore.” It became a thought experiment in forgiveness. I will be spoiling the film for anyone who things it spoiled by knowing its plot.

Lil and Roz were best friends since childhood. They grew up and had sons, Ian and Tom, also best friends. One day, lying on the beach together, watching their grown sons surf, they marveled, “Did we do that?”

“They’re beautiful,” Roz said while Lil nodded. “They’re like young gods.”

Ian was first to make a play for Roz. She tried to restrain herself, but what mortal woman can resist the amorous advances of a young god? When Tom saw what his mother was up to, he made a spiteful play for Lil. Lil held out a scene longer than Roz but eventually she, too, fell prey to another young god. And so far, even as a Christian, I can follow this tale. Though she may withstand the charms of a thousand mere mortals, the young god will not be denied apart from the ἐγκράτεια of the Holy Spirit

When Tom came home one morning after being out all night, Roz asked, “Hey, where have you been?”

“At Lil’s, doing to her what Ian’s been doing to you,” her impertinent son replied.

Roz slapped him and went off to confront Lil. I could hear the contrary wind howling and see the storm clouds brewing. Obviously this film intended to recount the tragic tale of a friendship ripped apart by fateful indiscretions. But, no. As lifelong friends and repentant sinners Roz and Lil forgave each other instead. And I call them repentant sinners because they both acknowledged that they were wrong and that it could never happen again. While a repentant sinner may find it relatively easy to forgive another for the very same sin she is guilty of, it is a more difficult matter for Christians.

Lil was a widow and Tom was a young single man, but they had sex before they were married. That is sexual immorality according to most contemporary Christians. (It was marriage according to some of their ancestors.) Ian was a young single man but Roz was married. That is adultery. A Christian cannot forgive sexual immorality or adultery unless the sinner repents in a more formal way, demonstrates some sorrow over sin, and promises to take appropriate steps not to repeat that sin. Looking into one another’s eyes and seeing into another’s heart may be good enough for repentant sinners, but Christians have rules to maintain.

Roz and Lil couldn’t stop sinning. They decided they didn’t have to. They decided to enjoy the time they had, knowing full well their young gods would get bored with them eventually. One might say, For the joy set out for them they endured the cross of being rejected for younger, prettier women, disregarding its shame…^[34] So Roz and Lil forgave each other for their lack of ἐγκράτεια (translated, self-control).

This forgiveness is a bit more difficult even for repentant sinners. Others may question, even the sinners themselves may question, whether they are repentant sinners at all or simply unrepentant sinners. I’ll continue to accept them as repentant sinners since they were resolved to accept the painful consequence of their sin. What Roz and Lil discovered was not so much a change in the state of their repentance as an inability to quit their sin.

Forgiving continual, repetitive sin may be the most difficult of all for Christians. Rules are flouted flagrantly. Any demonstration of repentance seems dishonest at best. But continual, repetitive sin is what Peter referred to when he asked, Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?^[35] Not seven times, I tell you, Jesus answered, but seventy-seven times!^[36] The note in the NET reads: “Or ‘seventy times seven,’ i.e., an unlimited number of times…” Discovering one’s own inability to quit sin is a watershed moment for Christians.

It is that time when we may understand, and join in with, Paul, saying, Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.^[37] It is that time when we either learn to rely on the credited righteousness of God, the fruit of his Spirit, or we turn from Christ to take cold showers, think about baseball, or whatever other strategy we might come up with to establish our own righteousness, develop our own virtue, and maintain our own pride.

Roz and Lil were oblivious to all of this. Neither studied Paul’s letters. No one knowledgeable in the Scriptures came forward to teach them. But they loved one another and they forgave one another. Ian and Tom were also best friends. Their story is not told in as great of detail but apparently they loved one another and forgave one another, too. All four settled into their new life for a time.

fig. 1

Sunning themselves on the floating dock Roz and Lil swam to as children became the visual metaphor for peace and tranquility in the film (fig.1). It is a beautiful counter-image to the contrary-wind-straining-at-the-oars image Jesus promised those who refused to forgive one another.

I’m not suggesting that forgiveness alone facilitated this idyllic equilibrium. The two couples had shared a meal that functioned as a wedding feast in their microcosm. Ian stood after dinner. “Where are you going?” Roz asked.

“To your room,” Ian said as he walked away. It was an awkward moment. Roz had been publicly summoned to attend to the amorous desires of her young god. It was an expression of Ian’s desire to be sure, but it was also a command no less than David’s summons of Bathsheba. Lil knew it was no way for her son to speak to her best friend. Tom knew it was no way for his best friend to speak to his mother. But Tom also understood what was at stake.

“See you at yours,” Tom announced to Lil, and left the women alone to decide their next move. They were free within the constraints of their joy and pleasure to accept or reject the boys’ assertions of rights over them. Young gods they might be, but they were not kings. It may seem like blackmail to some, but the women had the same joy and pleasure to offer. They could have called their sons’ bluffs and waited them out at the dinner table to negotiate more favorable terms. Apparently they surrendered to their lovers’ demands unconditionally.

From then on it was clear. Though Roz was Tom’s mother, she was also Ian’s woman. Though Lil was Ian’s mother, she was also Tom’s woman. Though Tom was Roz’s son, he was also Lil’s man. And though Ian was Lil’s son, he was also Roz’s man. Yet Roz and Lil were still less than wives. For they were still mothers and grandmothers-in-waiting who fully expected their sons to discard them for younger more fertile women. The women not only relinquished the honor due them as mothers, but the fidelity due them as wives. Clearly, they gave the most for these idyllic moments of peace and tranquility.

Tom was first to break the peace. He journeyed to Sydney to direct a musical. Lil knew that he was enchanted by Mary, his leading lady, even before he did. She could hear it in his voice on the phone. When Tom returned Lil sadly backed away to give way to Mary. Roz, whether devoted to Lil or conscience-stricken herself, cut Ian off and sent him out to find a young woman of his own. Both women promised to be good mothers-in-law, pillars of the community and grandmothers.

Roz’s uncharacteristic moral absoluteness seemed like an unjust and foreign law to Ian, like conquest and enslavement by an alien king. He was content to remain faithful to his lover. He couldn’t understand why he should be punished for Tom’s sin. He took up with Hannah at Tom’s wedding to spite Roz. He returned to Roz later that night. He banged on her locked door, but she wouldn’t let him in. Hannah, however, was devoted to him.

“She’s great,” Ian said of Hannah. “She couldn’t be nicer. I just…You know.”

“Yeah,” Tom replied. He not only understood how Ian yearned for Roz, it was apparent he shared that yearning for Lil.

“Pretty soon I’m going to have to give her the elbow,” Ian said of Hannah. But Hannah was pregnant.

Years passed before the next scene: Roz and Tom and Mary and their daughter scampered down to the beach with Lil and Ian and Hannah and their daughter. The two little girls seemed to be on their way to becoming best friends. Apparently Roz and Lil and Ian and Tom had forgiven one another again, and reached a new idyllic equilibrium, that included Hannah and Mary and their daughters. But it didn’t last.

Ian discovered Tom and Lil that night and realized they had carried on a secret affair. Though Ian had apparently resigned himself to Roz’s alien law he was clearly not a poet of it, but an actor, a hypocrite. Angrily, resentfully, he blew the whistle on Tom and Lil in front of Hannah and Mary, and all the details of their pasts came to light. Hannah was hurt and confused, but seemed to want to understand. Mary, the actor, the hypocrite who seduced Tom as he attempted to be faithful to Lil, would have none of it. She woke her daughter and left that night, encouraging Hannah and her daughter to leave with them.

In the end Roz and Ian, Lil and Tom were together again on the floating dock, though it was not so idyllic as before (fig. 2). Mary and Hannah and their daughters were missing. It was not hard to imagine angry waves beating against their little ships, as they strained at the oars against a contrary wind. Mary could blame her circumstances on Tom’s and Lil’s sin. Hannah could blame Ian and Roz. But would they ever see that it was their own unforgiving hearts that had abandoned them to torment?

fig. 2

Roz had made room for Hannah and her daughter in her heart (as the filmmakers made room for them on the floating dock). Ian was clearly a one woman man. Admittedly, forgiveness might have come harder for Mary. Lil had no self-control. Tom gave no evidence that his harem would be complete with only two women. But even Mary could do worse than to live among such forgiving repentant sinners. Still, I don’t think the filmmakers intended to produce a treatise on forgiveness.

That was the mood I was in and the subject of my meditation when I saw it. If “Adore” had some point beyond being an interesting, provocative movie I suppose it was a feminist cautionary tale. Roz and Lil would have created less havoc in their sons’ lives if they had simply become lesbian lovers rather than expressing their love for each other by proxy, through their sons. It’s not hard to see why “Adore” wasn’t a fan favorite among Christians. This is the kind of film that makes Christians feel like Lot, living among the people of Sodom, day after day, that righteous man was tormented (ἐβασάνιζεν, a form of βασανίζω) in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard…^[38]

And I don’t mean to suggest that Lot (or Christians for that matter) should unilaterally forgive people to escape such torment. We forgive repentant sinners because God has forgiven us. Apparently, there were no repentant sinners in Sodom for Lot to forgive. The inhabitants of Sodom were descendants of Canaan. The origin of the Canaanites for better or worse is traced back to Noah’s curse.

Noah drank wine and exposed himself in a drunken stupor. His son Ham saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers.^[39] Apparently Ham’s attitude was more judgmental and derogatory than mere reportage. When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him.^[40] So he cursed Ham’s son, Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.^[41]

I’ve heard it preached that Noah was such a holy prophet God was honor-bound to fulfill even his curse. This interpretation made some sense when I believed that Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord^[42] because Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God.^[43] As I began to believe that God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden,^[44] I began to believe that Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord because the Lord chose to have mercy on him. It followed naturally that Noah was a godly man, and was blameless among his contemporaries, and walked with God because he found favor in the sight of the Lord, because the Lord chose to have mercy on him.

Even a prophet, a herald of righteousness,^[45] like Noah could have a bad hangover one morning, slip the leash, so to speak, of the Holy Spirit’s ἐγκράτεια (translated, self-control) and say something foolish. Despite the enormity of its impact tracked over many generations I don’t think Noah’s curse had any more or less power than any other grandfather’s hateful words to his grandson.

fig. 3

Though he died about forty-one years before Sodom was destroyed (fig. 3), he lived long enough to see what Canaan’s descendants became. [Addendum: January 14, 2019 I may have been a bit too uncritical here of the dates in the Masoretic text. See: Were the Pyramids Built Before the Flood?] The Bible doesn’t say whether Noah regretted that curse or spent his last three centuries or so trying to justify it. But it seems to me, even as a Christian, that it would be better to forgive my son’s offense, even unilaterally, than to curse my grandson for it.

As I consider how difficult it is for Christians to forgive anyone for anything, it becomes easier to understand why Jesus threatened us with torture. I hope others can forgive me for refusing to see Matthew 18:35 as a proof-text for Jonathan Edward’s claim that God is the superlative torturer.

Torture, Part 3

Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 3

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 10

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 15

Back to The Children of Promise, Part 1

^[3] Matthew 18:34, 35 (NET)

^[5] Matthew 18:23 (NET)

^[6] Matthew 18:21 (NET)

^[10] Matthew 12:36 (NET)

^[11] Matthew 18:24b (NET)

^[12] Matthew 18:25 (NET) Table

^[13] Luke 18:13b (NET)

^[15] Matthew 18:26 (NET) Table

^[16] 1 Corinthians 13:4a (NET)

^[18] Matthew 18:27 (NET)

^[20] Matthew 18:18 (NET) Table

^[21] Matthew 18:28a (NET) Table

^[22] Matthew 18:30 (NET) Table

^[24] Matthew 18:32, 33 (NET) Table

^[25] Matthew 18:34, 35 (NET) Table

^[26] Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

^[27] 2 Corinthians 12:12 (NET)

^[28] 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NET)

^[29] Romans 7:18a (NET)

^[30] Romans 7:18b (NET)

^[32] Matthew 14:24 (NET)

^[33] Mark 6:48a (NET)

^[34] An impertinent paraphrase of Hebrews 12:2 (NET)

^[35] Matthew 18:21 (NET)

^[36] Matthew 18:22 (NET)

^[37] 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NET)

^[38] 2 Peter 2:8 (NET)

^[39] Genesis 9:22 (NET)

^[40] Genesis 9:24 (NET)

^[41] Genesis 9:25 (NET)

^[42] Genesis 6:8 (NET)

^[43] Genesis 6:9 (NET)

^[44] Romans 9:18 (NET)

^[45] 2 Peter 2:5 (NET)

Antichrist, Part 2

Posted on April 22, 2013 by admin

Before I could write about Lars von Trier’s movie, I had to return to what John the Apostle had to say about antichrist (ἀντίχριστος).^[1] 1 John 2:3-6 served as a preface and point of departure for that study.

Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love (ἀγάπη)^[2] of God has been perfected (τετελείωται, a form of τελειόω).^[3]

In other words God’s ἀγάπη, when it is perfected, empowers me to keep his commandments. For this is the love (ἀγάπη) of God: that we keep his commandments, John penned later in the same letter. And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.^[4] Or as Paul said, ἀγάπη is the fulfillment of the law,^[5] and, the one bringing forth in you both the desire (θέλειν)^[6] and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.^[7]

God’s ἀγάπη is perfected in me by faith: we have come to know and to believe the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us. God is love (ἀγάπη), and the one who resides in love (ἀγάπη) resides in God, and God resides in him [Table]. By this love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελείωται, a form of τελειόω) with us…^[8] Not only the ἀγάπη but the faith was supplied by God—But the fruit of the Spirit is love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (πίστις)^[9]—if I had but gotten out of his way. My religious mind stumbled over John’s statement, The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.^[10]

I thought I could avoid the stigma of being called a liar and prove myself true by obeying—first the law then Paul’s definition of love—in my own strength. I set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!^[11] A note in the NET on the phrase love of God (1 John 5:3 NET), reads: “Once again the genitive could be understood as (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both. Here an objective sense is more likely (believers’ love for God) because in the previous verse it is clear that God is the object of believers’ love.” What is far more obvious to me now is that my love for God was not sufficient to keep his commandments, and all my efforts to do so did weigh [me] down, when compared to being buoyed up by the fruit of his Spirit.

Still, I had received the desire (θέλειν) to keep his commandments, though God’s love was not yet perfected in me. For I want (θέλειν) to do the good, Paul lamented in Romans, but I cannot do it.^[12] My friends’ desires, on the other hand, did not suddenly change. And nothing I said mattered to them. Their ongoing sinful behavior tormented me. Why don’t they see? I wondered.

Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you,^[13] Paul replied when the Lord had said to him, Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.^[14] And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, Paul continued, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.^[15] It seemed to me that since someone like I was had changed (repented) that everyone should change. By this we know that we are in him, John wrote. The one who says he resides in God ought (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω)^[16] himself to walk just as Jesus walked.^[17]

There is nothing wrong with translating ὀφείλει ought: “We have a law, and according to our law he ought (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω) to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God!”^[18] religious leaders said of Jesus. But with my predilection for proving myself—“what I could do for God”—I need to remember that to owe is the primary meaning of ὀφείλει: Now if [Onesimus] has defrauded you of anything, Paul wrote Philemon, or owes (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω) you anything, charge what he owes to me.^[19] My religious mind has used ought to turn John’s statement on its head. I have believed that anything but absolute conformity on my part to walk just as Jesus walked is proof that I am not in him and do not reside in God, despite the fact that a sense of obligation, that I owe this to Him, has been with me since I believed. My friends did not think they owed this to God, or anyone else, simply because I began to believe.

Children, it is the last hour, John wrote, and just as you heard that the antichrist (ἀντίχριστος) is coming, so now many antichrists (ἀντίχριστοι, a form of ἀντίχριστος) have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. They went out (ἐξῆλθαν, a form of ἐξέρχομαι)^[20] from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained (μεμενήκεισαν, a form of μένω)^[21] with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.^[22] And I think 1 John 2:3-6 has more to do with the antichrists’ point of departure—They went out from us—than any geographical or institutional location.

To sense the obligation to walk just as Jesus walked while being imperfect in God’s love is a state of dynamic tension. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, seeking to obey the law or Paul’s definition of love in my own strength was a way to ease that tension. After all, no one, not even Jesus, could expect me to be as perfect as He is in my own strength. I was completely aware that I was easing that tension when I deliberately abandoned my obligation to walk just as Jesus walked because “it didn’t matter what I did, because I was forgiven and because I was not under law but under grace” (as some of my new friends interpreted and preached the Apostle Paul).

Still, He always brought me back from the latter excursions: Now as for you, John wrote, the anointing that you received from him resides (μένει, another form of μένω)^[23] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside (μένετε, another form of μένω) in him.^[24] If you love me, Jesus said, you will obey (τηρήσετε, a form of τηρέω) my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides (μένει) with you and will be in (ἐν)^[25] you.^[26]

The former excursions (though less like excursions and more like my lifestyle) were a bit more intractable. After all, wasn’t God pleased by my noble efforts to keep the law or Paul’s definition of love? Who is the liar, John wrote, but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.^[27]

I didn’t deny Jesus with my mouth. I honored Him with my lips. But in my heart I rejected the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness in favor of my own righteousness derived from the law^[28] or Paul’s definition of ἀγάπη. I was certainly hearing some of the things I’ve written about here. I did attempt from time to time to trust Him with MY righteousness. It wasn’t that I was better somehow at it than He was. It was that I demanded 100% compliance from Him (e.g., from me when He was in charge) but I was much more lenient with myself when I took control.

Dear friends, John continued, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.^[29] For me now this means more than paying lip service to Jesus. Does the spirit encourage me to trust God’s credited righteousness, to rely on the fruit of his Spirit? Or does the spirit encourage me to turn back to my own ways, striving in my own strength to keep his commandments?

Again John wrote of antichrist: But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another. (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.^[30]

John wrote his own ode to the love that fulfills the law (1 John 4:7-19 NET).

Dear friends, let us love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω) one another, because love (ἀγάπη) is from God, and everyone who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) has been fathered by God and knows God. The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) does not know God, because God is love (ἀγάπη). By this the love (ἀγάπη) of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him. In this is love (ἀγάπη): not that we have loved (ἠγαπήκαμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) God, but that he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, if God so loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us, then we also ought (ὀφείλομεν, another form of ὀφείλω) to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελειωμένη, another form of τελειόω) in us. By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us. God is love (ἀγάπη), and the one who resides in love (ἀγάπη) resides in God, and God resides^[31] in him [Table]. By this love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελείωται) with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love (ἀγάπη), but perfect (τελεία, a form of τέλειος)^[32] love (ἀγάπη) drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected (τετελείωται) in love (ἀγάπη). We love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) because he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us first.

Though Paul didn’t use the word antichrist he described a similar phenomenon of a religious person in whom God’s love is not perfected (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NET).

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη), I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη), I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη), I receive no benefit.

The meaning (in words) of ἀγάπη does not come from an understanding of a word in the Greek language, but from the following (1 Corinthians 13:4-13 NET):

Love (ἀγάπη) is patient, love (ἀγάπη) is kind, it is not envious. Love (ἀγάπη) does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love (ἀγάπη) never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect (τέλειον, another form of τέλειος) comes, the partial will be set aside. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love (ἀγάπη). But the greatest of these is love (ἀγάπη).

Antichrist, Part 3

Back to Fear – Exodus, Part 3

Back to Romans, Part 44

Back to Son of God – 1 John, Part 2

Back to Antichrist, Part 5

Back to Son of God – 1 John, Part 3

Back to The Righteousness of God

Back to Romans, Part 50

Back to To Make Holy, Part 5

Back to Fear – Exodus, Part 9

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 3

Back to Fear – Leviticus

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 13

Back to Romans, Part 78

^[3] 1 John 2:3-5a (NET)

^[4] 1 John 5:3, 4a (NET)

^[5] Romans 13:10b (NET)

^[7] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

^[8] 1 John 4:16-18a (NET)

^[9] Galatians 5:22 (NET)

^[10] 1 John 2:4 (NET)

^[11] Galatians 2:21 (NET)

^[12] Romans 7:18b (NET)

^[13] Acts 22:19 (NET)

^[14] Acts 22:18 (NET) Table

^[15] Acts 22:20 (NET)

^[17] 1 John 2:5b, 6 (NET)

^[18] John 19:7 (NET)

^[19] Philemon 1:18 (NET)

^[22] 1 John 2:18, 19 (NET)

^[24] 1 John 2:27 (NET)

^[26] John 14:15-17 (NET)

^[27] 1 John 2:22, 23 (NET)

^[28] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

^[29] 1 John 4:1-3 (NET)

^[30] 2 John 1:5-8 (NET)

^[31] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had μένει here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

Romans, Part 38

Posted on February 1, 2013 by admin

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law, Paul continued. “The one who does these things will live by them” [Table]. But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach)…^[1]

I have already gone into this in some detail elsewhere, when it seemed appropriate to understand Paul’s rhetorical question: If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?^[2] Here I will simply point out the recurring pattern. The righteousness that is by the law is an external code of conduct forced upon the sinful flesh of Adam. There are rewards for compliance, and threats of violence and death for noncompliance. The righteousness that is by faith wells up from the Holy Spirit and communes intimately with the spirit born from above, so intimately that this righteousness seems like that spirit’s own idea and longing.

Paul continued, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…^[3] There is a note in the NET here: “Or ‘the Lord.’ The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same ‘Lord’ seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as ‘the Lord,’ that is, Yahweh…” Jesus was quite clear on the subject, saying, I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!^[4]

Paul continued, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (σωθήσῃ, a form of σώζω).^[5] What this salvation is substantively is the righteousness that is by faith, a righteousness that comes from God through his Holy Spirit. When Peter defended his actions with Cornelius, he said, He informed us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, who will speak a message (ρήματα, a form of ῥῆμα)^[6] to you by which you and your entire household will be saved (σωθήσῃ, a form of σώζω).” Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word (ρήματος, another form of ῥῆμα) of the Lord, as he used to say, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”^[7]

For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness, Paul continued, and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.^[8] This translation is a little confusing. It sounds like one possesses two different things by two different means: 1) my heart believes and thus has righteousness and 2) my mouth confesses and thus has salvation. But the Greek word ἔχω ^[9] (to have, to hold) is not found in the text. The actual word is εἰς^[10] (into, unto): For with the heart one believes unto (εἰς) righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto (εἰς) salvation.^[11]

I did not believe once upon a time and thus possess righteousness. I did not confess once upon a time and thus possess salvation. I believe and confess daily that I am utterly dependent on Christ’s righteousness and faithfulness. Give us today our daily bread^[12] of this new life, the fruit of your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.^[13] What is our belief and confession (Titus 3:3-6 NET)?

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved (ἔσωσεν, another form of σώζω) us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

“And so, since we have been justified by his grace, since we are experiencing this salvation, this righteousness by faith (through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit),^[14] we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”^[15] Now having written that “we are experiencing this salvation, this righteousness by faith,” I certainly don’t mean that “our experience” is a 100% accurate translation of Christ’s righteousness. When it came to his bout with coveting Paul wrote, For I want (θέλειν, a form of θέλω)^[16] to do the good, but I cannot do it (literally, For to wish is present in/with me, but not to do it).^[17] Still, he recognized that this desire was from God and not from himself or his own righteousness by the law, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.^[18]

For the scripture says, Paul continued in Romans, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (σωθήσεται, another form of σώζω).^[19]

Romans, Part 39

Back to Antichrist, Part 2

Back to Son of God – John, Part 5

Back to Who Am I? Part 7

^[1] Romans 10:5-8 (NET)

^[2] Romans 3:3 (NET)

^[3] Romans 10:9a (NET)

^[4] John 8:58 (NET) Table

^[5] Romans 10:9b (NET)

^[7] Acts 11:13-16 (NET)

^[8] Romans 10:10 (NET)

^[11] Romans 10:10 (NKJV)

^[12] Matthew 6:11 (NET)

^[13] Galatians 2:22, 23 (NET)

^[14] Titus 3:5b (NET)

^[15] Titus 3:7 (NET)

^[17] Romans 7:18b (NET)

^[18] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

^[19] Romans 10:11-13 (NET)

Romans, Part 29

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

There is therefore now no condemnation (κατάκριμα) for those who are in Christ Jesus (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ),¹ Paul continued. I want to list some of the things that are true for those in Christ Jesus:

In Christ Jesus…
1) …born of water and spirit [Table]…What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.	John 3:5, 6 (NET)
2) …the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want [Table].	Galatians 5:17 (NET)
3) I delight in the law of God in my inner being.	Romans 7:22 (NET)
4) I know that nothing good lives…in my flesh [Table].	Romans 7:18a (NET)
5) I want to do the good, but I cannot do it [Table].	Romans 7:18b (NET)
6) I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want [Table]!	Romans 7:19 (NET)
7) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me [Table].	Romans 7:20 (NET)
8) So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin [Table].	Romans 7:25b (NKJV)
9) There is therefore now no condemnation [Table]…	Romans 8:1a (NET)

For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.² All of this was achieved by God. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω) sin in the flesh…³

Only God knows how much sin is condemned in my flesh. I have a general sense that while I’m preoccupied (and frustrated) with the opposition of the flesh that keeps me from the perfection I want (and think I should demonstrate by the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ)⁴ less and less of the sin (that is the desire of the flesh) sees the light of day. It is not expressed in the world. It is confined, trapped, condemned in dead and dying flesh.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die.⁵ This was a difficult saying for Martha to believe, many years before Paul wrote to the Romans. Jesus asked her, Do you believe this?⁶ Martha’s answer was a model of tactful diplomacy, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.⁷

Jesus knew Martha’s brother was sick, but deliberately waited two more days until he died.⁸ Our friend, He told his disciples, has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.⁹ His disciples were not eager to return to Judea. Rabbi, they said, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! [Jesus had claimed to be Yahweh, John 8:58, 59 NET] Are you going there again?¹⁰ Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.¹¹ So Jesus told them plainly that he was dead, and said, I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.¹²

Jesus had deliberately contrived this situation as an object lesson for his disciples, but then Mary, Martha’s sister, came and fell at¹³ his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died:”¹⁴

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.¹⁵

It was a profound moment. Only He knows how many people He killed as Yahweh, sinners, yes, but people. He planned the death of Martha’s and Mary’s brother. He knew what He intended to do in the next few moments. And yet He wept. To say that Yahweh was not empathetic with human death would be false. I’m particularly affected by the implications of Genesis 18, that before the omniscient, omnipresent Yahweh decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he took physical form and walked its streets. But there is something even more affecting about Yahweh, born of the flesh of Adam as Jesus, standing before the tomb of a friend weeping human tears from human eyes.

Take away the stone,¹⁶ Jesus said. Martha, ever the proper hostess, protested, Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.¹⁷ Jesus responded (John 11:40-44 NET):

“Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see¹⁸ the glory of God?” So they took away the stone.¹⁹ Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The²⁰ one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him²¹ go.”

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord²²…who will rescue me from this body of death.²³ The ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh is the death of the body. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies,²⁴ Jesus promised everyone born of the flesh and of the Spirit. To those who already consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus,²⁵ who accept their new identities, with the mind [they themselves] serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,²⁶ Jesus promised, the one who lives and believes in me will never die.²⁷ To them the well-deserved demise of the body of death is a welcome relief, not a cause of apprehension.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death,²⁸ is the way the writer of Hebrews put it. Paul concluded, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled (πληρωθῇ, a form of πληρόω) in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.²⁹ The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled by the righteousness of God [apart from the law³⁰] through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,³¹ the love that is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law,³² the fruit of the Spirit³³ of God, in other words, to walk according…to the Spirit. As Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, another form of πληρόω) them.³⁴

Paul continued (Romans 8:5-11 NET):

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him [Table]. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you [Table].

Addendum: May 15, 2024
Tables comparing John 11:32; 11:39; 11:40, 41 and 11:44 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 11:32 (NET)	John 11:32 (KJV)
Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”	Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

John 11:32 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:32 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:32 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ἡ οὖν Μαριὰμ ὡς ἦλθεν ὅπου ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἰδοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔπεσεν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς πόδας λέγουσα αὐτῷ· κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε οὐκ ἄν μου ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀδελφός	η ουν μαρια ως ηλθεν οπου ην ο ιησους ιδουσα αυτον επεσεν εις τους ποδας αυτου λεγουσα αυτω κυριε ει ης ωδε ουκ αν απεθανεν μου ο αδελφος	η ουν μαρια ως ηλθεν οπου ην ο ιησους ιδουσα αυτον επεσεν αυτου εις τους ποδας λεγουσα αυτω κυριε ει ης ωδε ουκ αν απεθανεν μου ο αδελφος

John 11:39 (NET)	John 11:39 (KJV)
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell because he has been buried four days.”	Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

John 11:39 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:39 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:39 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγει ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἄρατε τὸν λίθον. λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Μάρθα· κύριε, ἤδη ὄζει, τεταρταῖος γάρ ἐστιν	λεγει ο ιησους αρατε τον λιθον λεγει αυτω η αδελφη του τεθνηκοτος μαρθα κυριε ηδη οζει τεταρταιος γαρ εστιν	λεγει ο ιησους αρατε τον λιθον λεγει αυτω η αδελφη του τεθνηκοτος μαρθα κυριε ηδη οζει τεταρταιος γαρ εστιν

John 11:40, 41 (NET)	John 11:40, 41 (KJV)
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?”	Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

John 11:40 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:40 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:40 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· οὐκ εἶπον σοι ὅτι ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς ὄψῃ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ	λεγει αυτη ο ιησους ουκ ειπον σοι οτι εαν πιστευσης οψει την δοξαν του θεου	λεγει αυτη ο ιησους ουκ ειπον σοι οτι εαν πιστευσης οψει την δοξαν του θεου

So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

John 11:41 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:41 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:41 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἦραν οὖν τὸν λίθον. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἦρεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄνω καὶ εἶπεν· πάτερ, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι ἤκουσας μου	ηραν ουν τον λιθον ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος ο δε ιησους ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω και ειπεν πατερ ευχαριστω σοι οτι ηκουσας μου	ηραν ουν τον λιθον ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος ο δε ιησους ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω και ειπεν πατερ ευχαριστω σοι οτι ηκουσας μου

John 11:44 (NET)	John 11:44 (KJV)
The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”	And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

John 11:44 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:44 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:44 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐξῆλθεν ὁ τεθνηκὼς δεδεμένος τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖρας κειρίαις καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο. λέγει \|αὐτοῖς\| \|ὁ\| Ἰησοῦς · λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε αὐτὸν ὑπάγειν	και εξηλθεν ο τεθνηκως δεδεμενος τους ποδας και τας χειρας κειριαις και η οψις αυτου σουδαριω περιεδεδετο λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους λυσατε αυτον και αφετε υπαγειν	και εξηλθεν ο τεθνηκως δεδεμενος τους ποδας και τας χειρας κειριαις και η οψις αυτου σουδαριω περιεδεδετο λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους λυσατε αυτον και αφετε υπαγειν