February 2, 2004

Two weeks are finished and I am starting to develop something of a routine. I count Tuesday as the beginning of a new week since I left home on a Tuesday and since Monday is the last day of teaching in each week.

The first order of business is to sleep in to make up for the long days and short nights just finished.

The next order of business is housekeeping which gets pretty much ignored from Saturday through Monday.

My priorities on Tuesday are to get the papers graded and to make out the review quizzes for the next class sessions. Following that I begin to organize my materials for the coming week to get an idea if I have sufficient information to fill the allotted time or if I am going to need to do some additional research.

One of my students asked a really good question for which I didn't have a really good answer. I am spending time this week doing research and seeking the input of wiser men than me. I am going to append the question and discussion to the end of this week's journal for any of you who enjoy pondering such things.

February 5, 2004

Today was a beautiful day with the weather climbing into the low 60s. Jim and Nell came by and took me to the Russian Market. This is a street market that shuts off 12 or 15 blocks of a community and is lined wall-to-wall on both sides of the street with booths of all kinds. There are many, many booths featuring clothes, accessories, fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, and miles and miles of cloth neatly displayed in bolts. In addition, a person can buy a gas mask or a sword or enough garlic to have bad breath the rest of his life.

The market opens somewhere every week day, but only one day in any given community. So, at about 2:00 p.m. each day, the merchants load their portable booths and their wares into their vans and get ready to do it all over again the next day in a different location.

It is called a Russian Market because many of the merchants are Russian immigrants who came into the country during the fall of the Soviet Union but were unable to find jobs. So they just created their own jobs. They are required to have permits and pay taxes.

If you would care to see some of the pictures I took at the market place, you can visit my personal web site at http://www.lannypartain.com. A warning though, you'll be greeted by pictures of my grandchildren.

February 7, 2004

Meet Simon and his wife Nadege. They are from Cameroon, Africa. After Simon's mother married a Greek school teacher, Simon saw an opportunity to get into AIBI on a Student Visa by enrolling in an accepted secular school. Some time later, he was able to get Nadege in on a Student Visa also. She is also a student at AIBI. Unbelievably, paper work being what it is between the two countries, they still have not been able to get their one year old son into the country. The child is staying with Nadege's sister as they work to get him reunited with them.

Simon's mother and step-father have moved to France and Simon took up the rent for the apartment they had. Just to show you the obstacles our students face constantly, last Friday the landlord told Simon and Nadege that he was doubling their rent and if they were unwilling or unable to pay it they had 24 hours to find another place.

Number one, many of the Greeks do not like to rent to foreigners, and number two, they especially do not like to rent to blacks. In addition, with the olympics fast approaching, many of them see an opportunity to make a lot of money fast if they have available space to rent.

The situation is not resolved. With very limited funds and with them having to pay $200 (Euros) per month each to maintain their Student Visas, paying twice as much rent is out of the question. The whole school is scrambling to try to find a solution.

In spite of off of this, the two of them keep a Christian joy and calmness about them that puts me to shame. They are dedicated to their studies and totally delightful.

Addendum to this week's journal

The following question was raised by a student in my Romans class. It probably falls into the category of “how many angles can dance on the head of a pin”, but I had never thought about it before.

Question: During the time that Jesus was on earth as a man, did he walk by faith or by sight?

There is no question about the role of faith in our lives, but what about the role of faith in the earthly life of the Messiah?

Considerations:

• Paul and the Hebrew writer make much of the total divinity and the total humanity of Jesus.

• Philippians 2:6 Jesus “emptied” himself of his equality and took on the form of a man.

• Hebrews 2:17 It was necessary for Jesus to be, in every respect, like us so he could be our merciful High Priest.

• Hebrews 11:1 An element of faith is that it involves the unseen. Once sensory perception is invoked, faith is diminished or removed.

• Did emptying himself of divinity include his personal knowledge of the spirit world?
o At the age of 12 he astonished the Rabbis. By the time of his personal ministry, he had a strong awareness of who he was and what he was and what his mission was. Did he learn it from Mary who was told by Gabriel? Did he learn it from a personal study of the scripture? Was it given him by inspiration of the Holy Spirit within the limits of human knowledge?

• As a man, he performed many miracles. He could have, and apparently did, perform miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as the Apostles did. Many of his miracles were duplicated by the Apostles, including the raising of the dead.

• In John 3:34 Jesus is described as having the Holy Spirit without measure. This can be taken to mean that everything he spoke had the stamp of Divine Authority as opposed to the prophets and Apostles who were inspired only as necessary to impart God’s Word. In verse 32 John tells us Jesus speaks what he has “seen and heard.”

• If he did not have limited knowledge like we have, could he be said to be totally human and tempted in all ways just as we are?

Observations by others:

Rudy Wray

The culminating proof that Jesus walked by faith was the fact that He willingly went to the cross and died. Had He not been living by faith there would not have been any reason for the tears and sweat as great drops of blood in Gethsemane. (Luke 22:44)He commended His spirit into the Father's hand, in faith that he would be resurrected.

Though he had power to read men's minds, and heal the sick, He still had limited knowledge of what the future would hold. Example: “Of that day and that hour no man knows, not even the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) I believe that every day He lived, He lived in faith. He lived in faith that God would provide for his physical needs, that God would answer His prayers, that God would bring about His (the Father’s) will through His (the Son’s) life.

Michael Harbour

I tend to believe that the whole enterprise of incarnation through crucifixion was an act of faith for the Logos/Christ/Jesus. Would these people get it? Would even the disciples grasp what was happening? Could he bear the weight of the sins of the world and the separation he would experience for the first time? "Yet not my will, but Thine be done."

I know that it troubles some, but I even would say that God was walking by faith. He entrusted the mission of Jesus to the likes of us. Foreknowledge does not trump human choice.

An interesting passage about the faith of Jesus is: Romans 3:21-25 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, [22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, [23] since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;[24] they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;

Pisteos Iesou is genitive in verse 22. I would say that this is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. It seems redundant to say as the translators have done that the righteousness is through faith in Jesus for those who have faith. See the argument in Dunn (and the point put forward by M. Barth, Schmidt, Longnecker, Richard Hays (and my teacher of Systematics - John Mark Hicks)

[Note by Lanny Partain – At the risk of misrepresenting Michael, I would like to elaborate. “Pisteos (faith) Iesou (Jesus) is genitive (a grammatical case making a relationship of possession, especially in a prepositional phrase introduced by “of”.) In other words, the passage could (should) be translated “faith of Jesus” instead of “faith in Jesus.”

The King James Version reads, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:”

Darby’s translation reads, “righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all, and upon all those who believe:”

Young’s Literal translation reads, “and the righteousness of God is through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing,”]

Ron Thompson

My immediate answer is "YES". He walked (lived on this earth) by both faith and sight. He was a man and "tempted" as we all are. But He also had powers and understanding that a mere human does not have, i.e. His knowledge about His Father's will. [L.P. Note: Example, John 3:34]

Beni Leka

This is a follow-up on the reference to Romans 3:21-25

In the Greek text the faith of Jesus in verse 22 is “eis” (Strong’s number 1519) which is best and most often translated “in” meaning “to or unto, indicating the point reached or entered.” Thus, in this passage, the “faith of Jesus” is in (directed toward) all those that believe, not in God, who is the subject of human faith.

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