😇 Epiphany 3
Readings: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23. For full, free access go to PewPewHQ.com/tfw/a-e03.
From the TRNG Room:
Central Thesis/Theme:
In this episode, I explore Jesus's inauguration of ministry through Matthew 4 and Isaiah 9, focusing on what it means when something radically new begins. I'm translating "basileos" as "Republic of Heaven" rather than "kingdom" because kingdoms were subordinate to Rome's empire—but God's republic distributes power among ordinary people, not through monarchical centralization. This inauguration isn't just historical; it's happening now. Something big is unfolding in our political moment, and while it doesn't have to hurt, we need to stop clenching our fists and watch what unfolds, accompanying those who are afraid rather than choosing sides.
Key Textual/Historical Insights:
I examine John's baptism as adapted from priestly mikvah and women's menstrual cleansing—rituals involving blood and water, the two substances we need to live. The agrarian parables in Hebrew scripture create a meaning system around work, production, and spoilage: fruit left too long on the vine falls and becomes compost. Tomorrow's manna saved today goes bad, teaching us that accumulation beyond need equals corruption. The Greek "oikos" ties together household, economy, and servanthood. I see the twelve apostles not as reiterating the twelve tribes but as echoing the thirteen judges, with Samson—the twelfth judge who tears everything up—as a crucial parallel for understanding disruptive renewal.
Theological Argument:
Jesus demonstrates radical indifference to the temple economy. When he flips the tables in Mark's account, he's showing us what power looks like when distributed among a council of trusted friends rather than centralized in monarchy. The prayer "give us today our daily bread" isn't just about sustenance—it's about resisting accumulation, recognizing that hoarding tomorrow's provision breeds spoilage and corruption. A house that must steal from others to survive is already decomposing, destined to fall under its own weight. God's republic operates on actual need, not value extraction. This is why I translate basileos as republic: it acknowledges subordination to something higher while distributing authority among the many, not concentrating it in hierarchical power structures.
Contemporary Application:
I'm watching the Trump administration like I think of Samson—someone tearing up systems to see what breaks and what holds. The ICE recruitment bonus isn't just fascism; it's economic desperation. Eighty thousand applicants aren't all ideologues—they're people like me in 2000, seeing $50,000 as a way out of economic depression. Someone was taken by ICE at Two Rivers Market in Albany, and I'm in conversation with restaurant owners who don't know what to do. Neither do I, but I want them to trust me. Rather than going to protests or trying to resist systems I've watched percolate for decades, I'm choosing to accompany people who are afraid. Something big is happening—we need to unclench and witness it.
Questions Raised:
- What does it mean that Jesus's inauguration happens in his hometown, and what does inauguration of ministry look like for us today?
- How does understanding "republic" versus "kingdom" change our relationship to divine authority and power distribution?
- What economic systems steal from others to survive, and how do we recognize when we're accumulating tomorrow's manna that will spoil?
- Can we see the current administration as Samson—tearing things up to inaugurate something new—without endorsing or demonizing?
- How do we accompany those who are afraid without choosing sides in binary political frameworks?