Argula: A Woman, A Reformer, A Writer

As we celebrate Reformation in this week, we should be also aware that there were many women involved in the process of reforming churches. Valerie Abraham lists five among the many remarkable women of the Reformation: Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) – The Diplomat, Marie Dentiere (1495-1561) – The Lightning Rod, Argula Von Grumbach (1492-1554) – The Debater, Olympia Morata (1526-1555) – The Scholar, Jeanne d’Albert (1528-1572) – The Politician. Here I would highlight on Argula Von Grumbach, a mighty woman of God, who was threatened to have her two fingers amputated to stop her from writing. Writing has always influenced people living in all centuries and it a threatening tool. The pen is mightier than a sword! Argula became the first protestant woman writer and she used it as a reforming tool.

Argula Von Grumbach was born in 1492 in Bavaria in the Reformation Era which saw the “Rediscovery of Scripture” through Sola Scripture (Scripture Alone). Despite the warning from anti-reformers, her parents encouraged her to read and study the Bible. In 1517, in the year in which Luther hammered his ninety-five thesis on the church door in Wittenburg, Argula married Friedrich with whom she had four children. Friedrich died in 1530. But no situation could deter Argula in her stint with Reformation leaders. She encouraged the nobility of her native Bavaria to take on the ideas of the Reformers. She also travelled extensively for this cause. In doing so Argula broke a number of taboos. She assumed a public role, which was unheard of for a woman of her time.

She was a theological writer and exegete of Scripture. She promoted the cause of Reformation through writing of pamphlets. She read Scripture for aspects of both ecclesial and social lives.  She argued strongly for the independence of the church from secular authority when it came to spiritual matters such as the understanding of the Scripture. She understood herself as called and led by the Spirit of God to read and understand the Scriptures. She was a prophetess in her calling!

Argula had the audacity to address the university leaders of the day. Her wisdom, her logic and her use of Scriptures was stunning. She boldly spoke up for the supremacy of Scriptures and priesthood of all believers including women. Reformer Balthasar said about her: Argula, a pious woman knows the divine Word better than clergy, like Deborah and Huldah in the Old Testament, and the daughters of Philip in the New Testament.

I hope and believe that the present state of church worldwide will be reformed when women like Argula and men like Luther rise and stand for the Scriptures, for its rightful interpretation, and use their writings to impact the world that is so small these days using technology and by all modern means!

Source: Women in Church and Society, Compiled by Zubeno Kithan

You Are Special!

Are you hurt? Here is good news! In my recent meditation of the Scripture, I was greatly blessed reading a passage in Luke 8:40-56.

I loved Jesus calling a woman as his ‘daughter’, which I find as the one and only occasion in the gospel account. All the synoptic writers have given space to this incident which should be a great encouragement to a child of God feeling discouraged or disheartened. Similarly, in only one occasion we see Jesus mentioning a man as ’son’ which again is recorded by all the synoptic gospel writers. Both of them were sick people, the woman was haemorrhaging and the man, a paralytic. However, as a woman I am attracted to the narrative of the bleeding woman closer to my heart.

Not a Contamination!

Added to her physical issues like anaemia and exhaustion, this woman would have faced terrible spiritual and social ostracism. Bleeding made her unclean (Lev 15:19–27) and anyone who touched her or anything she had been in contact with would be considered unclean too and would have to perform certain rites to cleanse themselves. She had to live a lonely life without her family and friends. She was in debt after depleting all her resources paying to doctors. Knowing that Jesus is in town this desperate woman mustered her courage and managed to touch the cloak of Jesus in the crowd. What a contamination as per law! But it was not so for Jesus.

What an Extravagance!

Interestingly this story is sandwiched between the part where Jairus, a synagogue ruler pleaded with Jesus to heal his dying daughter and later, when the little girl died. Let us look at Jairus now.  As leader of the synagogue he was well respected. He could go up to Jesus and ensure he got his request heard by falling at his feet, touching him and begging him to heal his daughter. In contrast, this nameless woman could only approach Jesus stealthily from behind and touch the back of his clothes. Jairus’ daughter had a father to fight her corner; this poor woman had none. How moving, then, are Christ’s words to her calling her ‘Daughter’. Whereas, Jairus got his daughter resurrected later, Jesus gained a daughter earlier that day. He applauds her as a woman of faith and declared peace and healing to her. What an extravagant outpouring of grace and mercy!

What a Blessing!

Do you ever feel at a disadvantage? Does it seem as if others have more going for them: better education, wealthier backgrounds, better health, more confidence and more family and friends to support them? Are you letting such things hold you back or cause you to be jealous of others? What matters is not your status before people but your status before God. Do you need to see yourself afresh, through God’s eyes, as his much-loved child?

Who are the equivalents of the woman with a haemorrhage today? Who are the vulnerable and rejected in our society who have no one to stand up for them? Let us identify with them. Let us include them and extend our family boundary. After all we are all the children of our Lord Jesus. He calls us as “My son” and “My daughter”. What a blessing!

Inspired by:

Caroline Fletcher in WordLive, 20 June, 2019

Can Curses be Reversed?

Many religions talk about curses and generational curses. Even the Bible has a lot to tell on these. I would however like to confine to one man in the Bible and the one God of the Bible in this regard. This man named Zerubbabel captured my attention in the recent past. His name appears in the genealogical records of Jesus given by both Matthew and Luke. Who are the forefathers of this man?

Notorious Predecessors

Zerubbabel’s grandfather Jehoiachin also called Coniah was a wicked king of Judah who was taken into captivity and was imprisoned in Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-17). Jehoiachin’s father was Jehoiakim, the son of good and righteous Josiah, my all time favourite king! But Jehoiakim was wicked and notorious enough that he burnt the scroll containing the word of God (Jeremiah 36:23). The wrath of God went to peak towards this king that he pronounced judgement cutting short the covenant He had made with David (Jeremiah 36:30-31):  Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David...Jehoiakim’s tragic death and details was prophesied about earlier in Jeremiah 22: 18-19.

Crucial Chapter

A clue for generational curse/blessing lies in this important chapter in the Bible in Ezekiel 18. The central truth here is: the soul that sins will die. Curses of the past generation can be broken, provided the individual living in the present generation mends his/her life in the light of the word of God. This crucial teaching of the Bible follows the chapter in which we read about another prophecy regarding Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (son of Josiah, uncle of Jehoiachin, forefather of Zerubbabel)  being deported to Babylon. It is in this context that Ezekiel 18 throws hope that even after all such cursed past events, a progeny in the family can mend his/her present life. That was what Zerubbabel did.

Chain of Curse

Zerubbabel came from a very bad past-history. He lived during the Babylonian exile. He was appointed as governor (Zedekiah was the last king of Judah and after which there were only governors of Judah, appointed by their captors). Here are some highlights of a changed life style of Zerubbabel, unlike his ancestors:

• Based on the command given by King Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4), the captor king, a big group of people of Judah returned to Jerusalem and started to rebuild the temple that was demolished by King Nebuchadnezzar, years back.  Firstly, Zerubbabel took lead in restoring the altar and daily worship in the temple. (Ezra 3:1-3)
• He was one of those who rebuilt the temple. (Ezra 3:8)
• He protected the purity of the Lord’s temple. (Ezra 4:2-3)
• He obeyed God’s words that came through the prophets of his time, Haggai and Zechariah. (Haggai 1:12-15)
• He ensured the daily needs of Levites who led the worship. (Nehemiah 12:47)

No wonder, Zerubbabel received a great promise from God which has been recorded in Haggai 2:21-23. The chain of curses reversed as blessings and promises from God! 

The Significant Signet Ring

God had used the very same analogy of a signet ring as a matter of curse earlier to Zerubbabel’s grandfather in Jeremiah 22:24: Even if you, Jehoiachin^, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.  But later in Haggai 2:23 we read: “‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” What a blessing to Zerubbabel! The finer and fuller fulfilment of this promise was seen in the progeny of Zerubbabel, Jesus!

Blessed Zerubbabel

This is the climax. Zerubbabel’s name appears in both the genealogical accounts of Jesus (Matthew’s believed to be Joseph’s, traced through Solomon, recorded in chapter 1, Luke’s believed to be Mary’s, traced through Nathan, another son of David, recorded in chapter 3). Some scholars say that Zerubabbel’s ancestry also is similar to Jesus. His mother’s lineage comes through Nathan, son of David, and that his father’s comes through Solomon. Zerubbabel was a truly blessed man. A transformed life was all that brought the change in his life.  For all of us today, living on this side of the cross, there are additional promises. Galatians 3:13 can be a tower of strength: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. It is Jesus who helps us to change our bad ways, bad past and to change the curses to a blessing! God Bless!!

Five Wise Women in Christmas Story

The birth narrative of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew starts off with a genealogy where unusually we find the names of five women. Some had a bad reputation. For some it was not a choice. Some were widows. The good common thing is that they were all, wise and discerning.

Tamar – Sin No More

Tamar was the widow of the first son of Judah, Er.  Judah's next son, Onan cheated Tamar and he also died. The deaths were the judgement of God on these two men. The third son, Shelah did not want to marry Tamar. Judah also became a widower by that time. In the meantime, Tamar somehow wanted to beget a child. She wanted the family line of Judah to be passed on! In some tricky incident which followed, Judah unknowingly found himself in an adulterous relationship with Tamar, his own daughter-in-law.  But in an interesting turn of events, Judah came to know that Tamar got pregnant because of him. He also realized that she was more righteous than him because he failed to give his third son to her. But one cannot try to achieve a seemingly worthy goal by disobeying God like Tamar. Anyhow the good news is that she never sinned anymore after that incident (Genesis 38). Jesus stressed it in two incidents that forgiven sinners can sin no more (John 5:1-15, 8:3-11).

Rahab – Faith Through Hearing

Rahab was a prostitute who lived in the city of Jericho.   But she was a wise woman who knew what was happening in the world of her time. She was update with information about the mighty deliverance of the bonded Israelite slaves from the then super power Egypt. She was aware of the miracles and victories this wandering group enjoyed from the almighty God all along their journey. She knew the kings subdued by the Israelites, by names. She could also predict how the rulers of Jericho would melt in fear in front of these feeble, yet powerful Israelites. This discernment stirred Rahab to welcome the Israelite spies with peace (Hebrews 11:31).  The spies told her a way by which she and her family would not perish during the attack. Since she already knew the power of the Yahweh God, she obeyed the spies. Faith comes through hearing.  She and her family were the only survivors of the attack in the city of Jericho.  Rahab married Salmon, a Yahweh worshipper in the Israelite community thereafter (Joshua 2 & 6).

  

Ruth – Faith in Action

It is easy for anyone to interpret three widows living under the same roof as a result of some evil they had done in their past. With no men in the family there was utter hopelessness in this household.  Now one of those widows was Ruth who came from a non-Yahweh background. Her difficult choice to stick to her seemingly hopeless old widowed mother-in-law, Naomi and Naomi’s God brought all the change! A rich man named Boaz, who was a relative of her deceased husband, married Ruth. Hopelessness turned to hope. James 2:14-20 says that faith without action is dead and useless. Ruth showed her faith in action, by clinging to God and caring for her mother-in-law. This seemingly cursed family could live and procreate because of the living faith of Ruth.

  

Bathsheba – Receive Mercy

Bathsheba was an innocent victim of the the powerful king David. In his lustful pursuit, she lost her husband, Urriah and also became a joint sinner with David. She also lost her son born out of adultery.  The counsel of God came to David that he was a sinner. A good thing about this king however was that he accepted that he was a sinner (2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12). It may not be wrong on our part to imagine Bathsheba kneeling with David when he prayed those lines that we find in Psalm 51. A sinful past is cleared with a genuine confession to God. Proverbs 28:13 says that, people who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

Mary – Obedience Leads to Blessing

Mary was about to be divorced from her husband Joseph for he found her to be an unwed mother (Matthew 1:19). Mary had to carry her baby with a bad tag around her just because she obeyed the word of God given to her through the angel.  It is her surrender as a servant to God, that gave her a honourable tag as the mother of incarnate Jesus! (Luke 1:26-38) God spoke to Joseph after which he took good care of Mary and his foster kid Jesus. He safe guarded Mary from foul-mouthed people. Mary received her blessed status because of her obedience.

  

These women carry loaded messages for us today. In a time, when names of women seldom found entry in the genealogical records, Matthew could not resist recording the names of these five women in the birth narrative of Jesus. The underlying truth is that God can use people of all kind to work his wonders. Let us be encouraged that we are one of those precious bunch of people. Blessed Christmas, folks!

Christmas Genealogy – Josiah

Christ being the reason for the Christmas season, let us take time to celebrate the forefathers and foremothers of Jesus, mentioned in the first chapter of Matthew. One of them is a king whose birth, name and life, has been predicted before three centuries!  He is Josiah about whom was prophesied during the reign of a wicked-ever king Jeroboam, in the history of Israel (1 Kings 13:1-5).  While we can learn a lot from King Josiah, I have attempted a few of them here.

This Child Will Surely Live!

“Josiah is the most astonishing instance that is contained in Scripture of goodness springing up, and attaining high perfection under the most extraordinarily unfavorable circumstances” (Pulpit Commentary, Vol 5, 440).  Josiah’s grand-father was the infamous Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1-16) who was responsible for an increased immorality and idolatry in the nation.  Josiah’s father was Amon who continued the evil practices of Manasseh (v.19-23).  The life of Josiah in this evil lineage explains the argument we see in Ezekiel 18:19 (NLT) where God says, 'Doesn't the child pay for the parent's sins?' No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. Josiah is one such!

Josiah became a king when he was 8 year old.  When he was 16 years old, he began to demonstrate a genuine commitment to God (2 Chronicles 34:3a). At 20, he began a purge of idolatry in Judah (34:3b). When he was 26 years old, Josiah launched an aggressive reformation by which true worship to Yahweh was restored (v.8). The Temple was repaired. Like Jesus cleaning the temple with a whip much later in timeline, King Josiah cleaned the then Jerusalem Temple that had been defiled. He reformed the community from all evils. The Book of the Law that was not sought for over a century was found out and the covenant with God was renewed (read 2 Chronicles 34 & 35).

If Not Parents, Then Who?

What was the reason that Josiah could reverse his sinful ancestral stigma? There were people who influenced Josiah for good like Hilkiah, the priest, Shaphan, the scribe and Huldah, the prophetess. They took a prominent role in the life of the young King. The encouraging lesson here is that one can be raised in the worst possible environment but choose to follow God and also be a reviving and reforming tool in His hands! Josiah responded to the positive influencers in his life.

Justice, Our Life Style

There is a mention of Josiah in the book of Jeremiah, his contemporary. Jeremiah writes that  King Josiah was a man of word and deed. The good Lord gave a beautiful testimony of him saying, Josiah gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him (Jeremiah 22:16). This was in the context, of the Lord chiding Josiah's son, Jehoiakim who was no way like his dad. The Bible mentions several things about how things can go well for us. Being just, and helpful is one expectation of God, for all who love his word. This is a season when we can venture into a lot of activities with regard to helping the poor and the needy like how Josiah did. But this should become a life style for us, all through the year and all through our lives. Micah echoes the same principle: O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

Happy Advent! Advance Christmas Wishes!!

Story of Contrasts

This is a story of contrasts between rich and poor which we read about in Jeremiah 39. It is about destruction contrasted with protection, of humiliation and honouring, of faithfulness and infidelity. It is similar to the Rich Man and Lazarus story narrated by Jesus (Luke 16:19-31).

First in Line
King Zedekiah as leader bears responsibility for the state of the nation. He is soundly defeated, his household despoiled, his palace destroyed and he himself humiliated because of his repeated disobedience to God's warnings through Jeremiah. Shorn of power, he is taken into captivity as God had warned. The proud are brought low as God’s judgement begins with his own household (see 1 Peter 4:17). Far from being immune to his searching judgement, God’s people stand first in line. Greater privileges carry greater responsibilities. Jesus said: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48). We are first in line in our responsibilties, having received God's salvation.  

Demonstrating Trust

In contrast, firstly the poorest people in Judah are spared from doom. Second, Jeremiah, the prophet who brought God’s word is honoured by the captors, the Babylonians. Last but not the least, Ebed-Melek, the Ethiopian Eunuch (38:7, ESV), is favoured by God (v 18). He demonstrated his trust in God by siding with Jeremiah and therefore with God’s word (see Jeremiah 38:7–13). I am reminded of Philip, the evangelist and his encounter with another one such Ethiopian Eunuch, much later in timeline. This Eunuch feared the Lord and became his follower which is recorded in Acts 8. Can God place his trust on us, at all times?

God Can Use Anyone!

Amid the chaos of evil, God still has his people, even when it seemed no one was left. God can use anyone to accomplish his purpose, even Babylonians who do not recognise the Lord, but he looks for faithful people. I want to be one such! 

(Reproduced with few changes from Andy Bathgate's article in https://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2018-11-10/Is-anyone-there)

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