Thought for Today
Ezra 7:6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the LORD the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
Psalm 45:1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
Matthew 13:52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
Matthew 16:21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Scribe: “1. Historical – a person who copied out documents, especially one employed to do this before printing was invented. Humorous – a writer, especially a journalist. 2. Historical – an ancient Jewish record-keeper or, later, a processional theologian and jurist.” (Copilot search)
We live in a time and in a nation where almost everyone can read and write. Some may be more or less comfortable doing so in English, others in what was their native language before arriving in the U.S.A. It is easy to forget that this was not always so. When we read the Bible, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the scribes mentioned there were more than mere transcribers or copiers. As noted in Ezra, biblical scribes were “skilled in the law of Moses.” One of my own personal theological heroes, John Calvin, was trained by the Catholic Church as a scribe.
Inevitably, scribes became what we today would think of as lawyers and sometimes even historians. In a sense, the compilers and writers of our scriptures were scribes. Sometimes they are mentioned in scripture in a positive light, at other times in a negative light. But scribes played a vital role in religion and in the development of the Bible.
I thought about scribes last night after Greta and I had a delightful telephone conversation with my nephew in Houston. Every group of which I have been a member had 1 individual who served as the unofficial scribe of the group. One person who kept in touch with all the others, who always knew what was going on in the group. My nephew is the unofficial scribe for our branch of the Henderson family. He talks with and visits with his uncles, aunts and cousins and passes on family news. Admittedly, social media does make it much easier to keep in touch today than in earlier times. But, scribes play a vital role in keeping family history and identity alive.
What is true for families is also true for social organizations and even churches. This morning, I am wondering who might have been the unofficial scribe for the disciples. Especially after the Crucifixion and Resurrection, who kept in touch with the disciples? We know they stayed together for some period of time. The book of Acts does give us some of the early history of the nascent church. Luke tells us about the election of a replacement for Judas. We know about Peter’s great sermon in the second chapter of Acts. We know some stories about the activities of Peter, John and a few others. We even know about the selection of the first deacons and about the epiphany of Paul. But, later on, who kept track of all the others?
Many biblical scholars posit the existence of a lost gospel. It is sometimes referred to as the Q gospel or source. The argument centers on the degree to which the 3 synoptic gospels contain almost word-for-word identical passages.
I’m wondering who might have been the author. Was it the unofficial scribe among the 12? Who might that have been? Maybe John, since John was thought to have been the youngest. Maybe Matthew, since a tax collector would have to have been able to read and write. Maybe Peter. Or, maybe Simon the Zealot!
Until we find that supposedly lost gospel, it is not possible to know for sure. Whoever might have been the unofficial scribe, whoever kept in touch played a vital role in the history of the Christendom of today. I owe that scribe a debt of gratitude and will offer a special prayer of thanksgiving for him (or her?) today, for my nephew and for all the other unofficial scribes who remind us all that we are family.
Stay safe, keep in touch, trust God,
Pastor Ray