Why fear forks?
He came to his own people, and they rejected him. – John 1:11
Romans 10:1-3
1 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.
2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.
3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
From the dawn of civilization, mankind has grappled with fire, grindstones, sharp tools, and pots to transform raw food into edible meals. Knives, perhaps our most crucial culinary tool, predate the discovery of fire. On the other hand, forks faced centuries of mockery and ostracism before gaining widespread acceptance.
In the 11th century, using a fork was considered sacrilegious. They were considered a symbol of greed and gluttony. The prevailing belief was that God had given us hands to eat with, and using any other instrument directly defied His will. Forks were deemed immoral, unsanitary, and a tool of the devil. The word “fork” is derived from the Latin furca. Furca is the Latin word for “pitchfork.” Fill in the blanks.
The first dining forks were used by royalty in the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire. Forks made their way west in 1004 AD when a Byzantine emperor’s niece married the son of the Doge of Venice. She brought a small box of two-pronged golden forks to Italy, which she utilized at her wedding banquet. The Venetians, accustomed to eating with their hands, were aghast. When she died from the plague two years later, Saint Peter Damian declared it was divine retribution.
Despite initial shock and religious condemnation, forks gained popularity across Europe and are now an indispensable part of dining.
The fear or rejection of new things, such as the fork or practices like acupuncture, is often rooted in a psychological condition known as neophobia, the fear of anything new. Here are a few factors that contribute to this:
Fear of the Unknown: New things bring uncertainty, and people fear potential adverse outcomes.
Comfort in Familiarity: Changes, even minor ones, can disrupt this comfort.
Perceived Threat to Tradition or Culture: New things threaten established traditions or cultural norms.
Skepticism Towards Innovation: Are new methods effective? Acupuncture faced resistance due to its roots in traditional Chinese medicine, not Western medicine.
Social and Religious Beliefs: Western Europe considered the fork scandalous, even blasphemous. It was viewed as an unnecessary luxury and an insult to God’s provision.
21st-century research has demonstrated a natural intolerance of uncertainty when adverse outcomes are possible, irrespective of the probability that they might never happen (Carleton, Norton, & Asmundson).
Throughout history, innovation has often incited fear, anxiety, and resistance. Consider inventions like the airplane (“If God intended us to fly, He would have given us wings.”), scissors, the telephone, the radio, electricity, harnessing the atom, Xerox machines, credit cards, personal computers, the Internet, smartphones, etc.
At the start of 2023, AI (artificial intelligence) became widely available and was embraced by early adopters. Others viewed it as an existential threat to humanity (akin to Skynet from the Terminator movies).
Fear of the unknown is often a tragic misunderstanding, resulting in misdirected zealous antipathy.
REFLECT & PRAY
“He died on a cross of wood, BUT He made the hill upon which it stood.”
Father give me the grace to be open and mentally adroit to innovations while I cling to what is good and abhor what is evil.
INSIGHT
One of the greatest tragic misunderstandings of all time involved the dismissal and renunciation of something new, different, unexpected, and perceived as a threat to the well-being of people and the societal, cultural, and religious norms and status quo.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
John 1:11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.
John 1:11 He came to his own people, and they rejected him.
These familiar words are simple, yet they are full of layered nuances in Greek that are brought out in many typical English translations. Greek adjectives have unique forms that indicate they are masculine, feminine, or neuter, as well as masculine or plural.
The first Greek word translated as own is ta idia. Ta idia is neuter and plural. It may be appropriately translated as his own things, his own country, or perhaps his own creation or world. The sense goes beyond the obvious and pedestrian to the sublime and prodigious. The apostle John says that the Lord Jesus Christ came into His creation. The world that He made.
John 1:3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The second Greek word translated as own is hoi idioi. Hoi idioi ismasculineand plural. It may be appropriately translated as his own people, his own people, or perhaps his own home (John 16:32, John 19:27). What pathos! He came home, and yet His own people did not welcome him (Hendriksen). He was snubbed, shunned, and ostracized by those who should’ve recognized and accepted Him.
His own people did not receive Him. There is a tragic irony here: When the Logos came into the world, He came to His own, ta idia, literally his own things, but his own people, hoi idioi, who should have known and received him, but did not. “It is best taken as a reference to the Jewish people” (UBS).
Goodspeed translates it, “He came to His home, and His own family did not welcome Him.” He came to His own people, the Jewish people, and they did not accept Him. How sad! The long-awaited Messiah was not recognized and acknowledged. It was a deliberate, conscious choice to reject and not welcome Him.
The Greek word translated as receive is parelabon. Parelabon has the sense of receiving something given or offered willingly. John does not say that his own did not know him, but that they did not receive him. Parelabon does not refer to mere recognition but of acceptance and welcome (NET, Notes).
“But the people were so shackled by religious tradition that they could not understand spiritual truth. Jesus came to His own world that He had created, but His own people, Israel, could not understand Him and would not receive Him.”
“They saw His works and heard His words. They observed His perfect life. He gave them every opportunity to grasp the truth, believe, and be saved. Jesus is the way, but they would not walk with Him (John 6:66-71). He is the truth, but they would not believe Him (John 12:37ff). He is the life, and they crucified Him! (Wiersbe).
We often exhibit great zeal and conviction in our suspicions and doubts regarding new things. However, it’s unfortunate that we can also be sincerely wrong. Misguided enthusiasm can lead us significantly off course. Our enthusiasm should be founded on knowledge and understanding, not fear and doubt.
Romans 10:2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
© Dr. H 2024
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