The 411 on Knowledge, Muslims and Jews, the Ascension, the Eucharist, and the Church
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Dear readers, this week's column answers the question, "What's the Four-One-One?" The phrase
comes from American telephone companies, which years ago dedicated the 4-1-1 number to
information or directory assistance services. Since my columns also seek to deliver useful
information and timely spiritual assistance, I thought I'd let you know that this is column #411
since "Ask the Pastor" began years ago in southeast Texas.

Q: What's the gift of knowledge? How are Muslims and Jews related to the church? What
happened on the ascension? What does the Eucharist have to do with catholic unity? What
is the best image of the Church?

A: Taken together, your questions sound like a parochial school student looking for help with
some religious homework. Since space is limited, I'll try to touch just briefly on each.

First Corinthians 12 lists ~knowledge~ as one of the "spiritual gifts." These gifts, and those
included in 1 Corinthians 13-15, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and elsewhere have been examined and
analyzed by countless scholars, pastors, teachers, and lay members of the Church. Hucksters
peddle books, videos, and workshops designed to help people identify, enhance, or use various
special blessings from the Holy Spirit. It's not surprising that "experts" disagree on exactly what
"knowledge" means in 1 Cor 12:8. Actually, Paul says the gift is "the utterance [or word] of
knowledge," and pairs it with "the utterance of wisdom." While obviously elevated above earthly
knowledge, I think that God still intends us to understand it in a similar way. Thus, I'd explain this
gift as the ability to retain and speak about the facts of the Faith in a manner that others can
understand.

Both ~Muslims~ and ~Jews~ claim Abraham as their physical and spiritual father. Muslims claim
descent through Abraham's son Ishmael, who was born of Sarah's servant Hagar (see Gen 16, 17,
21). The Jews come from the Children of Israel. Israel (Jacob) was Abraham and Sarah's
grandson through Isaac. They got their name because they descended from Jacob's son Judah.
Jews count non-Jews who convert as Abraham's spiritual children while non-Arabic Muslims are
included according to Islamic teaching. Christians honor Abraham as our father, since we are his
descendants according to Abraham's greatest Son, Jesus. Paul picked up on this thought in his
epistles, including his allegory of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians 4. In Romans 4:16, he calls
Abraham, "the father of us all [Christians]." We might view the relationship in terms of a
pilgrimage. God calls people throughout the ages to be His and to join a journey to heaven. As a
group, the Jews stopped traveling at the time of Christ, while Islam veered off the trail around AD
600. Thus both are connected by history while neither is joined in faith.

The basic facts of the ~Ascension~ are recorded by Luke at the end of his Gospel and in Acts 1.
We note that he bodily lifted from the ground, a cloud took him from view, and angels appeared.
Clouds and angels often show God's presence throughout the Old Testament and I think that God
used both at the Ascension to emphasize the divinity of Jesus. The Ascension marked the end of
Christ's day-to-day, physical life on earth and began the preparation for His return (Acts 1:11).

The Ascension also provides a bridge for talking about ~the Eucharist~, or Lord's Supper. After
Christ's ascension, His disciples can no longer touch or see Him as before. However, He still
comes to us in His Word. He also uses bread and wine to reveal Himself to us in the body and
blood of His Supper. Remember the Emmaus disciples in Luke 24:13-35. Jesus hid His true
identity from them during their conversation. However, when He blessed and broke the evening
bread, "their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. (v.31)" They then testified to the
"eleven" disciples "how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v.35)"

I don't know whether you are Roman Catholic or if you use "catholic" to mean the entire
Christian church, throughout time and eternity. Since I'm part of the latter and not the former, I'll
speak from that perspective. Sacramental unity comes from the eating and drinking. Just as bread
and wine are in communion with Christ's body and blood, so all who eat and drink are in
communion, a spiritual unity, with Christ Himself. Paul says in 1 Cor 10:17, "Because there is one
bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." However, we also
know that unity in doctrine prior to eating and drinking is also part of the Supper, since
communicants are warned to exclude themselves or others who also claim false gods, who refuse
to forgive others, or who cannot discern the Lord's body in the Sacrament.

Finally we turn to ~images of the Holy Christian Church~. You make it difficult by asking for
"the best image." I'm not sure there is one, so I'll tell you my favorite. That is the Church as the
Bride of Christ. This is the image that literally spans almost all of Scripture, since it begins with
the first marriage in Eden (Gen 3) and concludes in Revelation 22. Paul expounds upon the
relationship in Ephesians 5:22-33, revealing some of the mystery of Christ's relationship with His
Church through the mystery of the relationship of husband and wife. Jesus obviously viewed
Himself in like manner, as we see from his retort to the Pharisees who wondered why the disciples
weren't fasting: "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
(Matthew 9:15)" A closely related image is that of the Church as wife, a picture common
throughout the Old Testament and explored in depth in Ezekiel and, especially, Hosea.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor © 2005 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this
disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution.
Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate
international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book
~What Do Lutherans Believe.~