While he was still living on this side of eternity, I had Dr. Juel as professor of New Testament studies at Princeton... Here is an interesting perspective on what I might describe as a profoundly missional view of Who and what God is about doing among us in the transforming power and presence of God's Spirit.... (As in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan is not tame. He is unleashed!! The Lion of Judah is on the loose!!!)
December 2 — [On Mark 1:9 – 11] What does it mean that the heavens are “being torn open” and the curtain of the temple “was torn in two, from top to bottom”?...It may mean that God is no longer one to be feared, that we have “access” to God. The Gospel story could then be construed as an account of how that access has been opened, with an implied invitation to enter. ... I still recall the occasion when a young student protested that interpretation as I explained it. “That isn’t what it means,” he said vehemently. “It means that the protection is gone and now God is among us, on the loose.” The imagery may as well suggest the removal of protection. The young man experienced the passage as dangerous. I have come to believe his experience is the more appropriate. — Don Juel
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