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2023, June 11 ~ Genesis 12:1-9; Hosea 5:15-6:6; Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-13,18-26

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 11, 2023

During Pentecost Season 2023, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.

The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.

Genesis 12:1-9

Reading

1 The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).

Today’s reading is part of the oldest writings and presented YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) anthropomorphically in that the LORD had a conversation with Abram.

This chapter in Genesis began the “ancestral history of Israel” in which YHWH called Abram (whose name is the same root word as “Abba” or father) to go to a land that YHWH would show him. There, Abram would become a father of a great nation and (as a descendent of Shem) his “name” will be great (v.2). Similar promises of YHWH making another a “great name” were reported to be made to David (2 Sam. 7:9) and to Solomon (1 Kings 1:47). The promise to make Abram “a great nation” (v.2) created an immediate tension in that Sarai was presented as barren in 11:30.

The Jewish Study Bible observes that the LORD “singled out one Mesopotamian – in no way distinguished from his peers as yet.” It continues: “These extraordinary promises come like a bolt from the blue, an act of God’s grace alone; no indication has been given as to why or even whether Abraham merits them.” Later, they will be seen as merited after the fact by Abram’s obedience and his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.

Unlike some other covenants in Genesis, these promise by the LORD were “conditional” in that they would not become effective unless Abram went to the land YHWH would show him.

In Verse 3 is the phrase “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” – which Paul interpreted as a blessing on the Gentiles through Abraham. This phrase is also translated as “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” – or in other words, people will say “may we be like Abraham.”

The places where Abram went (Shechem in v.6 and Bethel in v. 8) appear in later stories – Shechem as the place where the Israelites took an oath to YHWH in Joshua 24 and Bethel as the place where Jacob settled in Genesis 35. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that Abram’s journey to Shechem in the center of the land and then to Bethel and to the Negev is duplicated in Jacob’s journeys in Genesis 33, 35 and 46 and in the general route of the conquest under Joshua.

Today’s reading is followed by a story of Abram’s passing Sarai off as his beautiful sister and her being “taken into Pharaoh’s house” (v.15).

Hosea 5:15 – 6:6

Reading

15 Thus says the LORD: “I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor: 6:1 ‘Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.’ 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Commentary

After Solomon died in 928 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (Judea with two tribes). Each Kingdom had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers and mistreated the poor.

Hosea was one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works were shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). He was a contemporary of Amos. His prophesying (speaking for YHWH) began towards the end of the reign of King Jeroboam II and continued until the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BCE. He severely criticized the political, social, and religious life in the Northern Kingdom. He was the first of the prophets whose speeches were collected and edited as literary documents. The call for “steadfast love and not sacrifice” (v.6) is a persistent theme of the prophets, particularly Amos and Micah.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible interprets today’s reading as stating that YHWH punishes “not to annihilate but in order to inspire repentance.” It also notes that “two days … three days” (v.2) is “an idiomatic expression for a brief period of time.”

This reading is structured as a dialogue. Verse 15 was spoken by YJWH. Verses 6:1-3 were spoken by the people who half-heartedly urged repentance and assumed YHWH would forgive, and verses 4-6 are a response by YHWH with a fatherly – but exasperated – tone. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that Israel’s words of repentance are “insufficient” and that the repentance was spoken of in terms of fertility symbols such as rain. The unshakeable judgment of YHWH’s light (v.5) was contrasted with Israel’s inconstancy that is likened to the ephemeral dew (v.4)

Romans 4:13-25

Reading

13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last, and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) (about 10 years before the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among many messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

The “backstory” is that in 49 CE, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Jesus Followers. The next Emperor was Nero who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. Nero reversed his predecessor’s decree and allowed Jews to return to Rome. This return caused tensions within the Jesus Follower Community in which Gentiles had become prominent.

Paul died in 63 or 64 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism and continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ.

Paul exhorted the Jesus Follower Community in Rome to follow the Commandments, particularly to love one another as neighbors.

In his epistles, Paul used a number of terms that need to be understood in context. “Righteousness” (vv.13 and 22) is one of them. “Righteousness” is understood generally as being in right relationships with God and others. It is sometimes translated as “justified.” A “just” person is also a “righteous” person, and “justified” is used the same way that a page of type is “justified” – all the margins are straight and in order.

Another term that needs explanation is “faith,” a word Paul used seven times in this reading alone. “Faith” for Paul was not used the way it is now typically used — as an intellectual assent to one or more propositions. The Greek word for “faith” (pistis) has an active aspect and should be understood as “faithfulness” – actively living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God in a steady way. Paul emphasized that “faith” is a matter of the heart — not the intellect — and that faithfulness leads to righteousness (v.13).

In today’s reading, Paul held up Abraham as an example of “righteousness” (being in right relation with God and man) who was blessed by God, not because of obedience to the Law (v.13) and prior to the requirement that he be circumcised (Gen. 17:10), but because of his faithfulness to YHWH. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that Paul would have known that Abram’s faithfulness occurred prior to the giving of the Law at Sinai. It also points out that there was a tradition in 1st Century Judaism that Abraham knew the Law and obeyed it even before the Law was promulgated. This tradition was based on Sirach 44:20 (“Abraham kept the law of the Most High”).

In verse 16, Paul relied on Genesis 12:3 to assert that Abraham is the father of all – both Jews and Gentiles – and all inherit God’s promises as they share in the faithfulness of Abraham.

Paul argued that God can do what God has promised (v.21). Most particularly, Paul asserted (v.23) that just as Abraham’s faithfulness was “reckoned to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6), our faithfulness will be reckoned to us as righteousness by God who raised Jesus from the dead (v.24). That is, both Gentile and Jewish Jesus Followers share in the faithfulness of Abraham will be “justified” and in a state of righteousness with God and man just as Abraham was (v.25). The NJBC points out that Paul asserts that God is the actor in the “handing over” and who “raised [Jesus] for our justification” (v.25).

Matthew 9:9-13,18-26

Reading

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.”
10 And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Commentary

The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.

Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.

The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.

Today’s reading began with the call of Matthew in Capernaum. In both Mark and Luke, this apostle is named Levi. Although The NJBC concludes that this tax collector named Matthew was not the author of the final Greek form of the Gospel According to Matthew, there may have been a tradition that one of the apostles was literate – as a tax collector would likely have been. The NJBC also regards as “psychologically implausible” an immediate obedience to the call (v.9) and suggests that Matthew must have possessed some prior knowledge of Jesus and his mission.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes the tax collection process as follows: “The Roman system, known as ‘tax farming,’ leased out the right to collect taxes (including customs fees) in a given area for a flat fee. The entrepreneur, usually a local aristocrat, who obtained this right would then try to collect more than the fee in order to profit by the arrangement, with obvious potential for abuse [citing Philo]. Actual collections were carried out by underlings, who would be under pressure to bring in as much as possible, and who were despised by the populace; most of the references to collect tax collectors are probably to this class.”

The NJBC describes “sinners” (v.10) as a technical term for members of despised trades thought susceptible of ritual uncleanness and other blemishes. The NJBC believes that the historical Jesus actually shared meals with sinners and that by doing so, he was “breaking with the model of the Pharisaic sage, not to destroy Judaism but to save its increasingly marginalized members.” The “commonsense” response to the Pharisees (v.12) recognized that a physician must often be exposed to contagious diseases (here analogized to legal impurities) to heal others.

Jesus continued to confront the Pharisees and in verse 13 paraphrased Hosea 6:6 (one of today’s readings). The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that in both Hosea and in Matthew, mercy takes precedence over sacrifices but sacrifices were not eliminated.

In the story of the resuscitation of the leader’s daughter, the words “of the synagogue” are not in the most authoritative texts of this Gospel and are likely taken from the longer version in Mark 5 where the leader of the synagogue was named Jairus. Similar miracles were attributed to Elijah (1 Kings 17:22) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32).

The hemorrhaging woman would have been deemed ritually unclean. The NAOB says that it is not clear the extent to which such a ritual impurity would have affected village life. The NJBC suggests that she would have been socially marginalized – a pariah in her community.

The JANT points out that the fringe of Jesus’ garment was the tsitzit – tassels on his prayer shawl which Jewish men (and perhaps women) were commanded to wear to remind them of the commandments.

2023, June 4 ~ Genesis 1:1-2:4a; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JUNE 4, 2023
TRINITY SUNDAY

Genesis 1:1-2.4a

Reading

1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

4a These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Commentary

The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with the Creation Stories and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. The Book is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which were based on oral traditions that were written down about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. It is divided into two major parts: Chapters 1 to 11 are the “Primeval History” and Chapters 12 to 50 are the “Ancestral History.”

Today’s reading is the First Creation Story. (The Second Creation Story begins at 2.4b and tells of YHWH’s forming the earthling – adam – out of the fertile earth – adamah – and breathing life into the earthling.) In the Second Creation Story, the name of God is YHWH (translated in the NRSV as “LORD God”) and is a different name from the name of God in the First Creation Story.

The First Creation Story is structured as seven days in which God — Elohim (literally, “the gods”) in the Hebrew – brought order (Shalom) to all reality by separating its component parts. It is noteworthy that “creation” was not presented as creation out of nothing but rather as an ordering of the earth, the waters, light, and time. (The already-existing earth is described as “formless” and darkness is said to cover the already-existing waters in verse 2.) Two themes crucial to the story are the goodness of creation, and that “creation” came through God’s ordering, separating, and naming the elements of the known universe.

The Jewish Study Bible observes that to ancient peoples, the opposite of the created order was something much worse than “nothing.” The opposite of a “created order” was an active, malevolent force best described as chaos. In v.2, chaos was envisioned as a dark, undifferentiated mass of water. The JSB adds: “In the Ancient Near East, to say that a deity had subdued chaos is to give [the deity] the highest praise.”

This Creation Story is similar in structure to the seven-day Babylonian Creation Story (the Enuma Elish) which the Jewish People encountered during the Babylonian Captivity (587-539 BCE) – if not before. For this reason and because of the emphasis on order and the Sabbath on the seventh day (2:2-3), scholars generally agree that this First Creation Story was composed by the “Priestly” authors in the period from 550 to 450 BCE. Because the Jewish day begins at sundown, the order is evening and then morning (v.5).

The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that there is a parallelism among Days 1, 2 and 3 and Days 4, 5 and 6 which heightens the symmetry and order of God’s creation. For example, God’s creation of heavenly lights on Day 4 corresponds to the creation of light, day, and night on Day 1. The Jewish Study Bible notes that the first three days described the creation of generalities or domains, whereas the next three days showed the creation of specifics or the inhabitants of those domains.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that verses 29 and 30 provided for humans to be vegetarians. God gave the humans all the plants to eat (v.29) and also gave plants for animals to eat (v.30), but God did not provide for humans to eat animals. A similar direction was given in the Second Creation Story in Genesis 2:16. The consumption of meat is seen by some scholars as another unfortunate result of the “Disobedience Event” recounted in Chapter 3. The permission to eat meat (but not blood) was given by God to Noah and his sons after the Flood (Gen. 9:3-4).

The story in today’s reading also made a critical response to non-Israelite cultures which worshipped heavenly bodies. In Genesis, the heavenly bodies are not named and are identified as mere timekeepers.

This reading is likely selected for Trinity Sunday because (among other things) the name of God in Hebrew in this account (Elohim) is a plural word (Hebrew words ending in “im” are plurals) and because Verse 1:26 says “Let us make humankind in our image.” Male and female are created at the same time and both are in the image of God (v.27).

Christian interpreters have sometimes also seen “the wind from God” (v.2) as the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Reading

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Commentary

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was Hellenistic and emphasized reason, secular wisdom, and a hierarchical structure in society. Paul’s relationship with the community was often strained.

The NAOB notes that Paul wrote a number of letters to the Corinthians. One that has been lost is mentioned in 1 Cor. 5:9. After sending that (now lost) letter, Paul sent Timothy to Corinth who returned with news that a group of Jewish Jesus Follower missionaries were undermining Paul’s teaching. Paul referred to these missionaries ironically as “super-apostles” 2 Cor. 11:5, 12:11.

Paul then visited Corinth a second time and a member of the congregation offended him seriously (2 Cor 2:5-6). He referred to this as a “painful visit” (2:1). He then wrote what he called the “letter of tears” (2:4), a letter that was well-received in Corinth but is also lost.

Most scholars believe that 2 Corinthians is a composite of several letters because Paul’s tone shifted so significantly within the letter. It moved from conciliatory (Chapter 2) to argumentative (Chapters 3 to 5), to reconciling (Chapters 6 and 7), to appealing for funds for the poor in Jerusalem (Chapters 8 and 9), to attacking “super-apostles” (Chapter 11), to a defensive tone regarding accusations that he enriched himself from the collections (Chapter 12). The NJBC sees it as two letters that are dramatically different in tone — Chapters 1-9 and Chapters 10-13.

Today’s reading is the concluding part of this letter and was both an appeal for good behavior on the part of the Corinthians (v.11 and 12) and a benediction upon them (v.13). The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that this blessing is the only Trinitarian benediction in any of Paul’s letters, but The NJBC notes that it is not “a trinitarian formula in the dogmatic sense.”

Matthew 28:16-20

Reading

16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Commentary

The Gospel of Matthew highlights Jesus’ origins and identity. Written around 85 CE by an anonymous author, the Gospel began Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham and depicted Jesus as a teacher of the Law like Moses. More than any other Gospel, Matthew quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (using the Greek Septuagint translation) to illustrate that Jesus was the Messiah.

Because it was written after the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Gospel reflected the controversies between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees for control of Judaism going forward. Accordingly, the Gospel contains many harsh sayings about the Pharisees. The Gospel is aimed primarily at the late First Century Jewish Jesus Follower community.

The Gospel relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark and included all but 60 verses from Mark. Like Luke, Matthew also used a “Sayings Source” (called “Q” by scholars) which are stories and sayings found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark and John. There are also a substantial number of stories that are unique to Matthew: the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception was revealed to Joseph in a dream (rather than by an angel to Mary as in Luke); the Visit of the Magi; the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod; the Flight to Egypt; the Laborers in the Vineyard; and the earthquake on Easter Morning, among others.

Unlike the direction given to the disciples in Luke to remain in Jerusalem, the disciples (according to Matthew and Mark) went to the Galilee.

Today’s reading consists of the closing verses of this Gospel and is often referred to as “the Great Commission” in which the disciples were sent to all nations. This was a significant change from the direction given to the Twelve in Matt. 10:5-6 (“Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel”), a restriction that was modified after Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman who asked Jesus to cure her daughter and told Jesus that “even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (Matt. 15:27).

Continuing the depiction of Jesus as the “New Moses,” Jesus gave his final instructions from a mountain. The direction to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is understood by The Jewish Annotated New Testament as “a liturgical usage in Matthew’s later community, as other accounts of baptism (e.g. Acts 2.38) do not use this formula.” The JANT points out that the Trinity did not become Christian doctrine until at least the second century.

The JANT also notes that the words “I am with you always” and the mandate of global evangelization (“make disciples of all nations”) likely decreased tension over the delay in the Second Coming.

2023, May 28 ~ Acts 2:1-21; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; Numbers 11:24-30; John 20:19-23

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
MAY 28, 2023
PENTECOST SUNDAY

Today’s Revised Common Lectionary offers a choice of readings between 1 Corinthians and Numbers.

Acts 2:1-21

Reading

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Commentary

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with an account of the Ascension of Jesus and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws in order to become Jesus Followers.
Today’s reading is an account of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples on Pentecost. (Another account is given in John 20.22 when the resurrected Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples on the evening of Easter.)

Today’s reading follows the Ascension, Peter’s account of the death of Judas, and the selection of Matthias as Judas’ successor.

Pentecost was a well-established Jewish Feast ordained by Lev. 23 to celebrate the spring barley harvest 50 days after Passover. It was also known as the Feast of Weeks and later Jewish tradition held that the gift of the Law was given on this day on Mount Sinai. It was one of the three “Pilgrimage Feasts” in First Century/Second Temple Judaism (the others were Passover and Sukkot/Booths) that called for Jews to come to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. For this reason, Jews from many areas and proselytes (full converts to Judaism) gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

The “violent wind” (v.2) is likely a reference back to the “wind from God” that swept over the waters in the First Creation Story (Gen. 1:2) and also recognized that breath is the sign of life, as when YHWH breathed life into the earthling (adam) in the Second Creation Story (Gen. 2:7). Violent winds were a frequent image in theophanies in the Hebrew Bible.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that the tongues of fire (v.3) were not only a symbol of the ability of the apostles to speak many languages, but also a reminder that John the Baptist said he would be followed by one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that fire is a frequent way of symbolizing divine presence in the Hebrew Bible, such as in the Burning Bush in Exodus.

In describing the disciples’ speaking other languages (v.4), the author signified a reversal of the confusion caused by the multiplicity of languages “resulting” from the Tower of Babel story in Genesis Chapter 11. This speaking in other languages is not to be confused with the “gift of tongues” or glossolalia.

The JANT observes that the rabbis looked down on Galileans as “mediocre scholars and inarticulate” – the backstory to the “amazement and astonishment” (v.7) that the persons speaking were Galileans.

The listing of countries (vv. 8-11) is generally from east to west, suggesting universal participation in the Pentecost event.

Peter’s speech and his role in the selection of Matthias earlier in this chapter indicated that he had become the spokesperson for the disciples. The NOAB notes that “like other Hellenistic historians, Luke provides characters with speeches appropriate to their circumstances” to convey the author’s (in this case, Luke’s) concerns.

Joel was generally understood as speaking of the world to come. The author added “In the last days, God declares” in introducing a paraphrase of Joel 2:24-32a. The paraphrase changed the “great and terrible” Day of the Lord in Joel 2:31 to one that is “great and glorious” (v.20).

1 Cor. 12:3b-13

Reading

3b No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Commentary

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was the heart of Roman imperial culture in Greece. It was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic, and Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. In addition to Paul, other Jesus Followers also taught in Corinth, sometimes in ways inconsistent with Paul’s understandings of what it meant to be a Jesus Follower. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the mid-50’s (CE) (likely while Paul was in Ephesus) and presented his views on several issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.

It is one of Paul’s most important letters because it is one of the earliest proclamations of Jesus’ death on behalf of sinners (“for our sins” 15:3) and his resurrection (15:4-5). The letter also contains the basic formula for celebrating the Lord’s Supper (11:23-26).

Today’s reading is the beginning of Paul’s long discussion on diversity in unity, and Paul used the metaphor of the body as unifying the members and their different gifts of the Spirit (vv. 12-13). Paul emphasized that each gift comes from the Spirit and is for the common good (v.7). Mindful that he was writing to a Hellenistic community, Paul listed wisdom and knowledge as the first gifts (v.8), though he emphasized that gifts are not allocated on the basis of merit or skill (v.11). The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that Paul’s use of the body as a metaphor for the Jesus Follower Community inverted the popular usage of the culture in Corinth where bodies of different social ranks were valued hierarchically. The JANT also noted that the body had also been used as a metaphor for the people of Israel in Isaiah 1:5-6.

Paul’s discussion in these verses was a basis for his exhortation in the verses that follow (vv. 14-20) that even an individualistic attitude by any member of the body would not make it any less a part of the whole body.

Numbers 11:24-30

Reading

24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people and placed them all around the tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Commentary

Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah (Hebrew meaning “teaching” or “Law”), also known by Christians as the Pentateuch (Greek meaning “Five Books”). Numbers (like the last half of Exodus, and all of Leviticus and Deuteronomy) was set in the time the Israelites were in the Wilderness before entering the Promised Land. If the time in the Wilderness is historical (no archeological evidence has ever been found to support it), this would have been around 1250 BCE.

Most of the book of Numbers was written by the “Priestly Source” during the Babylonian Exile (587 to 539 BCE) and in the 100 years after the Exile.

In the verses before today’s reading, the Israelites complained “in the hearing of YHWH” (v.1) about their lack of meat and the lack of variety in their food (all they had was manna). YHWH (translated as “LORD” in the NRSV) became angry and burned some outlying parts of their camp. Moses was also displeased with the Israelites, told YHWH that the Israelites were “too heavy” a burden for him (v.14), and asked YHWH to put him to death if “this is the way you are going to treat me” (v.15). The Jewish Study Bible opines that one of the purposes of this story was to “affirm Moses’ human traits and limitations.”

The JSB says the other purpose of the story was to “elicit divine solutions for the problems,” and YHWH responded by telling Moses to gather 70 elders and bring them to the tent of meeting (v.16).

Today’s reading described the imparting the spirit of “prophesy” (the ability to speak for God) on the 70 elders (v.25). This sharing of the spirit caused concern, however, among some of Moses’ followers, and Moses reassured them that the spirit of YHWH may be shared. According to The NOAB, the story reflected the Hebrew Bible’s ambivalence about prophesy generally and the inherent tension between prophets and priests. The JSB says the story may “reflect an ancient debate concerning whether there is only one legitimate prophet at a time as assumed by Deut.18:15-18, or if there may be many prophets in a single era.”

In the verses following today’s reading, YHWH provided a vast quantity of quails for the Israelites to eat – the birds fell from the sky and dead birds were 3 feet deep. The people collected 65 bushes each. Because the people had expressed a desire to return to Egypt (a rejection of God), YHWH got angry with them and struck them with a great plague (v.33) from eating too much meat too quickly.

John 20:19-23

Reading

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many stories in the Fourth Gospel are unique to it, such as the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Raising of Lazarus.

The chronology of events is also different in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the Temple Event (“Cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than late as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, but in the Fourth Gospel, it occurred the day before the first day of Passover so that Jesus (who was described as “the Lamb of God” in the Fourth Gospel) died at the same time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held the night he died.

Most scholars agree that an anonymous author wrote the Gospel around 95 CE, at a time when the “parting of the ways” between the Jesus Follower Movement and Rabbinic Judaism was accelerating.

Today’s reading is another account that is not found in the Synoptic Gospels. It began in a room that is locked “for fear of the Jews” (v.19), which means fear of the Temple Authorities. The evening was on the first day of the week (v.19), the same day that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb when it was dark.

Reflecting ambivalence about the “physicality” of the Resurrected Christ, Jesus was said to walk through walls and locked doors and stood among the disciples (v.19), but his wounds (only John’s Gospel speaks of a wound in Jesus’ side – 19:34) remained (v.20). The disciples did not recognize him, however, until he showed them his wounds (v.20). Even in a resurrected state, Jesus (and we) will continue to have wounds.

The Commissioning (sending) of the disciples (v.21) is analogous to the Great Commission in Matt. 28:19. The imparting of the Holy Spirit (vv.22-23) is sometimes called “Little Pentecost” – as compared to the longer Pentecost account in Acts 2:1-4. It was a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Advocate/Paraclete in John 14:16 and 26.

Breathing upon the disciples is seen by The Jewish Annotated New Testament as giving them new life. It also reminiscent of YHWH’s imparting the breath of life to the human (adam) made of the soil (adamah) in Genesis 2:7. The JANT suggests that the power to forgive sins or retain them (v.23) was “the authority to decide who can become or remain a member of the community.”

2023, May 21 ~ Acts 1:6-14; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11; John 17:1-11

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
MAY 21, 2023

Acts 1:6-14

Reading

6 When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Commentary

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with an account of the Ascension of Jesus and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws in order to become Jesus Followers.

Last Thursday was Ascension Thursday, and today’s reading presents an account of the Ascension of Jesus the Christ.

Even though Acts of the Apostles was written by the same person who wrote the Gospel According to Luke, the Gospel located the Ascension on the Day of Easter (Luke 24:51). Acts, however, says Jesus was “staying with” his disciples for 40 days (1:3-4) – and this has become the traditional period between Easter and the day for observing the Ascension. The Greek word translated as “staying with” (synalizomenos) can also be translated as “eating with” or “being assembled together.”

In both the Hebrew Bible and in the Christian Scriptures, however, the number 40 is a shorthand/euphemism for a long time, similar to phrases such as “I’ll be with you in a minute.” It also conveys the notion of a “suitable amount of time.”

The opening verse of today’s reading shows that the disciples still were expecting an apocalyptic event in which the temporal kingdom of Israel would be restored. This was the same expectation held by the two disciples in the Road to Emmaus story (Luke 24:21). The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that the traditional Jewish understanding in the First Century was that the Messiah would restore Israel’s freedom.

Paul’s letters and Mark’s Gospel also contain expectations that the apocalyptic time was coming soon. By the time Luke’s Gospel and Acts were written (85 CE), the Jesus Follower Movement had come to realize that the “Second Coming” (the coming of the fullness of the Kingdom of God) did not mean restoring the temporal Kingdom of Israel.

Luke portrayed the resurrected Christ as gently disabusing the apostles of their understanding of the Kingdom (v.7) and promising the Holy Spirit would come upon them (v.8). He also told them they would be “witnesses” (martyres in Greek), an important theme in Acts by which believers became living testimony to Jesus’ acts and resurrection. The JANT points out that this verse indicated that redemption was not found in political change but in the bestowing of the Spirit. In that sense, the verse “explained” Jesus’ failure to return by the time of the writing of Luke’s Gospel, a matter of concern to some early Jesus Followers, for example in 1 Thessalonians 5.

According to Luke’s account in Acts, Jesus the Christ then ascended (v.9) to “heaven” from Mount Olivet (also called the Mount of Olives). This area is described as “a sabbath day’s journey” away from Jerusalem (v.12). In the First Century, this was about half a mile – the maximum distance a devout Jew was permitted to walk on the Sabbath (an interpretation of Exodus 16.29). In the Acts story, two men in white robes/angels suddenly appeared to the disciples, just as in Luke 24:4 and John 20:12, two “men in white robes” spoke to the women at the tomb.

Luke likely placed the Ascension at Mount Olivet, the place predicted in Zech.14:4 as where YHWH would appear to bring about the Day of the Lord.

The listing of the 11 disciples (v.13) is the same as in Luke 6:14-16, but in a different order. Other lists of the apostles appear in Matt. 10:2-4 and in Mark 3:16-19 and have variations. Matthew and Mark include Thaddeus and Simon the Cananaean and do not include Simon the Zealot or Judas son of James. John’s Gospel only mentions Peter, Andrew, Phillip, Thomas, Nathanael, and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” – sometimes thought to be John and (by others) Lazarus.

In Luke and Acts, unlike the other Gospels in which the disciples went to Galilee, they remained in Jerusalem in an upper room to await the promised coming of the Holy Spirit. According to Acts 2:1-4, the coming of the Spirit occurred on Pentecost, a celebratory day that was also known as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) in First Century Judaism. The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost was a festival that celebrated the Spring harvest. In later Rabbinic Judaism it became a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses at Sinai.

In John’s Gospel, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples when the Resurrected Christ breathed on them in the upper room on Easter Day and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Reading

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary, the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Commentary

In the First Century, it was not uncommon to write something in another person’s name so that the writing would have extra “authority” – particularly when the writer believed he knew what the “authority” (in this case, Peter) would have said.

The First Letter of Peter was likely written in the last quarter of the First Century, long after Peter’s death. It was written in sophisticated Greek (not a style a Galilean fisherman would be able to use) and resembled the form of Paul’s letters. Its focus was not on the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth, but on the Resurrection and the affirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

Today’s reading emphasized that suffering is witnessing to the truth of the faith of the Christian community as a sharing in Christ’s sufferings (v.12). In terms of the suffering the community was undergoing, The New Oxford Annotated Bible says: “the letter addresses a critical situation in the lives of the addressees who once participated in the social and cultural life of their communities, but since their conversion to Christ have become marginalized and abused. The society to which they once belonged now considers them an unwelcome, even dangerous, sectarian movement.”

The NAOB says that the abuse suffered by the addresses was mostly verbal. Because the letter urged them to be respectful to the authorities (2:13-17), this would indicate that there was as no overt government persecution. The JANT noted that the readers were assured that when Christ returns, those who have suffered for their faith will receive the reward of eternal glory (v.10). It also points out that there was no empire-wide persecution of Christians until the reign of the Emperor Decius around 250 CE.

This letter (4:16) is one of the three places in the Christian Scriptures that refers to Jesus Followers as “Christians” (Christianos in Greek). Acts 11:26 notes that the first use of the term was in Antioch, and the term was used again in Acts 26:28. The JANT notes that the term “Christian” was used in a derogatory way in letters from Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan around 110 CE.

In the omitted verses, the author described himself as an “elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ” (5:1) who urged the “elders among you” to not “lord over those in your charge but be examples to the flock.” (5:3).

The reference to “a roaring lion” is derived from Psalm 22:13 (my enemies “open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion”).

John 17:1-11

Reading

1 Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6 ”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many stories in the Fourth Gospel are unique to it, such as the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Raising of Lazarus.

The chronology of events is also different in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the Temple Event (“Cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than late as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, but in the Fourth Gospel, it occurred the day before the first day of Passover so that Jesus (who was described as “the Lamb of God” in the Fourth Gospel) died at the same time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held the night he died.

Most scholars agree that an anonymous author wrote the Gospel around 95 CE, at a time when the “parting of the ways” between the Jesus Follower Movement and Rabbinic Judaism was accelerating.

Today’s reading is part of the lengthy Farewell Discourse (13:31-17:26) which The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes as “an interpretation [by the author of the Fourth Gospel] of Jesus’ completed work on earth and his relation both to believers and to the world after his glorification.”

Chapter 17 is presented as Jesus’ final prayer and included a prayer for himself (vv.1-5), a prayer recounting his mission (vv.6-8), a prayer on behalf of the disciples (vv.9-19), and a prayer for “those who will believe in me through their [the disciples] word” (vv.20-26). It emphasized the unity of the Father and Son (on the one hand) with the disciples (on the other).

The phrase “the glory I had in your presence before the world existed” (v.5) is unique Christology found only in the Fourth Gospel and parallels the preexisting LOGOS theology in John 1:1 (“In the beginning was the Word/Logos”) and in John 8:58 (“Before Abraham was, I am”).

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that in these verses “the author makes clear that Jesus is much more than a righteous, perfectly obedient, human being, commissioned by God, who has been exalted and glorified ‘in heaven.’ He is instead ‘from God’ in a much more radical sense than his opponents could ever have imagined.”

2023, May 14 ~ Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
MAY 14, 2023

Acts 17:22-31

Reading

22 Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Commentary

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with a second account of the Ascension of Jesus (the first one is in Luke 24) and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws in order to become Jesus Followers.

From Chapter 15 to Chapter 28, Paul’s missionary activities are recounted, ending with his house arrest in Rome, not always in a manner consistent with the accounts in Paul’s epistles.

Just before today’s reading, Paul was at a synagogue (17:10-15) where he would have focused his conversion efforts on Gentiles who were sympathetic to Jewish Law (called “God Fearers”). He also debated with some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (v.18) who brought him to the Areopagus.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that Epicureanism was a philosophical school that maintained the deities played no role in human affairs. The Stoics held that humans should use reason to live a life of virtue and to develop their wills in accordance with nature. They accused Paul of presenting foreign divinities (v.18) – the same charge that had been made against Socrates.

In today’s reading, Paul was presented as making an address to the Athenians at the Areopagus (a hill west of the Acropolis, the city’s chief administrative council, and a place associated with Socrates). Modern persons would likely call Paul’s audience “pagans,” but in the First Century, most Gentiles worshiped many gods and even regarded Jews as non-theists because they worshiped only one god.

The Athenians and the Romans had local gods, gods for activities such as farming and war, and gods for their homes. “Care” of the gods was performed through “cult” practices (including prayer and sacrifices) and was considered particularly important to the good functioning of society. (“Cult” is derived from a Latin word meaning “care” as in the word “agriculture” – care of the fields.)

Although an inscription to an unknown god has never been found in Athens, the author of Acts had Paul present the argument to the Athenians that their statue to the “unknown god” (v.23) showed how religious they were (likely an ironic statement). He presented a God unknown to them who created and gave life to all (v.24-25), allocated the boundaries of nations (v.26), commanded all persons to repent (v.30), will have an appointed man judge the world in righteousness, and gave assurance of all this by raising the man from the dead (v.31).

The New Oxford Annotated Bible contrasted Paul’s speech here with his diatribe against pagans in Romans 1:18-32. The NAOB also notes that the idea that God was near to all people (v.27) was a Stoic belief. The quotation in verse 28a is attributed to the Greek poet Epimenides (c.7th Century BCE) and to Posidonius (135-51 BCE), a Platonic philosopher. The quote in 28b is from Aratus, a Greek poet (310-240 BCE).

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary takes the position that Paul’s entire speech is not an “historical” account of Paul speaking to pagan thinkers. Instead, it is Luke instructing his readers about the great opportunities and the immense stumbling blocks of any mission to Hellenistic intelligentsia. The NJBC continues that the “entire Athens ‘cityscape’ is painted larger than life, yet with each element carefully calibrated to the sermon’s content: a nervously devout populace frequenting ubiquitous shrines, philosophers of famous schools dialoguing in the agora, new gods introduced from time to time, and everyone athirst for things novel and different. In painting this tableau, Luke relied on his own generation’s view of classical culture and its mecca [Athens] rather than any special records of Paul’s ministry.”

1 Peter 3:13-22

Reading

13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you– not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Commentary

In the First Century, it was not uncommon to write something in another person’s name so that the writing would have extra “authority” – particularly when the writer believed he knew what the “authority” (in this case, Peter) would have said.

The First Letter of Peter was likely written in the last quarter of the First Century, long after Peter’s death. It was written in sophisticated Greek (not a style a Galilean fisherman would be able to use) and resembled the form of Paul’s letters. Its focus was not on the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth, but on the Resurrection and the affirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

Today’s reading follows a long series of admonitions to husbands and wives about proper conduct. Having given these directives, the author urged his audience to be willing to suffer for doing what is right, just as Jesus suffered for doing good. He summarized the Christian Faith as hope (v.15) and noted that Jesus the Christ was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (v.18).

The New Annotated Oxford Bible opines that these verses provide a Christological grounding for the admonitions in the prior section of this chapter.

The statement that the Risen Christ “made a proclamation to the spirits in prison” is a notion that became part of the tradition that the Risen Christ “descended into hell” as reflected in the Apostles’ Creed.

The author presented the Flood in Noah’s time as prefiguring Baptism which is “an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (v.21). Other manuscripts show this phrase as Baptism is a “pledge to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” – reflecting the fact that the theology of Baptism was evolving in the early Church. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the author’s intent was to show that just as Noah saved the people from water, Jesus saves through the water of baptism.

The “eight persons” with Noah (v.20) were, according to Genesis 6:18, Noah, his wife, his three sons and each of their wives.

The image that the Risen Christ sits at the right hand of God (v.22) is derived from Psalm 110:1 and is also found in Romans and Acts.

John 14:15-21

Reading

15 Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

18 ”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many stories in the Fourth Gospel are unique to it, such as the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Raising of Lazarus.

The chronology of events is also different in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the Temple Event (“Cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than late as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, but in the Fourth Gospel, it occurred the day before the first day of Passover so that Jesus (who was described as “the Lamb of God” in the Fourth Gospel) died at the same time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held the night he died.

Most scholars agree that the Gospel was written by an anonymous author around 95 CE, at a time when the “parting of the ways” between the Jesus Follower Movement and Rabbinic Judaism was accelerating.

Today’s reading is part of the lengthy Farewell Discourse (13:31-17:36) which The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes as “an interpretation [by the author of the Fourth Gospel] of Jesus’ completed work on earth and his relation both to believers and to the world after his glorification.”

In his book, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, Bishop Spong describes the Farewell Discourses in this way: “These documents pretend to describe Jesus’ preparing the disciples to live without him, but their content is actually aimed at the issues that the Johannine community was facing when this gospel was written, some 65 to 70 years after the crucifixion. This means that in these discourses the disciples themselves become symbols of the Johannine community of believers. They are portrayed as struggling with the reality of persecution. They are also experiencing the pain of separation, not only from Jesus by that point in history, but perhaps more poignantly from the synagogue from which they have so recently been excommunicated.”

The ”commandments” to be kept (v.15) referred back to the “new commandment” in 13:34 – that “you love one another just as I have loved you.”

The “Advocate” (v.16) is Paraklēton in Greek and is sometimes translated as “helper” or “Paraclete.” The Paraclete has “functions” parallel to those of the Holy Spirit in the Synoptic Gospels. The “Spirit of truth” (v. 17) is a notion derived from the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. The NJBC describes it as “both an angelic figure and one of the two ‘spirits’ struggling within a person, sometimes spoken of as an angel of light.”

In discussing the time of the glorification (“on that day” v. 20), the believers will be brought into a new relationship with the Father through Jesus who is one with the Father. The NJBC points out that this new relationship also is promised in John 6:56 (“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I and in them”).