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2024, March 10 ~ Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
MARCH 10, 2024

Numbers 21:4-9

Reading

4 From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

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”). The Book of Numbers (like the last half of Exodus, and all of Leviticus and Deuteronomy) is 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.

“Numbers” gets its name from the hypothetical census recorded in its opening chapters – a census taken ostensibly to determine if the Israelites had sufficient military strength to invade the Promised Land. A count was made of men over 20 years of age “able to bear arms (1:3). The census produced a total of 603,550 such persons (not including the Tribe of Levi which was exempt from military service) – which scholars agree is vastly inflated. If the total number of men over 20 was over 600,000, adding women and children to the assemblage would mean there would have been over 2 million Israelites in the Sinai.

Most of the book of Numbers was written by the “Priestly Source” during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE) and the 100 years after the Exile, but there are parts of the Book that scholars date to “J” (950 BCE) and “E” (850 BCE). The Jewish Study Bible notes that there are three major units in the Book: (1) the final encampment at Sinai and the preparation to resume the wilderness trek (Ch. 1-10); (2) the generation-long march in the desert from Sinai to Moab (Ch. 10-22); and (3) the encampment in Moab before entering Canaan (Ch. 22-36).

Today’s reading is part of a chapter in which the Israelites traveled from Kadesh-barnea (in the Negeb, south of Canaan) to the eastern bank of the Jordan River in Moab (east of the Dead Sea and just opposite Canaan). This is one of four stories in the Torah in which the Israelites complained about their food (manna) or water or both. (The other accounts are in Exodus 16, and Numbers 11 and 20.)

In this version, YHWH got angry about their complaining and attacked the Israelites with poisonous snakes. According to the story, many died until Moses intervened (v.7) and put a bronze serpent on a pole so that people who were bitten might live if they looked upon the bronze serpent (v.9).

The JSB sees this bronze serpent as an etiological account for the bronze serpent which was worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem from the 10th Century until the late 8th Century BCE. According to 2 Kings 18:4, a bronze serpent on a pole was installed in the First Temple but became an idol that the people worshiped. King Hezekiah (727- 698 BCE), as part of his reforms that were praised by the Deuteronomists, had the serpent removed from the Temple. A serpent attached to a staff is now the caduceus symbol of modern medicine.

According to today’s Gospel reading (below), Jesus compared his being lifted up on the cross to the lifting up of the serpent on the pole in the Wilderness (John 3:14-15). Just as looking at the bronze serpent allowed an Israelite to live, believing in Jesus of Nazareth brings eternal life.

Ephesians 2:1-10

Reading

1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved – 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Commentary

Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they did not always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that the letter contains 80 terms that are not in those letters of Paul whose authorship is not in dispute. For this reason, and because the letter gave different meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The JANT observes, for example: “For Paul, salvation is a future event, while in Ephesians it is a present experience (2.8).”

The letter may have been written to a number of communities, but it was clearly intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. To this end, it presented the author’s vision of the church. The first three chapters of the letter are theological teachings and focus on the church as a new community in which Jews and Gentiles share equally in God’s blessings. The last three chapters of the letter contain ethical exhortations.

Today’s reading is addressed to Gentile Jesus Followers (“you” in verse 1) and to both Gentile and Jewish Jesus Followers (“all of us” in verse 3). The emphasis on salvation by grace through faith (v.8) rather than by works (v.9) is a theme that follows the theology of salvation found in Paul’s Letter to the Romans written in the early 60’s (CE).

The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that in Ephesians: “The Jewish Law, which previously distinguished and divided Jew from Gentile, was rendered irrelevant by the cross, and Christ thus reconciled both groups to each other and to God (2.14-16).”

In Paul’s authentic letters, “faith” is best understood as “faithfulness” and “works” are understood as “observances” or rituals. Grace (by definition) is freely bestowed on us by God and urges us towards faithfulness and away from the “course” and values of the world (v.2). The JANT notes that “good works” (v.10) are the “product of one’s salvation, not the cause.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says: “The dichotomy is no longer faith vs. works (Rom 3:28) but God’s grace vs. human good deeds.”

The “ruler of the power of the air” (v.2) is a cosmic force of disobedience and the concept is likely based on texts in the Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch is a collection of apocalyptic writings from 300 to 100 BCE. It is non-canonical except for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Its “author” is Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah (Gen. 5:18), but not to be confused with Enoch, the son of Cain (Gen. 4:17.)

When the author of the letter spoke of the “passions and desires” of the “flesh” and “senses,” he (like Paul) was not limiting his concerns to those the passions of our bodies. Like Paul, he used “flesh” as a shorthand term for the values of the world – wealth, power, and self-aggrandizement.

John 3:14-21

Reading

14 Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

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 (sometimes called the “Cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than after the entry into Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptic Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, but in the Fourth Gospel, the Last Supper occurred the day before the first day of Passover so that Jesus (who was often 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. The Synoptic Gospels are set primarily in the Galilee with a fateful trip to Jerusalem at the end. In the Fourth Gospel, the time of the public ministry is three years, with movement back and forth between the Galilee and Jerusalem.

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. The NAOB says: “The major concerns of the Gospel are engendering faith in the person of Jesus (20.21) and discrediting the Temple-centered, hereditary religious authorities who present a collective obstacle to the acceptance of faith in Jesus.”

Today’s reading consists of verses that are also not found in any of the Synoptic Gospels. In verses 14 and 15, the author/Jesus can be understood as saying, in effect, that Jesus draws the venom out of human life and restores wholeness.

Because ancient Greek did not contain punctuation, it is difficult to know whether verses 16 to 21 were attributed to Jesus by the author as a continuation of the quoted words in verses 14 and 15, or if they represent commentary by the author of this Gospel.

2024, March 3 ~ Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
MARCH 3, 2024

Exodus 20:1-17

Reading

1 Then God spoke all these words:

2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son, or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Commentary

The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible and covers the period from the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE, if the account is historical), the Exodus itself, and the early months in the Wilderness.

The Book of Exodus (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which were written down 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, called “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomic) and “P” (Priestly). 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.

Today’s reading is part of Chapters 19 to 24, which The Jewish Study Bible describes as “the defining and seminal moment in Israel’s relationship to God.” It points out that the sequence of events in these chapters is “extraordinarily difficult to follow” because they “were transmitted in multiple versions that differed about the nature of the event and what God communicated to the people.”

Today’s reading is set at Mount Sinai (“Horeb” in other parts of Exodus and in Deuteronomy) during the time in the Wilderness. In it, YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) gave the Decalogue – the “ten words” (v.1) – often called the Ten Commandments. The LORD is stated to be the author of the Ten Words. Implicit in this attribution of authorship is the notion that the LORD is the “king” of Israel – just as kings were the lawgivers in other ancient societies.

The Decalogue was structured as an exclusive covenant similar to a Lord-Vassal relationship in the Ancient Middle East: YHWH recounted what had been done for the Israelites (v.2) and then directed reciprocal obligations of the people (vv.3-17). Verse 3 does not command monotheism (there is only one God), but states that the people shall not worship any other gods, a belief system called “henotheism.” The JSB points out that banning worship of all but one deity was unique among other civilizations. The worship of an imageless God (v.4) also distinguished the Israelites from its neighbors. Verses 5 and 6 presented perceptions of God as “jealous” and “punishing those who reject me” (to the third and fourth generations) but showing steadfast love to those who love the LORD and obey God’s laws to the thousandth generation. Commentators suggest that the notion that God is “jealous” is an anthropomorphism and that “jealousy” is the feeling that a faithful spouse (God) expects their spouse (Israel) to be faithful as well.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that all of the commandments are in unconditional and absolute (apodictic) second-person masculine singular form. It continues that the Bible does not establish how these ten should be enumerated and observes that there was a diversity of views on this topic in antiquity. In the Jewish tradition, “I am the LORD your God” (v.2) is the first “word.”

Keeping the Sabbath “holy’ (v.8) meant to observe it as a day separate from others — a segment of time belonging especially to God. It is noteworthy that wives are not included among those prohibited from working on the Sabbath (v.10), but women are to be honored by their children because they are a mother (v.12). Murder (but not killing) was proscribed (v.13), and wives were considered “property” similar to a slave or other property (v.17). The JSB understands “covet” (v.14) as “having designs on a desired object, perhaps even to scheming or maneuvering to acquire it.”

This is one of three versions of the Decalogue. This one is called the “Priestly Decalogue” because it refers to the Priestly account of creation in which God rested on the seventh day (v.11). Other versions of the Decalogue appear in Exodus 34:11-26 (the “Ritual Decalogue”) and in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. In the Deuteronomic version, wives do not “belong” to men (Dt. 5:21), and the rationale for observing the Sabbath is the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt rather than God’s resting on the seventh day of creation.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Reading

18 The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Commentary

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. In addition to Paul, other Jesus Followers 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) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community. According to Acts 18, Paul spent over a year organizing several house-assemblies after arriving in Corinth around the year 50. This letter is primarily addressed to Gentile Jesus Followers.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that 1 Corinthians is “one of the New Testament’s most important books” because it includes one of the earliest proclamations of both Jesus’ death on behalf of sinners and Jesus’ resurrection, and has a basic formula for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion/Eucharist).

The JANT also notes that the letter is considered to have been written by Paul “with the exception of 14.33b-35, whose content – the silencing of women in the assemblies – contradicts 11.5 where Paul mentions, approvingly, women praying and prophesying.” The JANT observes that the later-written Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy and Titus) advocated women’s subordination, and speculates that the authors of those letters may have inserted these verses about women into Paul’s original letter.

In today’s reading, Paul criticized of the “wisdom of the world” and asserted that “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom” (v.25). He explained that selfless love (as embodied in the cross) is seen as foolishness by those who rely on the so-called wisdom of the world (vv. 18, 20). As he often did, Paul paraphrased (and modified) verses from the prophets. Verse 19 is loosely based on Isaiah 29:14b which reads (in the NRSV) “The wisdom of their wise shall perish and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden.”

God’s wisdom (v. 21) is the plan of salvation and includes the crucifixion of the Christ/Messiah/Anointed One of God. For Jews, a crucified Messiah was indeed a “stumbling block” (v. 23) because a Messiah who suffered was not a generally accepted notion in First Century Judaism. Because crucifixion was a particularly painful and degrading Roman form of execution, it was also inconsistent with the secular wisdom of the Greeks that expected kings and wise persons to overcome their enemies.

The NOAB sees the entire reading as a play on words by Paul in which “the meaning of the cross/Christ crucified remains stable, while the meaning of wisdom shifts from opposition to the cross and opposition by God (vv.18-20) into apposition with the crucified Christ (and the power of God) and finally into identification as the wisdom of God (vv.23-24).”

John 2:13-22

Reading

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

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 (sometimes called the “Cleansing of the Temple”) occurred early in Jesus’ Ministry in the Fourth Gospel, rather than after the entry into Jerusalem 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 often 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. The Synoptic Gospels are set primarily in the Galilee with a fateful trip to Jerusalem at the end. In the Fourth Gospel, the time of the public ministry is three years, with movement back and forth between the Galilee and Jerusalem.

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. The NAOB says: “The major concerns of the Gospel are engendering faith in the person of Jesus (20.21) and discrediting the Temple-centered, hereditary religious authorities who present a collective obstacle to the acceptance of faith in Jesus.”

The introductory phrase “the Passover of the Jews” (v.13) shows that the author of the Gospel considered it necessary to explain this feast to some of the Gentile audience. The designation “the Jews” (v. 13) in this particular context can be understood as “the Jewish people” but most of the time in the Fourth Gospel, the words “the Jews” are a shorthand reference for the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees. It is generally not a reference to the Jewish people, especially since Jesus was a Jew and his disciples were Jews.

Because animal sacrifice was performed in the Temple until 70 CE when the Romans destroyed it, animals were in the Temple areas so they could be bought by persons seeking to make sacrifices. In addition, there was an annual Temple tax imposed on Jews who came to the Temple that had to be paid in the official Jewish half-shekel. Roman and other money had to be changed into Jewish money. The activities being conducted in the Temple at this time were consistent with the practices of First Century Jews.

Jesus’ actions reported in all four gospels were not a statement against animal sacrifice or those engaging in worship in the Temple. Instead, most scholars understand the event as the evangelists’ way of showing that Jesus fulfilled the prophesy in Zechariah 14:21 that on the Day of the LORD, there would no longer be traders in the house of the LORD. In verse 17, the saying about “zeal for God’s house” is taken from Psalm 69:9.

The reference to construction of the Temple for forty-six years (v.20) is substantially correct. Herod the Great began the reconstruction of the Second Temple in 20 BCE. If the Crucifixion occurred in 30 CE and Jesus’ ministry was for three years, this event would have occurred in 27 CE.

In verse 22, the author was saying that after the Resurrection, the disciples treated Jesus’ statements during his lifetime as “the word” and as the equivalent of scripture.

2024, February 25 ~ Genesis 17:1-7,15-16; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Reading

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Latin. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 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. These four strands are known as “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomistic) and “P” (Priestly).

Genesis is generally seen as having two major parts: (1) Chapters 1-11 (“The Primeval History”) and Chapters 12 to 50 (“The Ancestral History – with its focus on Abraham and his descendants.) The Ancestral History is subdivided into the story of Abraham (11:17 to 25:18), the Jacob Cycle (25:19 to 36:43) and the Story of Joseph (37:1 to 50:26).

Today’s reading is one of the three accounts of YHWH’s covenant with Abraham to bless him with many descendants. It was written by the Priestly writers between 550 and 450 BCE. (The “J” version is in Chapter 15.) This account added that it will be Sarah who will bear the child that would lead to many descendants.

Although the reading today appeared to make an unconditional covenant with Abram about numerous offspring (v.2), the omitted verses (8 to 14) required Abram and his offspring to be circumcised. This made the covenant a conditional one in which both parties had obligations. It is also described as an “everlasting covenant” (vv.13, 19).

The reading is also about names. In the Hebrew Bible, one’s name described who you were and your destiny. Abram means “exalted ancestor” and has the same root as “Abba/father.” He was renamed Abraham (“ancestor of a multitude”) (v.5). The New Oxford Annotated Bible explains: “A new name signifies a new relationship or status. Abraham, a dialectical variant of Abram means ‘the [divine] ancestor is exalted.’ Here the name is explained by its similarity to the Hebrew for ancestor of a multitude referring to nations whose ancestry was traced to Abraham, such as the Edomites and the Ishmaelites.”

Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah (“princess”) when Abraham was told that she (at age 90) would conceive and bear a son (v.15).

The Priestly writers took the position that the name YHWH was not known to the Israelites until the Exodus (Exodus 3 and 6). In verse 1 of today’s reading, YHWH disclosed the divine name to Abram as “El Shaddai” – translated variously as “God Almighty” or “God of the Mountains” or even as “God with Breasts” (a fertile god). In the other places in this reading, the word translated as “God” is either “El” (an ancient name for God) or Elohim (literally, “the Gods”) – the name used by the Priestly writers in the first Creation Story in Genesis 1.

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 (the innermost part of our being) — 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 Jewish Annotated New Testament says that the word “law” (v.13) is “nomos” and refers not to Torah but to the convention of circumcision.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes that Paul would have understood 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 (somehow) 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. The NAOB points out that Abraham was justified because of his faithfulness before he was circumcised. Therefore, he could be ancestor of both the circumcised and uncircumcised.

The NAOB notes: “God’s ability to do what he had promised is at stake throughout Romans, especially regarding Israel.” Paul argued that God can do what God has promised (v.21). Most particularly, Paul asserted (v.23) that Abraham’s faithfulness was “reckoned to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6) and that this was a gift from God (v.4). Similarly, 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 who 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 asserted that God is the actor in the “handing over” of Jesus and who “raised [Jesus] for our justification” (v.25). The JANT says that the phrase “for our trespasses” is to be understood as meaning that in his faithfulness (as shown by his death) the Christ pays the penalty for human sin.

Mark 8:31-38

Reading

31 Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Commentary

The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”

Today’s reading comes immediately after a passage in which the disciples said that others suggested that Jesus might be [reincarnations of] John the Baptist, or Elijah or one of the prophets [i.e., Moses] (v. 28). In response to a more direct question, Peter offered “You are the Messiah” (or the Christ) (v. 29). The NOAB notes that there is very little evidence of “standardized” expectations of the Messiah in the First Century.

In today’s reading, Mark said that Jesus taught them that the “Son of Man” (an apocalyptic figure based on Daniel 7:13 and best understood as “The Human Being”) would undergo great suffering, be killed, and rise after three days (v.31). For the Jesus Follower audience hearing Mark’s Gospel in the early 70’s, this “future” was already past and confirmed by the Faith Community.

In the story, Peter served as a stand-in for all those who were expecting a Messiah who would be God’s anointed, rid the country of the hated Romans, and restore Israel. Jesus rebuked Peter in startling terms reminiscent of the rebuke of Satan by the High Priest Joshua (whose name is “Jesus” in Greek) in Zech. 3:2.

Today’s reading was a turning point in Mark’s Gospel. From now on, Jesus was portrayed in terms that are based on the Suffering Servant Songs in Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12, including the statement in Mark 10:45 that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The JANT points out that the words “must undergo” (v.31) reflect the perceived determinism of God’s plan, similar to apocalyptic texts such as Daniel.

In addition, from now on, the enemies of Jesus were stated in Mark to be “the elders, the chief priests and the scribes” (v.31). In the other Synoptic Gospels, the opponents of Jesus are primarily the Pharisees, and they are severely criticized. In the Fourth Gospel, the enemies are “the Jews” — a translation of the Greek word “Ioudaios” (literally, the Judeans). In the 70+ times the word is used in John, it is clear from each of the contexts that the word actually referred to the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees, not to “the Jews” generally.

The Gospel passage today also made clear to the generation that had endured the turbulent events of the Jewish Insurrection in 66 CE and the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE that self-preservation is not the highest value — “those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it” (v.35).

Regarding crucifixion, The NAOB states: “The Romans used crucifixion as a gruesome means of terrorizing subject peoples by hanging rebels and agitators from crosses for several days until they suffocated to death. They required condemned provincials to carry the crossbeam on which they were to be hung.”

2024, February 18 ~ Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

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TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
FEBRUARY 18, 2024

Genesis 9:8-17

Reading

8 God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Latin. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 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. These four strands are known as “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomistic) and “P” (Priestly).

Genesis is generally seen as having two major parts: (1) Chapters 1-11 (“The Primeval History”) and Chapters 12 to 50 (“The Ancestral History – with its focus on Abraham and his descendants.) The Ancestral History is subdivided into the story of Abraham (11:17 to 25:18), the Jacob Cycle (25:19 to 36:43) and the Story of Joseph (37:1 to 50:26).

Today’s reading is from the “Priestly” writers (550 to 450 BCE) whose name for God (Elohim) is translated “God” (not “LORD” as used by the Yahwistic writers). In these verses, God made the first covenant recorded in the Bible. A “covenant” is different from a “contract” in that a covenant is a solemn long-term continuing relationship, whereas a contract has a specific purpose and an end date. A covenant is often (but not always) between a superior party (such as God) and an inferior (Noah and humankind).

Covenants in the Bible are sometimes unconditional (such as God’s promise not to destroy the earth again by flood) that do not require a reciprocal action on the part of Noah or humankind. More often, however, Biblical covenants are presented as conditional so that if the “inferior” parties fulfill their obligations, the “superior” (usually God) will provide reciprocal benefits. These obligations include circumcision (Gen. 17:12) or faithfulness to the Law (Joshua 24:21).

The Jewish Study Bible points out that in the Talmud, it is taught that the “descendants of Noah” – that is, universal humanity – are obligated by seven commandments based on Genesis 9:6-17: (1) to establish courts of justice; (2) to refrain from blaspheming the God of Israel as well as from (3) idolatry, (4) sexual perversion, (5) bloodshed and (6) robbery, and (7) not to eat meat cut from a living animal. It notes that Jews have hundreds of commandments (613) in addition to these seven. Gentiles who observe these seven commandments can meet with God’s full approval. The New Oxford Annotated Bible refers to these laws as the Noachide Laws applicable to all persons (Acts 15:20).

1 Peter 3:18-22

Reading

18 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. Similarly, authorship of the Torah was historically attributed to Moses, the Psalms to David, and Wisdom Literature to Solomon.

The First Letter of Peter was likely written in the last quarter of the First Century, long after Peter’s death in the 60’s CE. It was written in sophisticated Greek (not a style a Galilean fisherman would use) and resembled 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, the Anointed One of God.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that this epistle is one of the “general” or “catholic” epistles, along with James, John, 2 Peter and Jude. These letters do not address a particular church but were directed to the general condition of Jesus Follower communities. It notes that 1 Peter 4:16 is the only place in the Christian Scriptures where the term “Christian” appears, and that the letter teaches recipients to identify with the suffering of Christ who also suffered unjustly. Suffering as a result of being a Christian was said to be a sign that the end of history is at hand. The JANT notes that 1 Peter adopted terms and scriptural citations that Jews had used to express their exclusive covenant with God and applied them to the Christian community. In effect, for the author of 1 Peter, Israel’s promises now belong to the Church.

In today’s reading, the author urged his audience to be willing to suffer for doing what is right, just as Jesus of Nazareth suffered for doing good. He noted that Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (v.18), which is not to say that “part” of Jesus survived death, but that God raised him as the Christ to a new life in the divine realm where (metaphorically) he is “at the right hand of God” (v.22). The JANT points out that in early Jewish mystical literature (Kabbalah), the right hand of God was “implicitly identified with the angel Metatron” – which is the name sometimes given to Enoch after he was taken to heaven/God Gen. 5:24).

The NAOB understands the phrase “in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey when God waited patiently in the days of Noah during the building of the ark” (vv.19-20) to refer to the idea of Christ’s preaching to the imprisoned evil spirits after his resurrection to announce his own victory. The NAOB suggests that this concept (sometimes called “the harrowing of hell”) is derived from 1 Enoch 10:4-6, a series of verses that described sending fallen angels to the darkness. (This notion also appears in Matthew 22:13: “throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”) The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that in some traditions, the rebellion of angels is expressly linked with the Flood.

Writers of the Christian Scriptures often looked for analogies in the Hebrew Bible to explain ritual practices in the Jesus Follower Movement. Here, the author presented the Flood in Noah’s time as prefiguring Baptism which is “an appeal to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (v.21). As The JANT points out, “baptism is not a mere ritual, but is meant to be grounded in a connection to God.”

It is noteworthy that the author of 1 Peter understood the Noah story literally in saying that eight persons (v.20b) survived the Flood and were saved.

Mark 1:9-15

Reading

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Commentary

The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and forms the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85 CE). Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”

Today’s reading follows the introduction of John the Baptist (1:4-8). Nazareth is about 16 miles from the Sea of Galilee, and the entire district was ruled by Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great who died in 4 BCE.

Martin Smith, in A Season for the Spirit, notes that although Jesus likely thought of himself as a sinless person, he nevertheless submitted to the baptism of John just as many others had done (1:5). Smith understood this story as one of the ways the Synoptic Gospel writers presented Jesus as being human and not thinking of himself as being separate and apart from other persons – an affirmation of his humanity and bond with others.

The words from heaven (“You are my Son, the Beloved”) have antecedents in the Hebrew Bible in references to kings, particularly David in 2 Sam.7:14 (“I will be a father to him”), in Psalm 2:7 (“You are my son”) and Psalm 89:26 (“You are my father”). it is not clear from the text if only Jesus heard the words from heaven or if they were heard by all who were in the area at the time. The JANT observes that the “heavens torn apart” (v.10) anticipated the tearing of the Temple curtain when Jesus died (15:38).

Apart from the reference to Jesus as “Son of God” in Mark 1:1 (a reference that is not in all ancient manuscripts), Jesus is not called “Son of God” in Mark by the disciples. Ironically, those who refer to Jesus as “Son of God” in Mark are unclean spirits (5:7), Jewish Authorities in a question (14:61) and a Roman centurion after Jesus’ death (15:39).

The JANT notes: “In some Christian circles the title Son of God included attributes of pre-existence (Jn 1:1-14) and equality with God (Jn 5.18). In Mark, “Son of God” was more likely understood as the raising of a human being to a status with God; some counterparts include both the Davidic king and the Roman emperor (Livy, Hist.1.16). God “adopted” Jesus as God’s son, as the king was adopted by God (as in Ps 2.7).

The NJBC disagrees and suggests that the evangelist interpreted the heavenly voice as confirmation of the already existing relationship between God and Jesus. It notes that the second part of the communication (“in whom I am well pleased”) echoed Isaiah 42:1 (“in whom my soul delights”), which suggests a connection between the Son of God and the Servant of God.

Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark did not describe Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness in any detail (compare Mt. 4:1-11 and Lk. 4:1-13). The power of the Spirit is emphasized by Mark in that it “drove” Jesus into the wilderness (v.12). The number 40 is a euphemism for “a long time” and is reminiscent of the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness, and the 40-day fasts of Moses (Deut. 9:18) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8).

Regarding “Satan” (v.13), The JANT describes “Satan” as the “adversary” or “accuser” and notes that Ha-Satan (“the Satan”) first appeared in Post-Exilic Jewish sources. It continues: “Christian sources typically regard Satan as a demonic force; rabbinic tradition alternates between depicting Satan as evil and depicting him still as (the) Satan or “accuser” who serves to test the righteous (as in Job).”

The announcement that “the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near” (v.15) is an apocalyptic pronouncement. These are the first words spoken by Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. The idea of the “Kingdom of God” – an ideal state that is not yet accomplished – is found in a number of places in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in the Psalms. In the Gospel of Mark, these three ideas (time fulfilled, Kingdom near, and repentance – meaning a change of heart) are central to the message presented by the evangelist.