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