TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 21, 2024
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Reading
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Commentary
The Book of Jonah is one of the shortest in the Bible and is included with the 12 Minor Prophets. Even though Jonah is never described in the Book as a “prophet,” he is a “reluctant prophet” who speaks for YHWH (translated as “LORD” in the NRSV) by urging the Assyrians to repent (3:4). Ironically, although Jonah rejected YHWH’s call, he was — according to the story – the most successful prophet ever.
The Book of Jonah, unlike the other prophetic books, is a narrative. It was written during the “Persian Period” (539 BCE to 333 BCE). The story, however, was necessarily set hundreds of years earlier in the period of Assyrian power – a time of Assyrian conquests and threats against Israel and Judea (850 to 612 BCE).
Sending Jonah to convert Nineveh (the Assyrian capital, and modern-day Mosul) at the height of Assyria’s power would be seen by everyone as a “Mission Impossible” task. When told by God to go to Nineveh, Jonah got on a ship for Tarshish (the end of the earth for a Mediterranean person, namely, Spain) – about as far from Assyria as he could possibly go.
Notwithstanding his attempts to avoid his mission to Nineveh, the story recounted that Jonah was thrown overboard by the sailors because his disobedience to God was seen by the sailors as the cause of a great storm. A fish then swallowed him, and he was spit out by the fish on the shore and went to Nineveh. Once there, he accepted his commission and warned the Assyrians of impending destruction if they did not repent. To Jonah’s amazement, the Assyrians and their king repented (vv. 5-6). God’s mind was changed, and God decided not to punish them (v.10).
Today’s reading recounts Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh, the repentance of the people, and God’s relenting in the decision to destroy Nineveh.
The story emphasized two theological understandings that are found in many of the stories in the Hebrew Bible: (1) God directs and controls all that happens and (2) God sometimes has a change of mind.
The Jewish Study Bible points out that the themes derived from the book have included: (1) the power of repentance; (2) a contrast between a doctrine of retributive justice and one of divine grace; (3) a conflict between God’s universalist approach and Jonah’s nationalistic tendencies; and (4) a conflict between an understanding of God as constrained by particular rules as known to human beings and another understanding that stresses the radical independence of God.
In the next chapter of the book, Jonah became angry with God for being merciful to the Assyrians. Echoing YHWH’s “self-description” in Exodus 34:6 that God is merciful and abounding in steadfast love, Jonah told YHWH that he fled to Tarshish precisely because he knew God would be willing to relent from punishing the Assyrians (4:2). Jonah wanted Nineveh to be punished and was so angry about God’s relenting that he preferred to die (4:3, 4:8) rather than see the “enemy” repent and receive God’s mercy.
The Jonah story is not history. Nineveh never repented in the 8th Century BCE. The Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern 10 tribes (Israel) in 722 BCE. Assyria put Judea under siege for many years around 700 BCE. By the time of the writing of this story, Nineveh had long since been destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 BCE and was never rebuilt.
The JSB raises interesting questions: “What are the readers of the book supposed to make of the well-known fact in their time [the Persian Period] that historic Nineveh had long been destroyed and never rebuilt? Surely, they thought, such destruction must have been a manifestation of God’s will. But if so, are some of God’s words, as recorded in the prophetic books, valid at one time but not another, even if God’s explicit argument seems universal? Are prophetic words contingent on a particular set of historical circumstances and therefore of no absolute value and general scope? Is it possible to distinguish between the contingent and noncontingent words, and if so how? Or are all of them contingent?”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that archaeological excavations show that Nineveh was about 3 miles long with a wall of eight miles around it. The city was not a “three days’ walk across” (v.3) – which would be about 90 miles (3 mph x 10 hours x 3 days). The exaggeration was intended to show the difficulty of the task facing Jonah, the vastness of his success, and the expanse of God’s mercy.
The Book of Jonah emphasized the inclusivity of God’s love and mercy for all, not just the people of Israel and Judea. Similarly, the Book of Ruth (in which a Moabite woman – the Moabites were a hated enemy of Judea — became the great grandmother of King David) and portions of the Book of Isaiah convey the message that God’s mercy and love are inclusive.
Other books of the Bible, such as Ezra and Nehemiah (written around 450 BCE), required the Jewish people be exclusive. Some of the Jews who remained in Jerusalem during the Exile had intermarried. After the Exile, Ezra required them to send away their foreign wives and the children they had by them (Ezra 10:3).
The tension (and disagreement within Judaism) between inclusivity and exclusivity continued into the First Century of the Common Era. In opposition to the exclusivist Sadducees, Jesus of Nazareth was clearly presented in the Gospels as an inclusivist.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Reading
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
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. The 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) advocate women’s subordination, and speculates that the authors of those letters may have inserted these verses about women into Paul’s original letter.
Today’s reading is lifted from a chapter that dealt primarily with Paul’s views on sexual morality, and that responded to part of a letter to him from the Corinthians that said: “It is well for a man not to touch a woman.” (7.1) The NAOB and The JANT regard this saying as “another Corinthian slogan.”
In the first part of this Chapter, Paul rejected mandatory celibacy and presented a more nuanced approach. But because he believed the current age was about to end (“in view of the impending/present crisis” (v.26)), Paul was more concerned with changes in marital status than with marriage per se.
The verses for today reflected Paul’s understanding that the current economic system in Corinth (private property, slavery, commerce) and social forms (such as patriarchal marriage) were about to disappear (v. 31) when a new order arrived. Accordingly, Paul urged persons to practice abstinence, and to behave contrary to their expected roles in preparation for the end time.
These notions of a new order evolved into the idea of the “Second Coming” of the Christ. This “Second Coming” developed relatively early in the Jesus Follower Movement because the Jesus Followers recognized that Jesus of Nazareth had not fulfilled all the traditional “job descriptions” of the Messiah in his earthly life – the nation was not unified; the Romans were not expelled; and Shalom (peace and order) did not reign. It became understood that at the Second Coming, all will be fulfilled.
Mark 1:14-20
Reading
14 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.”
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
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 formed the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 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.”
Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” – with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The Gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The JANT observes: “Although Mark presents an earthly Jesus and not the heavenly mediator emphasized in Paul’s letters (e.g., Phil. 2.6-11), Mark and Paul share several important themes: the centrality of the followers’ faith, the emphasis on Jesus’ death rather than his resurrection, and reservations about Peter’s role.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many details of the Passion and Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Today’s reading contains the first words of Jesus that are reported as part of his public ministry. In saying the “Kingdom of God has come near (v.15), Jesus proclaimed that the ideal state is beginning but has not yet been accomplished. In preaching repentance, Jesus (like John the Baptist) called for a “change of mind” in which one’s heart and whole inner being is called to “return” to God. The JANT observes “in ancient Israel and Mark as well “faith” and “believe” often connoted faithfulness and trustworthiness regarding both humans and God.”
The arrest of John (v.14) is presented as the triggering event for Jesus to begin his public ministry. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that instead of “arrested,” the Greek should be translated as “handed over” – the same way that Jesus was “handed over” (14:44) by Judas to the authorities at the Garden of Gethsemane.
The NOAB sees verse 15 as a “summary of Jesus’ program and of the Gospel according to Mark. At the right time, in fulfillment of long-standing yearnings and hopes, God is finally acting to reestablish his beneficent will for the people.”
The area called “the Galilee” was, according to The JANT, the area north of Judea, and had “indistinct boundaries.” It was more rural and less Hellenized in the First Century than Judea. The people there thought of themselves as “Israelites” (see John 1:47) and distinct from the Judeans.
The NAOB points out that the Sea of Galilee is also called the Lake of Gennesaret and “is a large lake in a deep basin mostly surrounded by high hills.” It is about 10 miles from North to South, and about 6 miles from West to East. It is fed by the Jordan River on the north, and its outlet is to the Jordan River to the south.
The call of disciples in Mark in today’s reading is quite different from the story last week in the Fourth Gospel of the calls of Andrew, Peter, Phillip and Nathaniel. In last week’s story, John the Baptist referred to Jesus a “the Lamb of God” (John 1:36) to two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew. Andrew found his brother Simon and told him “We have found the Messiah” (v.41). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus who told Simon, “You are son of John…You are to be called Cephas (Peter)” (v.42). Jesus then went to the Galilee and “found” Philip and said, “Follow me” (v.43) and Philip went and found Nathaniel (v.45).
Simon is later called “Peter.” James (son of Zebedee) is to be distinguished from James the brother of Jesus who became the leader of the Jesus Follower Movement in Jerusalem and from James “the Less” (another apostle).
In the First Century, it would have been unusual for a rabbi/teacher to call disciples. Typically, disciples sought out a master. Here, the Gospel writer follows a pattern set by Elijah in his call of Elisha to be his disciple (1 Kings 19:19).
2024, January 28 ~ Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 28, 2024
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Reading
15 Moses said: The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. 16 This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” 17 Then the LORD replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. 19 Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. 20 But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.”
Commentary
Deuteronomy is the fifth (and last) book of the Torah and (as a literary device) was presented as Moses’ final speech to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land.
“Deuteronomy” comes from Greek words that mean “Second Law” and the book was structured as if it were a “restatement” of the laws found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Parts of Deuteronomy were revised as late as 450 BCE, but the bulk of the book is generally dated to the reign of King Josiah of Judea (640-609 BCE). Many of the reforms under Josiah, particularly the centralization of sacrificial worship in Jerusalem, are stipulated in Deuteronomy.
It is also the first book of the didactic “Deuteronomic History” which consists of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. This “History” taught that when the people and kings of Israel and Judea worshiped YHWH properly, they prospered, but when they worshiped false gods, other nations (Assyria in 722 BCE and Babylon in 587 BCE) conquered them. For the Deuteronomists, these conquests occurred because of false worship, not because the Assyrians and Babylonians were wealthier countries with larger armies. In this way, the Deuteronomists “preserved” the notions of YHWH’s being the all-powerful protector of Israel and Judea, that YHWH was faithful to the promises made by YHWH, and that YHWH controlled everything that occurred.
In today’s reading, Moses told the Israelites that YHWH will raise up a prophet “like me” [Moses] as requested by the people at Horeb (the Deuteronomists’ name for Mount Sinai). Moses “recounted” that YHWH told him that the prophet would be from their own people, YHWH would put words in the prophet’s mouth, and the prophet would speak in YHWH’s name (v.18). The appointment by YHWH will make the prophet independent of all other institutions and therefore able to challenge these institutions. The Deuteronomists saw Moses as the paradigmatic prophet.
The Jewish Study Bible sees these verses as creating a “uniquely Israelite model of prophecy, patterned after Moses, which understands the prophet to mediate God’s word to the people.” It continues that unlike other offices which achieve their continuity by means of professional training and appointment (such as judges), or dynastically (such as kings), or by tribal membership (such as the Levitical priesthood), God alone appoints prophets.
These verses in Deuteronomy also formed a basis for the vision that the Messiah would be a prophet and the “New Moses.” This vision was one of the many different visions of the Messiah in circulation in the First Century, including the “New David,” the Son of Man, and the New High Priest. Because of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, Gospel writers also found other images of a Messiah who was a “suffering servant” as described in Isaiah 52 and 53, and a Paschal Lamb as found in Exodus.
The Gospel According to Matthew specifically presented Jesus of Nazareth as the New Moses. This Gospel contains stories about Jesus that are not in any other Gospels and are direct parallels to stories about Moses in the Hebrew Bible. For example, by unusual means, Moses and Jesus avoided death at the hands of temporal rulers (Pharaoh and Herod) who tried to kill all the male infants. Moses and Jesus both left Egypt for the Promised Land under God’s protection. Moses went up on the mountain (Sinai or Horeb) to obtain the Law, and Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount to fulfill the Law.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Reading
1 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.
4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth – as in fact there are many gods and many lords – 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11 So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12 But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
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. The 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) advocate 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 appears to be addressing an issue raised in a letter from the Corinthians. It is difficult to know exactly when Paul is quoting Hellenistic/Corinthian “knowledge” and whether he is quoting it approvingly or not. (Quotation marks were unknown in the First Century. The early predecessors to quotation marks were not used until the 3rd or 4th Century CE. Quotation marks as we know them were developed in the 17th Century.)
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that “generally speaking, meat was available in the ancient world only after great festivals, when the priests sold the surplus of the meat of the sacrificial victims that was their share.”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible says that “food sacrificed to idols” (v.1) referred to food sacrificed in the presence of an idol and eaten in the temple precincts. The JANT describes it as “a derogatory word (Gk eidōlothutos) used by Jews and Christians for pagan sacrifices. Some believers may have eaten the food for reasons relating to social status and familial loyalties. Jews generally avoided such fare and pagan ceremonial meals.”
Paul walked a fine line: he did not forbid Corinthians from eating meat, but he cautioned Jesus Followers that if they ate meat sacrificed to idols (particularly if they thought they had “knowledge” or religious wisdom), this might harm those who did not fully understand that “no idol in the world really exists” (v.4) and those for whom eating meat sacrificed to idols was a “stumbling block” (v.9). Paul admonished that wounding the conscience of one who is weak in this matter would be a sin against the Christ (v.12).
Mark 1:21-28
Reading
21 Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
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.”
According to The JANT, synagogues existed as early as the First Century BCE, and were well-established in the Galilee in the first half of the First Century CE (before the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE). Synagogues were local Jewish town meetings or civic associations, and in the First Century CE, they were also beginning to be centers of study and worship. Because Mark noted that the people gathered on the sabbath (v.21), Mark assumed the synagogue had a worship function also. The NJBC points out “anyone of sufficient learning could be invited to teach; there was no need for rabbinic ‘ordination’ in Jesus’ day.”
Capernaum is a town on the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee and appears to have been the center of Jesus’ ministry in the Galilee. Even today, there are remains of a Second Century synagogue there as well as the traditional site of Peter’s home.
In Mark’s Gospel, the attribution of “authority” (exousia in Greek) and “power” (dunamis) are common notions. In attributing “authority” to Jesus, the Gospel writer noted that Jesus did not generally rely on the prior thinking of others to express his understandings of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. The “scribes” (v.22) to whom Jesus was compared were the literate elite scholars-lawyers who represented and advised the Jerusalem priestly rulers, the Sadducees. They were interpreters and teachers of the Scriptures.
The NAOB opines that “a man with an unclean spirit” (v.23) was one “possessed by an alien force or demon” and suggests that Jesus’ struggle against superhuman demonic spirits paralleled his political conflicts with the rulers and their scribal representatives. The NJBC observes that “You have come to destroy us” is a better translation of v.24b in that the coming of God’s Kingdom would spell the end of the demons’ power.
The translation that Jesus told the unclean spirit to “be silent” (v.25), the Greek words are literally “be muzzled” — a phrase that appears other times when Jesus confronted unclean spirits in this Gospel.
2024, January 21 ~ Jonah 3:1-5,10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 21, 2024
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Reading
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Commentary
The Book of Jonah is one of the shortest in the Bible and is included with the 12 Minor Prophets. Even though Jonah is never described in the Book as a “prophet,” he is a “reluctant prophet” who speaks for YHWH (translated as “LORD” in the NRSV) by urging the Assyrians to repent (3:4). Ironically, although Jonah rejected YHWH’s call, he was — according to the story – the most successful prophet ever.
The Book of Jonah, unlike the other prophetic books, is a narrative. It was written during the “Persian Period” (539 BCE to 333 BCE). The story, however, was necessarily set hundreds of years earlier in the period of Assyrian power – a time of Assyrian conquests and threats against Israel and Judea (850 to 612 BCE).
Sending Jonah to convert Nineveh (the Assyrian capital, and modern-day Mosul) at the height of Assyria’s power would be seen by everyone as a “Mission Impossible” task. When told by God to go to Nineveh, Jonah got on a ship for Tarshish (the end of the earth for a Mediterranean person, namely, Spain) – about as far from Assyria as he could possibly go.
Notwithstanding his attempts to avoid his mission to Nineveh, the story recounted that Jonah was thrown overboard by the sailors because his disobedience to God was seen by the sailors as the cause of a great storm. A fish then swallowed him, and he was spit out by the fish on the shore and went to Nineveh. Once there, he accepted his commission and warned the Assyrians of impending destruction if they did not repent. To Jonah’s amazement, the Assyrians and their king repented (vv. 5-6). God’s mind was changed, and God decided not to punish them (v.10).
Today’s reading recounts Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh, the repentance of the people, and God’s relenting in the decision to destroy Nineveh.
The story emphasized two theological understandings that are found in many of the stories in the Hebrew Bible: (1) God directs and controls all that happens and (2) God sometimes has a change of mind.
The Jewish Study Bible points out that the themes derived from the book have included: (1) the power of repentance; (2) a contrast between a doctrine of retributive justice and one of divine grace; (3) a conflict between God’s universalist approach and Jonah’s nationalistic tendencies; and (4) a conflict between an understanding of God as constrained by particular rules as known to human beings and another understanding that stresses the radical independence of God.
In the next chapter of the book, Jonah became angry with God for being merciful to the Assyrians. Echoing YHWH’s “self-description” in Exodus 34:6 that God is merciful and abounding in steadfast love, Jonah told YHWH that he fled to Tarshish precisely because he knew God would be willing to relent from punishing the Assyrians (4:2). Jonah wanted Nineveh to be punished and was so angry about God’s relenting that he preferred to die (4:3, 4:8) rather than see the “enemy” repent and receive God’s mercy.
The Jonah story is not history. Nineveh never repented in the 8th Century BCE. The Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern 10 tribes (Israel) in 722 BCE. Assyria put Judea under siege for many years around 700 BCE. By the time of the writing of this story, Nineveh had long since been destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 BCE and was never rebuilt.
The JSB raises interesting questions: “What are the readers of the book supposed to make of the well-known fact in their time [the Persian Period] that historic Nineveh had long been destroyed and never rebuilt? Surely, they thought, such destruction must have been a manifestation of God’s will. But if so, are some of God’s words, as recorded in the prophetic books, valid at one time but not another, even if God’s explicit argument seems universal? Are prophetic words contingent on a particular set of historical circumstances and therefore of no absolute value and general scope? Is it possible to distinguish between the contingent and noncontingent words, and if so how? Or are all of them contingent?”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that archaeological excavations show that Nineveh was about 3 miles long with a wall of eight miles around it. The city was not a “three days’ walk across” (v.3) – which would be about 90 miles (3 mph x 10 hours x 3 days). The exaggeration was intended to show the difficulty of the task facing Jonah, the vastness of his success, and the expanse of God’s mercy.
The Book of Jonah emphasized the inclusivity of God’s love and mercy for all, not just the people of Israel and Judea. Similarly, the Book of Ruth (in which a Moabite woman – the Moabites were a hated enemy of Judea — became the great grandmother of King David) and portions of the Book of Isaiah convey the message that God’s mercy and love are inclusive.
Other books of the Bible, such as Ezra and Nehemiah (written around 450 BCE), required the Jewish people be exclusive. Some of the Jews who remained in Jerusalem during the Exile had intermarried. After the Exile, Ezra required them to send away their foreign wives and the children they had by them (Ezra 10:3).
The tension (and disagreement within Judaism) between inclusivity and exclusivity continued into the First Century of the Common Era. In opposition to the exclusivist Sadducees, Jesus of Nazareth was clearly presented in the Gospels as an inclusivist.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Reading
29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
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. The 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) advocate women’s subordination, and speculates that the authors of those letters may have inserted these verses about women into Paul’s original letter.
Today’s reading is lifted from a chapter that dealt primarily with Paul’s views on sexual morality, and that responded to part of a letter to him from the Corinthians that said: “It is well for a man not to touch a woman.” (7.1) The NAOB and The JANT regard this saying as “another Corinthian slogan.”
In the first part of this Chapter, Paul rejected mandatory celibacy and presented a more nuanced approach. But because he believed the current age was about to end (“in view of the impending/present crisis” (v.26)), Paul was more concerned with changes in marital status than with marriage per se.
The verses for today reflected Paul’s understanding that the current economic system in Corinth (private property, slavery, commerce) and social forms (such as patriarchal marriage) were about to disappear (v. 31) when a new order arrived. Accordingly, Paul urged persons to practice abstinence, and to behave contrary to their expected roles in preparation for the end time.
These notions of a new order evolved into the idea of the “Second Coming” of the Christ. This “Second Coming” developed relatively early in the Jesus Follower Movement because the Jesus Followers recognized that Jesus of Nazareth had not fulfilled all the traditional “job descriptions” of the Messiah in his earthly life – the nation was not unified; the Romans were not expelled; and Shalom (peace and order) did not reign. It became understood that at the Second Coming, all will be fulfilled.
Mark 1:14-20
Reading
14 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.”
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
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 formed the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 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.”
Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” – with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The Gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The JANT observes: “Although Mark presents an earthly Jesus and not the heavenly mediator emphasized in Paul’s letters (e.g., Phil. 2.6-11), Mark and Paul share several important themes: the centrality of the followers’ faith, the emphasis on Jesus’ death rather than his resurrection, and reservations about Peter’s role.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many details of the Passion and Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Today’s reading contains the first words of Jesus that are reported as part of his public ministry. In saying the “Kingdom of God has come near (v.15), Jesus proclaimed that the ideal state is beginning but has not yet been accomplished. In preaching repentance, Jesus (like John the Baptist) called for a “change of mind” in which one’s heart and whole inner being is called to “return” to God. The JANT observes “in ancient Israel and Mark as well “faith” and “believe” often connoted faithfulness and trustworthiness regarding both humans and God.”
The arrest of John (v.14) is presented as the triggering event for Jesus to begin his public ministry. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that instead of “arrested,” the Greek should be translated as “handed over” – the same way that Jesus was “handed over” (14:44) by Judas to the authorities at the Garden of Gethsemane.
The NOAB sees verse 15 as a “summary of Jesus’ program and of the Gospel according to Mark. At the right time, in fulfillment of long-standing yearnings and hopes, God is finally acting to reestablish his beneficent will for the people.”
The area called “the Galilee” was, according to The JANT, the area north of Judea, and had “indistinct boundaries.” It was more rural and less Hellenized in the First Century than Judea. The people there thought of themselves as “Israelites” (see John 1:47) and distinct from the Judeans.
The NAOB points out that the Sea of Galilee is also called the Lake of Gennesaret and “is a large lake in a deep basin mostly surrounded by high hills.” It is about 10 miles from North to South, and about 6 miles from West to East. It is fed by the Jordan River on the north, and its outlet is to the Jordan River to the south.
The call of disciples in Mark in today’s reading is quite different from the story last week in the Fourth Gospel of the calls of Andrew, Peter, Phillip and Nathaniel. In last week’s story, John the Baptist referred to Jesus a “the Lamb of God” (John 1:36) to two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew. Andrew found his brother Simon and told him “We have found the Messiah” (v.41). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus who told Simon, “You are son of John…You are to be called Cephas (Peter)” (v.42). Jesus then went to the Galilee and “found” Philip and said, “Follow me” (v.43) and Philip went and found Nathaniel (v.45).
Simon is later called “Peter.” James (son of Zebedee) is to be distinguished from James the brother of Jesus who became the leader of the Jesus Follower Movement in Jerusalem and from James “the Less” (another apostle).
In the First Century, it would have been unusual for a rabbi/teacher to call disciples. Typically, disciples sought out a master. Here, the Gospel writer follows a pattern set by Elijah in his call of Elisha to be his disciple (1 Kings 19:19).
2024, January 14 ~ 1 Samuel 3:1-20; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:53-51
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 14, 2024
1 Samuel 3:1-20
Reading
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So, he went and lay down. 6 The LORD called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17 Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”
19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD.
Commentary
The Book of Samuel is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books are a “didactic history” that covers the period from just before the entry into the Promised Land (c.1220 BCE, if the account is historical) to the beginning of Babylonian Captivity (586 BCE). The books were written in the period from 640 BCE to 550 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.
The Deuteronomic authors artfully wove together numerous sources to form the Book of Samuel. They used the stories in these books to demonstrate that that God controls history and to assert that it was the failures of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)
The Book of Samuel (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the Time of the Judges (c.1030 BCE) to the last years of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE). The Book of Samuel notes that the Book of Judges ended on a low note in terms of YHWH worship — “the word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread” (v.3:1).
Today’s reading describes the call by YHWH of young Samuel (whose name means “God [el] has heard”) and his elevation to prophet. Samuel is described as the last of the Judges and the first of the great prophets of Israel. He is a towering and admirable figure in the Hebrew Bible. His mother, Hannah, was barren until YHWH “remembered” her in response to her prayers in which she “bargained” with YHWH (1:11). As she had promised, Hannah dedicated Samuel to YHWH as a “nazirite” (1 Sam.1:9) — one who would never cut his hair and or touch wine or strong drink. Other identified nazirites in Scripture were Samson (who did not fulfil his vows) and John the Baptizer.
Among his significant acts, Samuel (at YHWH’s direction) anointed the first two kings of Israel (Saul and David). The Book of Samuel was derived from at least two sources and is therefore ambivalent about whether having a king was good for Israel because it united the tribes politically against their enemies or bad because Israel ceased to be a theocracy (governed by YHWH through priests).
In setting the scene of Samuel’s call, the text says, “the lamp of God had not yet gone out” (v.3) which The New Oxford Annotated Bible interprets as the time just before dawn. The “iniquity” of Eli’s sons (vv.13-14) was their failure to worship YHWH properly.
The Jewish Study Bible suggests that it is Samuel’s state of awe that caused him not to add “YHWH” in his response (v.10) as Eli instructed him to do (v.9). It also notes Samuel’s humility – in spite of his extraordinary experience with YHWH, he continued to carry out his usual duties (“opened the doors”) (v.15) and did not report his conversation with YHWH to Eli until asked about it (v.18).
As a concluding note, because all of Samuel’s sayings were eventually found to be true, the Deuteronomist described him as “trustworthy” (v.20).
Demonstrating the multiplicity of sources, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the accusation that Eli did not “restrain” his sons (v.13) is directly contradicted by 2:22-25 which contains an account of Eli rebuking his sons for their behaviors.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Reading
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body.
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. The 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) advocate women’s subordination, and speculates that the authors of those letters may have inserted these verses about women into Paul’s original letter.
Today’s reading appears to be in response to a letter received from Corinth, as shown by the Hellenistic (“enlightened”) statements in verses 12 and 13 that Paul quoted (and refuted) in today’s reading. The JANT and The NJBC advise that these were “Corinthian slogans” consistent with the Greek philosophical views of Epictetus and the Cynics.
Paul discussed the human body and rejected fornication/sexual impurity, not because of the Law, but on the bases that Jesus Followers are members of Christ (v.15) and united to the Lord (v.17) so that one’s body is a temple/sanctuary (v.19). Paul concluded that one should glorify God in one’s body (v.20). In verse 16, Paul said that immoral intercourse corrupts a person’s nature by changing it.
The NAOB observes that in vv.14-16 “Paul is warning of the logical implications of the Corinthians’ principle, not necessarily their actual behavior…. Paul is insisting on what is ‘beneficial’ (v.12) to the whole community, as opposed to individual enlightenment.”
Paul’s emphasis on the sacredness of the body expressed traditional Jewish respect for the body (as part of an integrated human person) in opposition to the Platonic notion that only spiritual essence (or soul) is what is important and that the body is an irrelevant appendage. In referring to the body as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (v.19), Paul was emphasizing the integral relationships one has with God, the Christ, the Spirit and one another.
Both The JANT and The NJBC understand “bought with a price” (v.20) to convey the image of ransoming a slave or a prisoner. Having been ransomed, we should serve others.
John 1:43-51
Reading
43 Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
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. The Synoptic Gospels are set primarily in the Galilee with a 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.”
In today’s reading, places that are mentioned include Bethsaida (a town on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee) and Nazareth, a small insignificant town about 16 miles west of the Sea of Galilee – not a likely place from which the Messiah would come.
The NAOB says that Nathaniel (whose name means “God [el] has given”) “may be a collective character representing those in Israel who have no deceit [v.47], i.e., none of the qualities of Jacob before he became Israel.” It continues: “Because of their openness to Jesus they will see him in the fullness of his role as mediator between heaven and earth.” The NJBC describes Nathaniel as “the exemplary Israelite.”
The author of the Fourth Gospel knew the Hebrew Scriptures well. The reference to “him about whom Moses wrote in the law” (v.45) is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15 (“The LORD God will raise up a prophet like me [Moses] from among your own people.”)
The JANT notes that the Gospel refers to Jesus as “son of Joseph” (v.45) without any mention of a virginal conception.
Nathaniel called Jesus the “Son of God” (v.49) – a reference derived from to 2 Sam. 7:14 (“I will be a father to him [David and his offspring] and he shall be a son to me”) and to Psalm 2:7b (“He said to me [David, the “traditional author” of the Psalms], ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you”).
The reference to angels ascending and descending (v.51) was to the ladder in Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28 and is understood by scholars as implying that Jesus is the ladder connecting heaven and earth.
The reference to the Son of Man (v.51b) is derived from Daniel 7:13 in which one “like a human being” (a Son of Man) comes upon the clouds – a customary Messianic image in the First Century and associated with apocalyptic eschatology. The words “Very truly” (v.51) are literally “Amen, Amen” (or “it is so” or “it is true.” According to The JANT, they are a formula for emphasis in both the Bible and in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
2024, January 7 ~ Genesis 1:1-5; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 7, 2024
Genesis 1:1-5
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.
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 described the first day of the seven-day “First Creation Story.” It is part of the “Priestly” tradition written in the period from 550 to 450 BCE. The name used for God in this account is “Elohim” (literally, “the gods”) and is different name from the name (YHWH or “LORD God”) used in the Second Creation Story (Gen. 2:4b – 24). The Second Creation Story is part of the “Yahwistic” tradition dated to about 970 to 930 BCE – the reigns of David and Solomon.
The First Creation Story emphasized order and categorizing by separation. Priestly writers portrayed order and precision as leading to “Shalom” (peace, good order). It is noteworthy that creation is not “out of nothing” (creation ex nihilo) but describes God’s decrees as “creating” by bringing order out of a “formless void” (v. 2) and a watery chaos (“the deep” and “the waters”). In verse 4 and other verses, God declares that the creation is good or very good.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that “creation” is accomplished through separating, ordering, and naming elements of the universe.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “God does not destroy darkness, one of the two chaotic forces mentioned in verse 2. He relegated it to the night time, where it too becomes part of the good world.”
The Jewish Study Bible points out that the biblical week in Genesis 1 (unlike the lunar month or the solar year) corresponds to no astronomical event. “The notion that the number 7 signified completeness and that things come to their fit conclusion on the 7th day did, however, have wide resonance in the ancient Near Eastern world in which Israel emerged and that understanding doubtless stands in the background of this passage.”
Overcoming the chaos of the ocean was an important theme in Middle Eastern Creation Myths such as the Babylonian Creation Myth (the “Enuma Elish”) which the Judeans would have encountered during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).
The JSB observes: “To the ancients, the opposite of the created order was something much worse than ‘nothing.’ It was an active malevolent force we can best term ‘chaos.’ … To say that a deity had subdued chaos is to give him the highest praise.”
Acts 19:1-7
Reading
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — 7 altogether there were about twelve of them.
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 to become Jesus Followers.
From Chapter 15 to Chapter 28, Paul’s missionary activities were recounted, ending with his house arrest in Rome.
Today’s reading is set in Ephesus and is part of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, one that began in Antioch in Syria and ended in Jerusalem. Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey and was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. According to Acts 19:10, Paul spent two years in Ephesus converting both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) and performing miracles (v.11).
One of the major themes of both the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is the importance of the Holy Spirit – often portrayed as the driving force for all that happens. Today’s reading is an example of the prominence the author of Luke/Acts gave to the Holy Spirit and the power of “laying on of hands” as a means for conveying the Holy Spirit.
The NOAB points out that elsewhere in Acts, the word “disciples” (v.1) means Christians and that persons at all familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures would have been aware of the Holy Spirit (v.2) because of references in Psalm 51:11b (“do not take your holy spirit from me”) and Isaiah 63:10 (“but they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit.”) The NJBC says that the idea that these disciples never heard of the Holy Spirit is “inconceivable.”
The NJBC explains the context of today’s readings by looking at the concluding verses of Chapter 18. These verses described a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, who was eloquent, well-versed in the scriptures, but who knew only the Baptism of John (18:24-25). (Apollos was described as a rival of Paul’s in 1 Cor. 3:4-11.) In Acts, two of Paul’s disciples “took him [Apollos] aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately” (18:26). Acts also reported that Apollos was in Corinth when Paul was in Ephesus (v.1) – giving Paul the opportunity to preach without disputing with Apollos.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that the “Baptism of John” is likely presented here as a “rival messianic sect.” Similarly, The NJBC sees the Baptism of John as an “immature Christianity” because it was not grounded in the Holy Spirit that had been (according to Acts) poured out on the apostles on Pentecost.
This differentiation of the Baptism of John and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading likely means that in the time of Paul’s ministry (late 40’s to early 60’s) or in Luke’s time (late 80’s), or both, there remained followers of John the Baptist who had not yet become believers in Jesus the Christ and were seen as a rival messianic sect. The author of Acts considered it important to portray the Baptism of John as incomplete.
Mark 1:4-11
Reading
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
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.”
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 formed the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 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.”
Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” – with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The NOAB observes that the noun “evangelion” was not used for a literary genre until the mid-2nd century CE, and that Jesus’ preaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God “as a decisive new development in the history of Israel, not as the beginning of a new religion.”
The JANT observes: “Although Mark presents an earthly Jesus and not the heavenly mediator emphasized in Paul’s letters (e.g., Phil. 2.6-11), Mark and Paul share several important themes: the centrality of the followers’ faith, the emphasis on Jesus’ death rather than his resurrection, and reservations about Peter’s role.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many details of the Passion Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not have a Birth Narrative for Jesus of Nazareth, and today’s Gospel reading is the first substantive story in this Gospel.
In today’s reading, John the Baptist was presented as a new Elijah in his garb and eating (v.6). This would have been seen as a fulfillment of Malachi 3:5 (“Lo, I [YHWH] will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.”)
The NOAB sees the Baptism of John as a “ritual of entrance into God’s renewed covenant with Israel in which those ready to change their ways are baptized as forgiven for having broken the covenantal laws.” The JANT observes that John’s was a movement similar to that of Jesus in preaching repentance and forgiveness, and that John’s Baptism was a parallel to the Jewish practice of bathing to cleanse ritual “impurities” which John the Baptist transformed into “a public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.”
Like most scripture writers, the author of Mark often used hyperbole to emphasize his points. For example, he spoke of “people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” going to the River Jordan (v.5).
In verse 11, the Sonship of Jesus of Nazareth was affirmed by the voice from heaven, though it is not clear from the text whether only Jesus heard the voice or if others heard it also.
The JANT sees the words of verse 11 as influenced by Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1-2, and understands verse 11 as follows: “Psalm [2.7] depicts a royal adoption: when anointed, the Davidic king becomes a son of God. Jesus is never called ‘Son of God’ by the disciples, but he receives this title from God, from unclean spirits (5.7), from Jewish authorities (14.61 in a question) and from a Roman soldier (15.39). In some Christian circles the title Son of God included an 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 special status with God; counterparts include both the Davidic king and the Roman emperor (Livy, Hist.1.16).”
In the progression of the four Gospels from Mark to Matthew to Luke and to John, the Sonship of Jesus was presented as occurring progressively earlier. In Matthew and Luke, the Sonship was affirmed at his conception. In John, the identity of Jesus with the Word (Logos) was stated to have existed from the beginning (Jn.1:1).
2023, December 31 ~ Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3; Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 31, 2023
Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3
Reading
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is from “Third Isaiah” and is a series of joyful verses. In the first two verses, the prophet spoke for the Judeans who rejoiced that they received salvation and righteousness from YHWH (v.10). The people were described as a bridegroom, a bride, and the earth in springtime that brings forth its shoots. These verses are spoken by Zion/Jerusalem.
As is often characteristic of psalm-like verses in the Hebrew Bible (as was also true of ancient Canaanite poetry), the verses are repetitive – the idea in one phrase is repeated in slightly different words in the next phrase. For example, “I will greatly rejoice” (v.10a) is followed by “my whole being will exult.” Similarly, Zion is “clothed with garments of salvation” (v.10b) is repeated as the “robe of righteousness.”
The prophet said that YHWH would cause righteousness to spring up among all the nations (v.11). In the Hebrew Bible, the word that is translated as “the nations” is sometimes – depending on context – translated as “the pagans,” or “the foreigners” or “the Gentiles.”
In the verses beginning “For Zion’s sake” (62:1), the speaker shifted from Zion to the prophet, but the use of repetitive ideas continued: “I will not keep silent” (v.1a) was followed by “I will not rest.” The prophet stated that the “nations” (i.e. Gentiles) shall see your vindication (v.2) and “the kings” (i.e. foreign rulers) shall see your glory. You [Zion] shall wear “a crown of beauty” and “a royal diadem.”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that being “called by a new name” meant Zion/Jerusalem will have a change of fortune and a new identity given by YHWH.
Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7
Reading
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.
4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
Commentary
Galatia was a large Roman province in what is now western Turkey. This letter was likely written by Paul in the early 50’s (CE) and dealt (in part) with controversies between Jewish Jesus Followers and Gentile Jesus Followers regarding the continuing importance of Torah (Law) and whether Gentile Jesus Followers had to be circumcised and follow the Kosher dietary laws. It is a “transitional” letter in that – when compared to Paul’s last letter (Romans) — it shows his views on the relationship between the Torah and the Gentile Jesus Followers continued to evolve.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out: “In recent times scholars have softened the polemical edge of this letter by observing that Paul’s attack on the law was addressed to Gentile believers in Christ; his primary concern was to make sure that they did not begin to observe the Torah. Nowhere in his letters, neither in Galatians nor elsewhere, does Paul attempt to convince native Jews to abandon the Torah.”
Today’s reading unfortunately omits verses that would help the reader/hearer better understand Paul’s position on the relationship between the law (Torah) and the faithfulness of (not faith in) Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
The omitted verses are: 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham ‘s offspring, heirs according to the promise. 4:1 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world.
Paul stated that through the grace of the faithfulness of Jesus the Christ/Anointed, Jesus Followers were “no longer subject to a disciplinarian [the Law]” (vv.24-25). What is translated as a “disciplinarian” is the Greek word pedagogue – a household slave charged with keeping the master’s son out of trouble, who accompanied him outside the house, and punished him when necessary. This usage shows Paul’s view that the effect (and benefit) of the Law was intended to be temporary until the coming of salvation/wholeness through the Christ.
The NOAB states that verses 26 to 28 were likely part of an early baptismal formula that Paul was quoting. It goes on to observe that Christ alone is “Abraham’s offspring” (v.29) citing Gal. 3:16. It also observed that “elemental spirits” (also sometimes translated as “rudiments”) were considered the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) which in Paul’s time were seen as controlling human destiny, but that “rudiments” could also be understood as the basic principles of a philosophy or code.
The NOAB observes that minors (v.1,2) like other members of a Roman family (except for the father), had few rights.
In the second part of today’s reading (beginning with “But when the fulness of time had come”), Paul emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth was a human and a Jew (“born of a woman under the law”, v.4) to “redeem those under the law” (v.5) (the Jews).
The Greek word translated here as “redeem” (v.5) means to buy back, as in redeeming something one owns from a pawn shop. All persons, because of the Spirit of the Son, are children of God who can call God “Abba” (Aramaic for father) and are heirs of the Kingdom (v.7).
John 1:1-18
Reading
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
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, the Last Supper 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 being 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 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 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. 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 is the “Prologue” to the Fourth Gospel. Verses 10-12 give two of the major messages of the Gospel: Jesus of Nazareth was rejected by the “world” and that acceptance of Jesus led to one’s being a child of God. The NAOB understands the meaning of “the world” (v.10) as “the fallible social systems and social relations created by humanity (see 12.31; 16.11) and…physical creation, including humanity.”
Using “Word” to translate the Greek word “Logos” fails to capture the breadth and depth of Logos. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that Logos was well known in Greek philosophy as a link between the Transcendent/Divine and humanity/the terrestrial. For the First Century Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo, Logos was the first fruit of God’s creation. The NAOB presents the Logos as “God’s preeminent agent in the world in creating and redeeming.”
Logos was particularly important in Stoic philosophy as both a creative principle analogous to Sophia (Holy Wisdom present at Creation in Proverbs 8:22 and 30) and as that which distinguished each created thing from each other thing.
The Prologue is clear that Jesus was fully human (“the Word became flesh”) and was fully involved in human society (“and lived among us”) (v.14).
In an Essay in The JANT, the author presented a case that John 1:1-5 is not a departure in Judaism in its use of Logos theology but is a homily (or midrash) on Genesis 1:1-5 – which also opens “in the beginning.”
The JANT makes a number of important points: (a) there is a contrast between the biologically-based covenant of the Jews and the faith-based covenant presented by the Gospel; (b) stating that the Word/Logos became flesh created a paradox because “flesh” is perishable and Logos is eternal; (c) Jews in the Second Temple period believed in the existence of supernatural beings (such as angels) taking human form at times, and thus the boundaries between the human and the divine were understood in a more porous and less absolute way; and (d) the words translated “lived among us” (v.14) in the original Greek meant “tabernacled” — an allusion to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness that “contained” the presence of YHWH.
2023, December 25 ~ Christmas III – Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 25, 2023
CHRISTMAS III
Isaiah 52:7-10
Reading
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile ended.
Today’s reading is central to the message of Second Isaiah during the Exile. It described the return of YHWH to Jerusalem and Mount Zion. The “sentinels” (v.8) are the prophets who sing for joy that the Babylonian Exile will end. “Nations” (v.10) is a translation of the Hebrew word “goyim” which is also translatable as the “Gentiles.” In the triumphant return of YHWH to Zion, the Gentiles will also see that YHWH brings salvation.
The Jewish Study Bible suggests that it is God’s Presence that will return to Jerusalem. It goes on to say: “This passage was composed after some Judeans had already returned to Jerusalem but before the full-fledged redemption that Deutero-Isaiah anticipated had come to pass.”
Hebrews 1:1-12
Reading
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing;12 like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed.13 But you are the same, and your years will never end.”
Commentary
The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that it is the only document in the Scriptures that contains a sustained discussion on the nature of the Christ, and that the letter was supersessionist in stating that the temple cult (which had to be repeated, and was therefore inferior – 10:1-5) was superseded by the “superior” one-time sacrifice of Jesus.
Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. According to The JANT, the language, style and purpose of the letter to the Hebrews is markedly different from the authentic Pauline epistles. The letter used the most sophisticated Greek in the New Testament and introduced a number of important theological themes such as the idea of the Christ as the “high priest of our confession” (3:1) and simultaneously, the perfect sacrifice (5:8). The first four chapters explored the word of God as spoken through the Son (v.2).
In today’s reading, the author identified the Son with Holy Wisdom that was present at creation (Prov. 8:22 and 30) in the words ”through whom he also created the worlds.” (v. 2) The author also anticipated the language of the Gospel According to John – “all things came into being through him [the LOGOS or Word]” (John 1:3).
Regarding the phrase “in these last days” (v.2), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes: “The author of Hebrews, together with primitive Christianity in general, regarded the final age as inaugurated by the Christ-event, preeminently by Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice.”
Because the theology of the Trinity was only beginning to evolve in the late First Century, the author stopped short of identifying the Son as the same substance or the same “Being” as the Father as God and referred to the Son as “a reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (v.3) and as superior to angels (v.4). The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that the “name” in this context (v.4) may be “Son” or even “Lord” (as in Phil 2:9-11). The saying that the Son “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty” (v.3) is derived from Psalm 110.1 and was a notion applied from time to time to King David.
The NJBC observes: “These introductory verses of Hebrews have remarkable similarities with the writings of Philo, in which the Logos is the image (eikon) of God [citing sources] and the instrument through whom the universe was created. The Greek word charaktēr (“exact imprint”), which occurs in the New Testament only in Hebrews 1:3, is frequent in Philo, used often of the human soul but also of the Logos.”
The quotations in verses 5 to 12 are “anticipations” about the Son and were “cherry picked” from the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly the Psalms. (The author of Hebrews knew the Hebrew Bible very well.) The NJBC states that these verses are modelled on ancient Near Eastern (especially Egyptian) enthronement ceremonies.
Verse 5 is a quotation from Psalm 2:7 and from 2 Sam. 7:14, both of which refer to David as God’s son. The NAOB notes that the role of angels was to serve as messengers or praise God.
Verse 6 is a paraphrase of the LXX version of a portion of Deuteronomy 32:43, which says that the “heavens” will worship YHWH when YHWH restores Judea, and Psalm 97:7 (“all gods bow down before him.”)
Verse 7 is a paraphrase of Psalm 104:4 (“you make the winds your messengers; fire and flame your ministers.”)
Verses 8 and 9 loosely paraphrase Psalm 45:6-7, a psalm that commemorates a royal wedding, but does not refer to a son. Here, the author of Hebrews refers to the Son as “God.”
Verses 10 to 12 are based on Psalm 102:25-27, a psalm that is a prayer to YHWH for the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple after the Exile. In the Psalm, the quoted verses contrasted the permanence of YHWH with the impermanence of heaven and earth.
John 1:1-14
Reading
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
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. The Synoptic Gospels are set primarily in the Galilee with a 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 is most of the “Prologue” to the Fourth Gospel and verses 10-12 give two of the major messages of the Gospel: Jesus of Nazareth was rejected by the “world” and that acceptance of Jesus led to one’s being a child of God.
Using the word “Word” to translate the Greek word “Logos” fails to capture the breadth and depth of Logos. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that Logos was well known in Greek philosophy as a link between the Transcendent/Divine and humanity/the terrestrial. For the First Century Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo, the Logos was the first fruit of God’s creation. The NAOB presents the Logos as “God’s preeminent agent in the world in creating and redeeming.”
Logos was particularly important in Stoic philosophy as both a creative principle – analogous to Sophia (Holy Wisdom present at Creation in Proverbs 8:22 and 30) – and as that which distinguished each created thing from each other thing.
In an Essay in The JANT, the author presented a case that John 1:1-5 was not a departure in Judaism in its use of Logos theology but is a homily (or midrash) on Genesis 1:1-5 – which also opens “In the beginning.”
The NAOB understands the meaning of “the world” (v.10) as “the fallible social systems and social relations created by humanity (see 12.31; 16.11) and…physical creation, including humanity.”
The theme of light and dark is very important in the Fourth Gospel, and the rejection by “his own people” (v.11) is one of the Gospel’s central concerns.
The Prologue is clear that Jesus was fully human (“the Word became flesh”) and was fully involved in human society (“and lived among us”) (v.14).
The JANT makes a number of important points: (a) there is a contrast between the biologically-based covenant of the Jews and the faith-based covenant presented by the Gospel; (b) stating that the Word/Logos became flesh created a paradox because “flesh” was understood as perishable and Logos is eternal; (c) Jews in the Second Temple period believed in the existence of supernatural beings (such as angels) taking human form at times, and thus the boundaries between the human and the divine were understood in a more porous and less absolute way; and (d) the words translated “lived among us” (v.14) in the original Greek meant “tabernacled” — an allusion to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness that “contained” the presence of YHWH.
2023, December 24 ~ 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 24, 2023
2 Samuel 7:1-11,16
Reading
1 When the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: 5 Thus, says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
Commentary
The Book of Samuel is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books are a “didactic history” that covers the period from the time just before the entry into the Promised Land (c.1220 BCE, if the account is historical) to the beginning of Babylonian Captivity (597 BCE). The books were written in the period from 650 BCE to 600 BCE and continued to be revised after the Exile.
The Deuteronomists emphasized that YHWH controls history, and when the people (and their kings) worshiped YHWH properly, good things would happen to them. When they worshiped false gods, however, bad events would overtake them.
Today’s reading and the omitted verses (vv.12-15) were set in the early part of the Reign of King David (1005 to 965 BCE). This chapter is one of the most important passages in the Deuteronomic Histories. It combined the themes of Jerusalem as the divinely chosen center for worship (v.10), David’s offspring (v.12) building a house (Temple) for YHWH (which Solomon did – according to 1 Kings 6), and the Davidic line (“house,” v.11) as the chosen dynasty in Judea (v.16). The Jewish Study Bible points out that “he shall build a house for my name” (v.13) was intended to make clear that God would not actually dwell in a house/Temple, but that only God’s name (or presence) would be in the Temple.
The chapter was also central to the Deuteronomists’ belief that even if the kings and people strayed in their exclusive worship of YHWH, over the long term, YHWH’s steadfast love (hesed) would still be unwavering (v.15) and the line/house of David would be “established forever” (v.16). This promise of the dynasty is also reflected in Psalm 89:1-4 and Psalm 132:11-12. Psalm 132:12, however, makes the promise conditional on David’s sons keeping YHWH’s covenant.
The JSB observes that “your offspring” (v.12) undoubtedly referred to Solomon, but in “the postbiblical period” (that is, after the First Century), the phrase has been understood by some as “referring to the Messiah, who will be of the House of David and whose reign will last forever.”
In the 600’s BCE, YHWH’s unconditional promises were seen as “explaining” (in retrospect) the Judeans’ independent survival after the Assyrians conquered the Northern 10 tribes in 722 BCE.
The Babylonian Captivity (597 to 539 BCE), however, presented a major theological disconnect for the Judeans. How were they to explain the loss of the land promised by YHWH to Abraham and the end of the Davidic line in 587 BCE?
During and after the Exile, the prophets (especially Second Isaiah and Ezekiel) began to resolve this disconnect by affirming that YHWH’s promises were still in force but had been temporarily suspended because of the failure of the Judeans to uphold their part of the covenant with YHWH – to worship YHWH faithfully and to live justly. Similarly, the Deuteronomists’ writings reflected the view that YHWH had not failed to uphold the promises, but that the failure of the kings and others to keep their part of the covenants was the reason for the Exile.
Continuing to the First Century (and even for some Jews today), one of the characteristics of the awaited Messiah would be that the Messiah would come from the House of David.
Romans 16:25-27
Reading
25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith – 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
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 ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written – to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other 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 the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. His successor, Nero (54-68 CE), allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return to Rome, and this created tensions about leadership and worship within the Jesus Follower Community. (Jesus Followers were not called “Christians” until the 80’s.)
Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower who saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism. As such, he continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. Reflecting his Jewish roots, Paul exhorted the Jesus Follower Community in Rome to follow the Commandments, particularly to love one another as neighbors.
Today’s verses are the concluding blessing in the letter. Some ancient manuscripts of Paul’s letter do not contain these verses, and some scholars conclude they were added to the letter by followers of Paul or the copyists.
Luke 1:26-38
Reading
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Commentary
The Gospel According to Luke is generally regarded as having been written around 85 CE. Its author also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Both books were written in elegant and deliberatively crafted Greek and presented Jesus of Nazareth as the universal savior of humanity. Both emphasized the Holy Spirit as the “driving force” for events.
The Gospel followed the same general chronology of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the Gospel of Mark, and more than 40% of Luke’s Gospel was based on Mark. The other portions of Luke include (a) sayings shared with the Gospel According to Matthew but not found in Mark and (b) stories that are unique to Luke such as the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan.
Today’s reading is the story of the Annunciation to Mary that she would conceive Jesus. This story comes after the story of Zechariah, a Levite at the Temple, and his elderly wife, Elizabeth, who was a descendant of Aaron (Moses’ brother, and the First High Priest). The angel Gabriel (whose name means “God is my hero”) told Zechariah that Elizabeth would bear a son and his name should be John (“God has shown favor”).
The Annunciation took place “in the sixth month” (v.26) of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, not in the sixth month of they year. The scene was Nazareth, a town in the southern Galilee, and The New Jerome Biblical Commentary estimates that Nazareth had about 150 residents at this time.
Regarding the name “Mary,” The JANT notes that Mary (Gk. Mariam) is derived from the Hebrew name Miryam. It also recollected Moses’ sister, Miriam, and was a common name among first-century Jewish women. The NJBC says the name “Mary” means “Excellence” and that “Joseph” means “May YHWH add.”
The JANT points out that Luke (like Matthew) used the Greek word “parthenos” for Mary’s being a virgin (vv.27,34). The greeting “favored one” (v.28) was “conventional” and is found in Judges 6, 2 Sam. 7 and 2 Chr. 15. In saying Mary was engaged (v.27), The JANT states that the wedding contract (ketubah) had been signed, so the couple was technically “married” but had not yet begun living together. At this time, the customary age for marriage for Jewish people was 18 for a man and mid-teens for a woman.
In naming the child “Jesus” (v.31), The JANT notes that “Jesus” in Greek is “Iesous,” and is derived from the Hebrew Yehoshua (“the Lord saves” or “the Lord has saved”). Variants on the name in the Tanakh include “Joshua” and “Hosea.” Being called “Son of the Most High” indicated royal authority (2 Sam. 7:13-16) and “Most High” (vv. 32, 35) was a translation of the Hebrew “Elyon” – an early name for God in Gen. 14:19.
The “house of Jacob” (v.33) is a synonym for Israel, and “of his kingdom there shall be no end” is an echo of 2 Sam. 7. Because Elizabeth was described as a descendant of Aaron (v.5), and Mary was her “relative” (v.36), The JANT notes that Mary had “priestly ancestry.” That “nothing will be impossible with God” (v.37) is reminiscent of the births of Isaac, Joseph (the 11th son of Jacob), and Samuel.
Paul’s Letter to the Romans 1:3-4 (c.60 CE) contains an early formulation of Jesus’ lineage and Divine Sonship. In Romans, Jesus was “descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead.” That is, Divine Sonship was recognized by the Jesus Follower Faith Community because of the resurrection.
In Mark, Jesus’ Divine Sonship was recognized because of the voice which Mark says spoke to Jesus at his Baptism – “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mk. 1:11). In Luke and Matthew, the Divine Sonship occurred at conception because Mary became pregnant “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” In the Fourth Gospel, the Son was presented as the pre-existing Logos made incarnate.
2023, December 17 ~ Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 17, 2023
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Reading
1 The spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion — to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
8 For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is part of “Third Isaiah.” These verses can be difficult to follow because there are three different “voices” speaking.
In the first four verses, the anonymous prophet described what a prophet is and does. A prophet is one anointed by YHWH/LORD to bring messages that YHWH wanted conveyed to the people – in this case, that the Judeans and Jerusalem will be restored and they would receive a garland (a symbol of celebration) and display the “glory” of the LORD (v.3). Verse 4 showed that Judah was still suffering the effects of the Babylonian conquest in 587 BCE.
The liberation of the captives (v.1) and the proclamation of the year of the LORD’s favor (v.2) are derived from Chapter 25 of Leviticus which describes a release of prisoners (particularly enslaved debtors) and forgiveness of debts in a Jubilee Year every 50 years. The prophet applied this notion of the Jubilee Year to the 50-year period of the Exile (587-539 BCE) and to the Judeans who would have their land restored to them.
In the omitted verses (vv. 5-7), the Judeans were told that they will have such comfort that “strangers” and “foreigners” would do the work for them, and that they (in turn) would be called priests of YHWH to the nations. The Jewish Study Bible notes that the priesthood that once belonged to the descendants of Aaron alone was now extended to the nation as a whole. Because their shame and punishment were a double portion (a repeat of Isaiah 40:2), the Judeans will have “everlasting joy.”
In verses 8 and 9, YHWH was portrayed as speaking directly to the Judeans and promised an everlasting covenant with them (v.8) and that their names would be known among the “nations.”
In the last two verses in today’s reading, the prophet spoke for the Judeans who rejoiced that they received salvation and righteousness from YHWH (v.10). The people were described as a bridegroom, a bride, and the earth in springtime that brings forth its shoots.
The prophet said that YHWH would cause righteousness to spring up among all the nations (v.11). In the Hebrew Bible, the word that is translated as “the nations” is sometimes – depending on context – translated as “the pagans,” or “the foreigners” or “the Gentiles.”
In what is sometimes called Jesus’ “Programmatic Statement” in Luke 4:18-19, the author of that Gospel paraphrased portions of Isaiah 61:1-2 (above) and 58:6 to proclaim Jesus’ mission.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Reading
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
Commentary
Thessalonica is a seaport city and was the capital of Macedonia. It was an important city in Paul’s day for economic, commercial and political reasons. Even today, Thessaloniki (as it is now called) is a charming city of one million persons, and the cultural center of Greece. The saying there is that “Thessaloniki is to Athens as San Francisco is to Los Angeles.”
Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians was Paul’s first letter and was written around 50 CE. Accordingly, it is the oldest writing in the Christian Scriptures. According to Acts 16 and 17, Paul went to Philippi and then to Thessalonica. He spoke gratefully in Philippians 4:16 of gifts sent to him by Philippians when he was in Thessalonica.
The letter encouraged the community to be steadfast in the face of persecution. Today’s reading consists of concluding verses of the letter and follows an exhortation for the Jesus Followers to be at peace among themselves (v.13) and to not repay evil for evil (v.15).
Paul emphasized that God’s call to us is ongoing and he encouraged the Thessalonians to rejoice, pray, and hold fast to that which is good (vv.16-21) in anticipation of the parousia – the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 23).
Citing 1 Cor. 14:37-40 (which refers to current prophets and those speaking in tongues), The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the phrase “do not despise the words of the prophets” (v. 20) was a reference to ecstatic experiences rather than a reference to the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. It can also mean words spoken, usually during worship, as coming from the Lord to the community through inspired members of the assembly.
In his prayer that their “spirit and soul and body be kept sound” (v.23), Paul was not treating these as separate parts of a human person, but as three vantage points for viewing persons, each of which is important. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that this description would be “consistent with typical Jewish anthropology…where ‘spirit’ essentially identifies the person as a creature, ‘soul’ the person as a vital being, and ‘body’ the person as a corporal and social being.”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that verse 24 contains the word “calls” – a present participle – observing that God’s call to us is ongoing.
John 1:6-8,19-28
Reading
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
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 at sunset on the day 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.
The opening verses of today’s reading (vv.6-8) are taken from the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel (vv.1-18) and introduced John the Baptist as the precursor to Jesus who fulfills the Hebrew Bible’s “predictions” of a messenger who would precede the coming to the Messiah (Mal. 3:1 and Is. 40:3).
In verse 19, the text speaks of “the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem.” In the Fourth Gospel, in almost all instances, “the Jews” is a shorthand expression used by the gospel writer to describe the Temple Authorities and those who supported them. The text created a parallelism: Verse 19 says, “the Jews sent” and verse 24 says “they had been sent from the Pharisees.”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible discusses this at length: “Although its scathing portrayal of “the Jews” has opened it to charges of anti-Semitism, a careful reading of the Gospel reads reveals “the Jews” to be a class designation, not a religious or ethnic grouping; rather than denoting adherents to Judaism in general, the term primarily refers to the hereditary Temple religious authorities. The Gospel further acknowledges their influential status by including among “the Jews” those who have accepted the worldview and class interests of the hereditary religious authorities as their own. This larger group includes the Pharisees (1.19, 24) and even the “crowd” of laypersons whose worth the religious authorities dismissed (7.49; cf.6.22,41). Thus the rejection and persecution of Jesus by “the Jews” is seen to be not only the result of what he says and does, but because his healings, his pronouncements, and his earthly person lack the pedigree and imprimatur of the religious elite (7.15, 48-49; cf. 9.34).”
The NOAB says that “the Pharisees were an influential Jewish sect committed to extending priestly standards of purity to all Jews.” In the early First Century, the number of Pharisees was small – estimated at 6,000 persons out of a population in Israel of about 500,000.
The question “Are you Elijah?” (v.21) was based on the notion that Elijah had ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11) and that he would be the herald of the Messianic Age (Mal. 4:5). In responding to the authorities (v.23), the author has John quote Isaiah 40:3, which anticipated the return of the Judeans to Jerusalem after the end of the Babylonian Exile. The JANT observes, however, “There is little concrete evidence to suggest that this was a widespread belief among Jews in the Second Temple period.”
In asking John if he is the “prophet” (v.25), the reference was to a “prophet like Moses” in Deuteronomy 18:15. (“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.”)
The NOAB sees the Baptism of John with water (v.26) as a “ritual of entrance into God’s renewed covenant with Israel in which those ready to change their ways are baptized as forgiven for having broken the covenantal laws.” The JANT sees John’s Baptism as a parallel to the Jewish practice of bathing to cleanse ritual “impurities” that John the Baptist transformed into “a public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.”
John the Baptist’s self-abnegation is extreme – undoing a sandal (v.27) was the task of a slave.
Although there was village called Bethany not far from Jerusalem where Lazarus, Martha and Mary lived (11:1), the location of “Bethany across the Jordan” (v.28) is not known.
2023, December 10 ~ Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 10, 2023
Isaiah 40:1-11
Reading
1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 See, the LORD God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading sets the tone and essence of “Second Isaiah.” It was written during the ending years of the Babylonian Exile and referred to the Exile as a “penal servitude” in which the Judeans had paid double for their sins (v.2). YHWH (“your God”) referred to the Judeans as “my people” (v.1) The prophet emphasized that YHWH had not broken the Covenant and that there were no impediments to the salvation of the Judeans.
The Jewish Study Bible observes that the prophet “frequently borrows and revises material from older biblical texts. This tendency to allude to earlier compositions is especially evident in these eleven verses which use the terms and images from Chapter 6 [the call of Isaiah].”
The prophet analogized the declining Babylonian Empire (which was conquered by the Persians in 539 BCE) to “withered grass” (v. 6-8).
The references to “preparing the way of the LORD/YHWH” (vv. 3-5) referred to facilitating the Judeans’ return to Jerusalem so that YHWH would again be present in Jerusalem. These verses also convey the notion that the “Presence” of YHWH left Israel and came with the Judeans to Babylon, and now will return with them to Jerusalem. The “Presence” of YHWH was also presented as an important theological component of the time in the Wilderness in the Book of Exodus.
The JSB notes that verses 9 to 11 convey God’s arrival in Jerusalem: “Normally, a herald would inform a city that an army was arriving, but here God arrives as a gentle shepherd not to destroy, but to protect.” The familiar image of God as shepherd (v.11) conveyed God’s care that will come to the people in Jerusalem.
Verses 3 to 5 were adapted by Mark in today’s Gospel and by the other Gospel writers to describe the ministry of John the Baptizer in preparing the way for Jesus of Nazareth.
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Reading
8 Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Commentary
In the First and Second Centuries, 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 Second Letter of Peter was likely written after 100 CE (Peter died in the 60’s CE) and conveyed the understandings of the Jesus Follower Movement in the late First Century. It used terms from Hellenistic philosophy and was written in the popular Greek rhetorical style of the age, not a style that would have been customary for a Galilean fisherman.
The letter was presented as if it were a “testament” (final advice and warnings) by Peter – written in the first person — based on his own experiences. Most scholars do not think that the authors of 1 Peter and 2 Peter were the same person.
This short (three chapters) letter emphasized the dangers of false prophets and presented a vision of the world so corrupt that it can be saved only by the Second Coming of the Christ. In that sense, the letter presented an “apocalyptic” vision of the world — one in which the situation is so dire that only an intervening event (the “Day of the Lord”) can change it.
Refuting those who denied that there will ever be a Day of the Lord because it had not yet come, the author reminded his hearers that God’s “time” is not our time (v. 8-9). In making this statement, the author relied upon Psalm 90:4 which reads: “For a thousand years in your [God’s] sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.” The reference to the Day of the Lord coming like a “thief” (v.10) is also found in 1 Thess. 5:2 and Matt. 24:43.
The author said the world as we know it will be transformed by fire (vv.10,12) and there will be a new earth where right relationships (“righteousness”) will prevail (v.13). He urged the hearers of the letter to live blamelessly and at peace (v.14), and to follow the advice of “our beloved brother Paul” (v.15b) to use the time to repent. The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that this letter referred to Paul’s letters as authoritative scripture (v.16) and is “one of the earliest indications of general Christian acceptance of the Pauline literature.”
Mark 1:1-8
Reading
1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first of the Gospels to be written, and was composed around the year 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in putting down the Jewish Revolt that began in 66 CE.
It is the shortest of the gospels and formed the basis for the other Synoptic Gospels – Matthew and Luke. Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” — with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The NOAB observes that the noun “evangelion” was not used for a literary genre until the mid-2nd century CE, and that Jesus’ preaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God “as a decisive new development in the history of Israel, not as the beginning of a new religion.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many of the details of the Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Today’s reading is the opening verses of the Gospel, and the author identified Jesus as “the Christ” (v.1), a title applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to kings, prophets, the high priests and even to Cyrus of Persia. The NRSV translators’ note points out, however, that the words “the Son of God” are absent from some ancient authorities – a reflection of the fact that the texts of the gospels appear to have evolved over time.
Although the text says “as is written in the prophet Isaiah,” the phrase “see I am sending my messenger” (v.2) actually comes from Exodus 23:20 and Malachi 3:1. Verse 3 is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:3.
The JANT says: “Mark may have known these texts from ‘testimonia,’ collections of verses on a common theme: in this case, on God’s way [v.3]. ‘Way’ is a technical term in Greek, Jewish, and Christian ethical discourse on choosing the good, albeit difficult, path as opposed to the immoral, easy path.” According to Acts of the Apostles 9:2, Jesus Followers did not call themselves Christians, but “belonging to the Way.”
John the Baptist was presented as a new Elijah in his garb and eating (v.6). This would have been seen as a fulfillment of Malachi 3:5 (“Lo, I [YHWH] will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.”)
The NOAB sees the Baptism of John as a “ritual of entrance into God’s renewed covenant with Israel in which those ready to change their ways are baptized as forgiven for having broken the covenantal laws.” The JANT sees John’s Baptism as a parallel to the Jewish practice of bathing to cleanse ritual “impurities” that John the Baptist transformed into “a public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.”
2023, December 3 ~ Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
/in Uncategorized /by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
DECEMBER 3, 2023
Isaiah 64:1-9
Reading
1 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence —
2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.
5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself, we transgressed.
6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is from the chapters called “Third Isaiah” and the ideas expressed in these verses indicate that they were composed before the Temple was rebuilt in the period from 516 to 505 BCE. This is also shown by the verse preceding today’s reading (“Your holy people took possession for a little while; but now her adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.” 63:18) and the two verses following it (“Our holy cities have become a wilderness….Our holy and beautiful house where our ancestors praised you has been burned by fire….” vv.10a,11a).
The Jewish Study Bible points out that there are two verses (63:17a and 64:4b) that are “remarkable and rather daring for their assertion that God, too, must accept some responsibility for the Judeans’ sins.” These verses read: “Why LORD do you make us stray from your ways and turn our hearts away from revering you?” and “It is because You are angry that we have sinned.” (The JSB uses the Jewish Publication Society translation which is slightly different from the NRSV.)
The reading is a lament and prayer to the LORD/YHWH (vv. 8-9). It confessed the sinfulness of the Judeans (vv. 5b-7) and is one of the Bible’s most poignant expressions of the Judeans’ perception of YHWH’s hiddenness (v.7) from them. The concluding verses appealed to YHWH as a father and as a potter who molded the people (v.8). Jeremiah also used the image of a potter to describe YHWH who molded the people (Jer. 18:6).
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Reading
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind — 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you – 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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. The 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) advocate women’s subordination, and speculates that the authors of those letters may have inserted these verses about women into Paul’s original letter.
Today’s reading from the opening chapter of the letter is a salutation customary in ancient Greek letters (vv. 1-3) followed by a thanksgiving for the grace of God given to the Jesus Followers in Corinth through Christ Jesus (vv.4-7). Using irony as a rhetorical device, Paul praised the Corinthians for their speech and knowledge (v.5) and spiritual gifts (v.7) as a prelude to discussing these qualities more critically in the body of the letter. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the phrase in verse 7 (“as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ”) was intended by Paul to remind the Corinthians that completeness was reserved to the future (the Parousia or Second Coming of the Christ).
Paul told them that the Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen them so they will be blameless at the time of judgment and fulfillment – the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). In this verse, Paul gave a hint of a theme he discussed at length in chapter 15 regarding resurrection of all the faithful and the fullness of the resurrection of the Christ.
In a call for unity, Paul reminded them that they were called into “the fellowship of the Son” (v.9). Having praised the Corinthians and reminded them of the gifts they had received from God, then Paul launched into his arguments in the verses that follow today’s reading, and appealed that “there be no divisions among you” (v.10).
Mark 13:24-37
Reading
24 Jesus said, “In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first of the Gospels to be written, and was composed around the year 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in putting down the Jewish Revolt that began in 66 CE.
It is the shortest of the gospels, and formed the basis for the other Synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Luke. Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” — with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently fail to understand him and desert him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB describes Jesus’ preaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God “as a decisive new development in the history of Israel, not as the beginning of a new religion.”
In many respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels, and emphasized Jesus’ humanity more. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many of the details of the Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Today’s reading is the concluding part of Chapter 13, which is sometimes called the “Markan Apocalypse” in that it contains a prediction of the destruction of the Temple (vv.1-2) and other signs of the “end times” – the end of the world as we know it. The Jewish Annotated New Testament says the main themes in today’s reading are that “many apocalyptic messengers are deceitful and that discerning people will watch and wait for the real end.”
The NOAB observes that verses 24 and 25 are “a traditional prophetic portrayal of God’s coming in judgment drawn from Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel.” The image of the Son of Man (v.26) is derived from Daniel 7:13 (“I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.”)
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the Son of Man’s “gathering the elect from the four winds” (v.27) reverses Zechariah 2:6 (“I [the LORD] have spread you [the Judeans] abroad like the four winds of heaven.”)
The NJBC also points out that the statement that the Son does not know the day or hour of the end times (v.32) was used “in patristic debates about the divinity of Jesus … as an opposing argument.” The underlying assumption in the debate and in this verse is that God has “knowledge” – which attributes a human skill to the Sacred.