1 Samuel 16:1-13

Reading

1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

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 covered 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 authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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 chronological dating of the stories in Chapters 15 and 16 of 1 Samuel (assuming David’s sole reign over Israel began around 1005 BCE) would be in the period from 1025 to 1015 BCE. The reign of Saul is generally thought to have begun around 1025 BCE.

Most scholars agree that it was compiled from multiple sources by multiple authors. For this reason, there are at least nine stories in the Book that are repeated but in a different (and sometimes contradictory) form. The Jewish Study Bible says: “These sometimes contradictory stories were probably included in the book of Samuel because they were not seen as different versions of the same story but as accounts of different events, or because of the light they shed on the protagonists.” It continues: “Consistency was not considered essential.”

One of the sources took the position that having a king for a unified Israel was a good development because it would allow Israel to defeat its enemies (1 Sam. 8:19-22). The other source said that having a king (instead of being a theocracy) would make Israel “like other nations” and that the king would abuse his power (1 Sam. 8:10-18) and take advantage of the people by effectively enslaving them. (This is what happened in the last years of Solomon’s reign and led to the breakup of Israel in 930 BCE.)

In Chapter 15, just before today’s reading, YHWH (through Samuel) directed Saul, the first king of a united Israel, to attack the Amalekites and kill every person and animal (15:3). Saul obeyed in large measure by killing all the Amalekites but he brought back the King of the Amalekites and some of the best sheep and cattle which he said he would offer as a sacrifice to YHWH (15:7-9).

Because Saul disobeyed Him, YHWH told Samuel He regretted making Saul king. Some scholars see the story of YHWH’s displeasure with Saul as a later insert intended to reflect the position that only priests (not kings) could make animal sacrifices. Consistent with the views of some later prophets (Amos, Hosea, Micah), Samuel did not attribute paramount importance to sacrifices but emphasized obedience to YHWH.

Samuel is regarded as the first of the prophets, and he was (quite literally) the “kingmaker” in that he anointed Saul as king (1 Sam. 10) and anointed David as king. Some scholars interpret this first anointing of David (in today’s reading) as making David the king of Judea and that his later public anointing (2 Sam.5:1-5) in Hebron made him king of all Israel.

In today’s reading, YHWH told Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint a new king from among Jesse’s sons (v.1). Samuel realized this would be a treasonous act because Israel already had a king, Saul (v.2a). But – according to the story – YHWH told Samuel to engage in a subterfuge and pretend he was going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice for YHWH (vv.2b and 3). The elders of the city met Samuel – obviously a person of great influence – and were concerned to know if he came in peace (v.4).

Samuel met Jesse’s seven oldest sons, but none of them was approved by YHWH, even though Eliab’s appearance and stature were reminiscent of Saul’s stature (1 Sam. 9:2). Jesse finally called for his eighth and youngest son, the shepherd boy David, and YHWH told Samuel to anoint David as king. Samuel did so with only David’s brothers present so the anointing would be secret. (In 1 Chronicles 2:13-15, it says that Jesse had seven sons, reflecting another tradition about David.)

According to The New Oxford Annotated Bible, the word translated as “ruddy” also means “red haired.” The selection of the youngest son follows a common motif in the Hebrew Bible of younger sons being preferred to the elder: Abel to Cain, Isaac to Ishmael, Jacob to Esau, Joseph to Reuben. Once anointed, the spirit of YHWH came mightily upon David (v.13).

At this point, Israel had two anointed kings – Saul and David. Much of the rest of 1 Samuel reflected the tensions and conflicts between Saul and David. 1 Samuel ended with the death of Saul. According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, the collection of stories about David in the Books of Samuel were carefully arranged to show that the events that brought David to the throne were the will of God.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Reading

8 Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light — 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

Today’s reading is part of a longer ethical exhortation that contrasted the ungodly ways of the Gentiles to the ethical implications of life in the body of the Christ. It relied on apocalyptic imagery for the hostile spiritual powers (darkness) (v.11) and God and Christ (light) (v.14). The NJBC compares these verses to similar writings found at Qumran, including the duty to “expose” (or in some translations, “reprove”) those who exhibit darkness.

The NOAB says that scholars have speculated that verse 14 was part of a Baptismal hymn in use at the time.

John 9:1-41

Reading

1 As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

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 being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held the night he died.

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

Today’s story is another symbolic story of the spiritual journey from darkness to light, from unbelief to belief.

In the First Century (and even today to some extent) suffering was seen the result of bad actions on the part of the person suffering or those close to the person (such as parents) – notwithstanding the lessons of the Book of Job that bad things happen even to good people. More in tune with Job, Jesus deflected his disciples’ question and focused on suffering as an opportunity for “God’s work” (v.3). He then went on to confirm that all of us are to be part of God’s work (v.4).

The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that saliva was seen as having medicinal value, and that the Pharisees understood that making mud (v.11) was “work” and therefore a violation of the Sabbath laws. The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that “Siloam” (v.7) is the Greek word for the Hebrew word “Shiloh” which was the end point of the tunnel that King Hezekiah built to provide Jerusalem with water when the city was besieged by the Assyrians in 701 BCE.

Like the woman at the well in Samaria, this man described Jesus as a “prophet” (v.17) – a person who speaks for God.

In saying the parents were “afraid of the Jews” (v.22), the author of the Gospel used shorthand. “The Jews” should be understood as the Temple Authorities (which included the priests and some Pharisees), not the Jewish people as a whole. Being “put out of the synagogue” (v.22) was the equivalent of ostracization because local synagogues were not only places for worship, but also the locale’s gathering place for residents.

According to The NAOB, that the Pharisees “drove him out” (v.34) “reflected the author’s concern — or experience — that those in positions of religious control in his own setting might force Christian believers from community fellowship.”

The JANT contests this understanding and the Gospel statements that Christ-confessors/Jewish Jesus Followers were excluded from synagogues. It says: “Exclusion of Christ-confessors from the synagogue would be anachronistic for the time of Jesus, and for that reason the verse has often been understood as a reference to the historical experience of the Johannine community at the end of the first century CE. It is understood not as a one-time event but as a type of excommunication that would involve not only the exclusion from participation in worship but also social ostracism. Yet this interpretation is problematic on many grounds and whether it has any historical referent at all cannot be demonstrated.”

The NAOB notes that the Pharisees’ demand to the man that he “Give Glory to God” was “a technical phrase adjuring the man to tell the truth” and was based on Josh 7:19. The NJBC adds that the phrase implied that the speaker had to confess his guilt.

The encounter concluded with the man calling Jesus “Lord” (v.38) although the NRSV translator’s note says the Greek word can also be translated at “Sir.” The use of “Son of Man” – the most popular of the Messianic titles – was the basis for the man to “worship” Jesus (v.38) as a person in whom God was present. In the final exchange with the Pharisees, Jesus said they were blind, and that their “sin” was disbelief (see 8:24).

In The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, Bishop Spong interprets the blind man as a corporate figure representing the Johannine community that once lived in darkness but now lives in light.

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Reading

7 Thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported many Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e., speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

The Jewish Study Bible sees the book of Jeremiah as “the product of a debate within Jewish circles from the late monarchy [610-586 BCE] and the exilic periods [586-539 BCE] concerning the question of theodicy or the righteousness of God. Although fully aware of the theological problems posed by the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people, the book affirms God’s existence and righteousness as well as the future of the restored nation Israel on its land.”

Understanding the Bible says: “in Jeremiah’s view, Judah’s failure to enforce Mosaic principles that protected impoverished laborers and their families, coupled with the government’s implied mandate for the rich to use any means, including fraud and violence, to increase their wealth, compelled Yahweh to bring the entire system to an end.” UTB continues: “Jeremiah struggled to make Judah’s leaders realize that the newly reborn Babylonian Empire was Yahweh’s judgment on his people for their faithlessness, idolatry, and social injustice.”

Today’s reading is in “poetry style” and comes from a two-chapter section of Jeremiah called “The Book of Consolation.” It described a return from Babylon by the Judeans and the reunification of Samaria and Judea, called “the remnant” (v.7), as well as those in “the northland” (v.8) which The JSB says refers to those exiled from the north to Mesopotamia after the Assyrian Conquest in 722 BCE.

In this reading, the prophet spoke for YHWH (translated as LORD in all capital letters) and went so far as to say that YHWH would reunify all Israel. The prophet used “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably (“Jacob” in vv. 7 and 11) because Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel” when he wrestled with an angel/God in Genesis 32.

The prophet urged the people to sing with gladness (vv.7 and 12), and to pray to YHWH to save the “remnant” (the usual term for those taken away in the Babylonian Exile).

Ephraim, called YHWH’s firstborn (v.9), was the largest of the 10 tribes in Northern Israel and was also shorthand for Israel (the Northern 10 Tribes) after the division of the nation in 930 BCE. Ephraim was one of Joseph’s sons (Gen.48).

Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a

Reading

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Commentary

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

Because the letter contained many terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus, but (as The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out) it was a “circular letter” that spoke to numerous audiences to which it might be circulated. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading from the first chapter, the author was working his way up to the main theme of unity. He emphasized that the Christ mediates all the blessings we receive (v.3), that the Christ was at the “foundation of the world” (v.4) and that the Jesus Followers were adopted as God’s children through the Christ (v.5).

He went on to give thanksgiving for the faith of the community (v.15) and prayed that the “eyes of their hearts” will be enlightened (v.18).

Matthew 2:1-12

Reading

1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 `And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Commentary

Although the Gospel According to Matthew is the first gospel presented in Christian Bibles, most scholars agree that it was written about 15 years after the Gospel According to Mark – which was written around 70 CE, the time of the destruction of the Temple. It was written primarily for a Jewish Jesus Follower audience as shown by the numerous references to prophets in the Hebrew Bible as “predicting” aspects of the life of Jesus the Christ.

Matthew’s Gospel follows the same general chronology as Mark’s and is one of the “Synoptic” Gospels. Over 50% of Matthew comes from Mark, and the other two sources for Matthew are (a) “sayings” that are also found in Luke’s Gospel (but which are not in Mark) and (b) material that is found only in Matthew.

“Special Matthew” material includes a genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth (1:1-17) that is different from the genealogy used by Luke, particularly in that it begins with Abraham (not Adam, as in Luke) and includes four women (Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, Rahab) who acted scandalously at times but played a significant role in the Davidic line.

Other materials unique to Matthew are the unstated assumption that Mary and Joseph resided in Bethlehem where Jesus was born (2:1), the appearance of angels in dreams to Joseph (1:20, 2:13 and 2:19), the visit and gifts of the Magi, the flight to Egypt, the decision to move to Nazareth after Herod’s death, the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod, and the extended Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5 to 7). Matthew is intentional in presenting Jesus as “the New Moses” (“raise up a prophet like me [Moses]” Deut. 18:15) whom the temporal powers seek to kill as a child (Pharaoh/Herod); goes to Egypt; returns to Promised Land; and goes to the mountain to receive the Law/deliver the Sermon on the Mount.

Herod the Great was the king of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE, so if there is any historical basis for the story that is today’s reading, Jesus would have been born in or before 4 BCE. In Greek, the “wise men” are Magi, a word related to the English word “magic.”

The prophet on whom the chief priests relied in stating the Messiah would be in Bethlehem was Micah 5:2 – which was a recent reading (Fourth Sunday of Advent).

Although there are traditionally said to be three wise men because of the three symbolic gifts suitable for a king (v.13), the text does not identify the number of Magi. Calling the wise men “kings” did not occur until substantially later, perhaps as a way to assert that secular kings were subservient to Jesus the Christ. The Jewish Annotated New Testament says that First Century Jews would have thought of them as Zoroastrian priests and “early Jewish readers may have regarded them as Persian astrologers and not as wise but as foolish [citing Philo].”

Regarding the star, The JANT says: “no ancient sources confirm this astronomical phenomenon, and no star in the sense we know it today could stop over a house without incinerating the earth.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests that the star is a “midrashic element derived from Num 22-24, the Balaam narrative, esp. 24:17” (“a star shall come out of Jacob and the scepter shall rise out of Israel”).

Matthew’s account of the flight to Egypt (vv. 13-15) cannot be harmonized with Luke’s account of the Holy Family’s actions after the birth of Jesus. In Luke, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth for Mary’s purification and for Jesus to be presented (Luke 2:22-38). At that time, Simeon and Anna offered public prayers of praise.

There is no evidence outside Matthew’s Gospel for Herod’s killing children under age 2 who lived in and around Bethlehem.

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Reading

1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.

15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17 “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever — for ever and ever.”

Commentary

The Book of Daniel is part of the Prophets in the Christian Bible and is placed after the three Major Prophets and before the 12 Minor Prophets. In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is not included with the Prophets and instead is part of the Writings. It is placed after Esther and before Ezra and Nehemiah (all of which are included among the so-called Historical Books in the Christian Bible). The name Daniel means “My judge is God” or “God has judged.”

The Jewish Study Bible suggests that this different treatment of Daniel arose because the First (and early Second) Century Rabbis were aware that early Christianity saw a prefiguration of the Christ and resurrection in the Book of Daniel. Accordingly, it was not placed with the Prophets.

The Book of Daniel has two distinct parts. Chapters 1 to 6 are six “court legends” – edifying stories of Daniel in the Court of the Babylonian Kings and the Persian Kings before, during and just after the Exile (587-539 BCE). Because these kings are presented as ignorant (but not malevolent), scholars date these six chapters to the time when Judea was under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians (539 to 333 BCE) and the Greeks (333 to 281 BCE).

Chapters 2 to 7 of the Book were written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. (Aramaic was the common language of the Middle East from the time of the Babylonian Exile until the Hellenistic period.) The folktales in these chapters emphasized personal piety and divine intervention and provided encouragement to Jews living under foreign rule. Chapters 8-12 were written in Hebrew.

Chapters 7 to 12 were written later – during the oppression of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE), whose name meant “god manifest” and whose desecration of the Temple led to the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BCE. These chapters contain four apocalyptic visions told in the first person. They depict hostility to foreign governments and presented visions of situations so dire that an external intervention (such as by God) was needed to put things right. Like other apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel used strong images to describe the conflict between good and evil. In the first six chapters, Daniel was an interpreter of dreams, but in the last six chapters he was presented as a visionary himself.

Today’s reading was set in 553 BCE (v.1), and Daniel’s dream “foretold” (with 20-20 hindsight – what The JSB calls “prophesies after the fact”), a vision coming out of “the great sea” (v.2), a symbol of chaos. The dream saw the conquest of Judea by four “beasts” (vv.3 and17) – generally seen Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece/Syria. The mixed natures of the beasts implied uncleanliness as understood in Leviticus – a lion with wings (v.4), a bear with tusks (v.5), a leopard with wings and four heads (v.6), and a beast with 11 horns (v.7).

In the omitted verses, Daniel saw “one like a human being [bar adam] coming with the clouds of heaven” (v.13) – language that developed into the phrase “Son of Man” in 1 Enoch 71:14 (c.100 BCE) and that is used in some of the Gospels.

The “holy ones” (v.18) who received the kingdom are interpreted by The New Oxford Annotated Bible as either the heavenly court or as the Jews persecuted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Ephesians 1:11-23

Reading

11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 his is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Commentary

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

Because the letter contained many terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. Although the letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus, it was (as The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out) a “circular letter” that spoke to numerous audiences to which it might be circulated. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations. As The JANT notes: “For Paul, salvation is a future event, while in Ephesians it is a present experience (2.8).”

The JANT also observes: “Central to Ephesians (along with Colossians upon which Ephesians may rely) is the vision of Christ as the head of the body of which the community/church is the body. The image has significant consequences because it requires Christian society to be ordered according to the model of Christ and the church. With respect to the household, this means that those who are in an inferior position (wife, child, slave) must submit to those who are in the superior (husband, father, master).”

In the verses before today’s reading, the author celebrated his vision of the Church and began working his way up to the main theme of unity. This unity between Jews and Gentiles was stated to be part of God’s eternal plan to unify them through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. He referred to the Christ as eternal and preexisting (“from the foundation of the world” in v.4).

Today’s reading began by noting that Jews “obtained an inheritance” (v.11) and were the first to “set our hope on Christ” (v.12). The focus of letter then becomes Gentile Jesus Followers – “you” in verse 13, and in 2:11 referring to them as uncircumcised and in 3:1 as Gentiles).

The JANT sees “the word of truth” (v.13) as referring to both the gospel and to the Christ (“believed in him”) – just as the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel referred to the Christ as the Logos/Word. The JANT also notes that the “seal of the Holy Spirit ” (v.13) was a sign of ownership.

The author spoke of the love of the Jesus Followers for “all the saints” (v.15). The NJBC notes that the Greek word is “hagioi” and is understood as “holy ones” or those set apart and sanctified by God through faith in the Christ. The author gave thanks for the faith of the community and prayed that the “eyes of their hearts” (the traditional seat of understanding) will be enlightened (v.18). The reference to the Christ at the right hand of God (v.20) is derived from Psalm 110:1.

Luke 6:20-31

Reading

20 Jesus looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

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 called the Sermon on the Plain (“he stood on a level place”) (v.17) and is comparable to (but different from) Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and Matthew’s Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12). As The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, the Beatitudes of Luke focus on economic and social conditions, not spiritual states as in Matthew. The two Sermons do not appear in other Gospels and are considered based on “Q” material.

Understanding the Bible notes that “the Lukan Beatitudes are shorter, simpler, and directed at the hearers – you! [“disciples” v.20] Whereas Matthew spiritualizes their meaning ‘blessing those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail,’ Luke gives a bluntly material version…. In a passage unique to his Gospel, Luke concludes the Beatitudes with ‘woes’ (‘alas for you’) in which the ‘rich’ and ‘well fed’ are cursed with future loss and hunger.” The “woes” are the antitheses of the blessings in verses 20-23.

The JANT suggests that the Greek word Makarioi – translated as “Blessed” or “Fortunate” — is itself a translation of an Aramaic word (the language Jesus spoke) that connotes “being on the right path.”

For example, Luke said “Blessed are you who are poor” whereas Matthew’s version said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Both conclude “for yours is the kingdom of heaven (Matt) or God” (Luke). Because Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience, he rarely used the word “God” in the Gospel.

Unlike Matthew who expressed nine “Blessings,” Luke expressed four “Blessings” and four “Woes” which are the antitheses of the Blessings. The NOAB sees the Blessings and Woes eschatologically and says that “the early status of those addressed will be reversed in the divinely determined future.”

Luke again emphasized that the “ancestors” spoke well of false prophets, but treated true prophets badly. He cautioned his listeners that as the followers of the Son of Man they will be excluded, reviled, and defamed (v.23) – most likely a reference by Luke to the difficult relationship between Jesus Followers and the Pharisees in the late First Century.

The reading’s concluding verses (27-31) articulated a Commandment of Love that is similar to the expression in Matt. 5:38-48. It demands love of one’s enemies, non-violent responses to violence, unhesitating charity toward those less fortunate, and an expression of the “Golden Rule” to do to others as you would have them do to you.

The JANT compares Luke’s “Golden Rule” with that of Hillel. Hillel was born (according to tradition) in Babylon c.110 BCE and died in 10 CE in Jerusalem (so he lived 120 years just as Moses did (Deut. 34:7). He was a Jewish religious leader, sage and scholar associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud.

He is popularly known as the author of two sayings: (1) “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” and (2) the expression of the ethic of reciprocity or “Golden Rule”: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; now go and learn.”

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Reading

7 Thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported many Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e., speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

The Jewish Study Bible sees the book of Jeremiah as “the product of a debate within Jewish circles from the late monarchy [610-586 BCE] and the exilic periods [586-539 BCE] concerning the question of theodicy or the righteousness of God. Although fully aware of the theological problems posed by the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people, the book affirms God’s existence and righteousness as well as the future of the restored nation Israel on its land.”

Understanding the Bible says: “in Jeremiah’s view, Judah’s failure to enforce Mosaic principles that protected impoverished laborers and their families, coupled with the government’s implied mandate for the rich to use any means, including fraud and violence, to increase their wealth, compelled Yahweh to bring the entire system to an end.” UTB continues: “Jeremiah struggled to make Judah’s leaders realize that the newly reborn Babylonian Empire was Yahweh’s judgment on his people for their faithlessness, idolatry, and social injustice.”

Today’s reading is in “poetry style” and comes from a two-chapter section of Jeremiah called “The Book of Consolation.” It described a return from Babylon by the Judeans and the reunification of Samaria and Judea, called “the remnant” (v.7), as well as those in “the northland” (v.8) which The JSB says refers to those exiled from the north to Mesopotamia after the Assyrian Conquest in 722 BCE.

In this reading, the prophet spoke for YHWH (translated as LORD in all capital letters) and went so far as to say that YHWH would reunify all Israel. The prophet used “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably (“Jacob” in vv. 7 and 11) because Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel” when he wrestled with an angel/God in Genesis 32.

The prophet urged the people to sing with gladness (vv.7 and 12), and to pray to YHWH to save the “remnant” (the usual term for those taken away in the Babylonian Exile).

Ephraim, called YHWH’s firstborn (v.9), was the largest of the 10 tribes in Northern Israel and was also shorthand for Israel (the Northern 10 Tribes) after the division of the nation in 930 BCE. Ephraim was one of Joseph’s sons (Gen.48).

Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a

Reading

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Commentary

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

Because the letter contained many terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus, but (as The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out) it was a “circular letter” that spoke to numerous audiences to which it might be circulated. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading from the first chapter, the author was working his way up to the main theme of unity. He emphasized that the Christ mediates all the blessings we receive (v.3), that the Christ was at the “foundation of the world” (v.4) and that the Jesus Followers were adopted as God’s children through the Christ (v.5).

He went on to give thanksgiving for the faith of the community (v.15) and prayed that the “eyes of their hearts” will be enlightened (v.18).

Matthew 2:1-12

Reading

1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 `And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Commentary

Although the Gospel According to Matthew is the first gospel presented in Christian Bibles, most scholars agree that it was written about 15 years after the Gospel According to Mark – which was written around 70 CE, the time of the destruction of the Temple. It was written primarily for a Jewish Jesus Follower audience as shown by the numerous references to prophets in the Hebrew Bible as “predicting” aspects of the life of Jesus the Christ.

Matthew’s Gospel follows the same general chronology as Mark’s and is one of the “Synoptic” Gospels. Over 50% of Matthew comes from Mark, and the other two sources for Matthew are (a) “sayings” that are also found in Luke’s Gospel (but which are not in Mark) and (b) material that is found only in Matthew.

“Special Matthew” material includes a genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth (1:1-17) that is different from the genealogy used by Luke, particularly in that it begins with Abraham (not Adam, as in Luke) and includes four women (Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, Rahab) who acted scandalously at times but played a significant role in the Davidic line.

Other materials unique to Matthew are the unstated assumption that Mary and Joseph resided in Bethlehem where Jesus was born (2:1), the appearance of angels in dreams to Joseph (1:20, 2:13 and 2:19), the visit and gifts of the Magi, the flight to Egypt, the decision to move to Nazareth after Herod’s death, the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod, and the extended Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5 to 7). Matthew is intentional in presenting Jesus as “the New Moses” (“raise up a prophet like me [Moses]” Deut. 18:15) whom the temporal powers seek to kill as a child (Pharaoh/Herod); goes to Egypt; returns to Promised Land; and goes to the mountain to receive the Law/deliver the Sermon on the Mount.

Herod the Great was the king of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE, so if there is any historical basis for the story that is today’s reading, Jesus would have been born in or before 4 BCE. In Greek, the “wise men” are Magi, a word related to the English word “magic.”

The prophet on whom the chief priests relied in stating the Messiah would be in Bethlehem was Micah 5:2 – which was a recent reading (Fourth Sunday of Advent).

Although there are traditionally said to be three wise men because of the three symbolic gifts suitable for a king (v.13), the text does not identify the number of Magi. Calling the wise men “kings” did not occur until substantially later, perhaps as a way to assert that secular kings were subservient to Jesus the Christ. The Jewish Annotated New Testament says that First Century Jews would have thought of them as Zoroastrian priests and “early Jewish readers may have regarded them as Persian astrologers and not as wise but as foolish [citing Philo].”

Regarding the star, The JANT says: “no ancient sources confirm this astronomical phenomenon, and no star in the sense we know it today could stop over a house without incinerating the earth.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests that the star is a “midrashic element derived from Num 22-24, the Balaam narrative, esp. 24:17” (“a star shall come out of Jacob and the scepter shall rise out of Israel”).

Matthew’s account of the flight to Egypt (vv. 13-15) cannot be harmonized with Luke’s account of the Holy Family’s actions after the birth of Jesus. In Luke, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth for Mary’s purification and for Jesus to be presented (Luke 2:22-38). At that time, Simeon and Anna offered public prayers of praise.

There is no evidence outside Matthew’s Gospel for Herod’s killing children under age 2 who lived in and around Bethlehem.

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43

Reading

1 Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven. 23 He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. 25 Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.

27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! 28 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.

41 “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name — 42 for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

Commentary

The Book of Kings is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books are a “didactic history” that covered 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 500 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.

The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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 Kings (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the Reign of David (c. 965 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity.

Last week’s reading was from Chapters 2 and 3 and was an account of Solomon’s dream in which he was granted his request for wisdom. In the chapters between that reading and today’s, Solomon exhibited his wisdom by identifying the true mother of a child by threatening to cut a child in half (3:27). His kingdom extended to the areas promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18) – from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt (4:21). The kingdom was well ordered and Solomon’s wisdom was described as greater than that of any ruler (4:30).

He built a Temple for YHWH using foreign conscripted labor. The details of the Temple were described in Chapters 5 and 6. Solomon spent almost twice as much time building his palace as he spent on building the Temple, and his palace was 6.6 times larger than the Temple. The New Oxford Annotated Bible sees these discrepancies as a criticism by the Deuteronomists of Solomon’s priorities.

The Jewish Study Bible says that the Temple was constructed “on a hill north of the city. A broad consensus among historians and archeologists maintains that Solomon’s Temple was built beneath the platform around the Dome of the Rock and in the surrounding area.”

Today’s reading described the bringing of the ark of the covenant from a tent to the Temple at the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was carried by the priests, because not even the elders were safe in its immediate proximity. A cloud (v.10) filled the Temple, a frequently used symbol for the presence of YHWH, as in the cloud that led the Israelites in the Wilderness (Ex. 13:21).

Most of today’s reading is a prayer by Solomon that expresses many of the themes of the Deuteronomists. In particular, the prayer noted that YHWH had kept the covenant with the people (v.23) and YHWH had kept the promise made to David that his house would endure forever. The original promise to David was unconditional (2 Sam. 7:13), but this text added the proviso that the descendants of David must walk before the LORD as David walked before the LORD (v.25). The JSB observes: “The concept expressed here that the Temple is the place where God dwells is qualified by a more abstract conception in v. 29, which portrays the Temple as the place where the divine ‘name’ dwells.”

The JSB observes: “In the ancient world, the proper posture for petitionary prayer was standing erect with raised hands” — just as Solomon did (v.22).

In the chapters that follow, Solomon’s great wealth was noted and YHWH warned against “turning aside from following me (9:6). In Chapter 11, Solomon’s love of “many foreign women” (11:1) turned away his heart (11:4) and made YHWH angry with him (11:9). Thus began the decline of Israel that eventually led to the division of the kingdom into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) in 928 BCE soon after Solomon died.

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

Reading

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2a And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:

14 “Now therefore revere the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the LORD. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”

Commentary

The authors of the Book of Joshua (called “the Deuteronomists”) were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described.

The Deuteronomists used the stories in these five books to make the case that it was the failures of the people and 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 Joshua is part of this “Deuteronomic History.” It covered the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land by crossing the River Jordan (around 1225 BCE, if the account is historical), the swift conquest by Joshua of the people that were in the land (starting with Jericho), the allocation of the lands among the tribes, and concluded with the “Covenant at Shechem” by which the people swore (acting as their own witnesses) to be faithful to YHWH.

In today’s reading, Joshua assembled and united all the tribes in Shechem (an important religious and political center in what became Samaria). After reciting an account of the conquest (that is different from the accounts in chapter 6), he challenged them whether they will serve YHWH exclusively. The people promised to serve YHWH and put away foreign gods in this Covenant at Shechem (vv.16-18). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “This affirmation expresses the essence of Israel as a confederation whose principle of unity was religious worship of Yahweh and Yahweh alone.”

The Deuteronomists used this Covenant at Shechem to “convict” the Israelites of their own later failures to worship YHWH as the cause of their conquests by foreign powers. YHWH was presented by the Deuteronomists as faithful to YHWH’s promises (such as the promise to Abraham of the land and the promise that David’s “house” would rule forever). The later failures of the people (and their kings) to worship YHWH were breaches of their own Covenant.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Reading

10 Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

Today’s reading is the last of the six portions of the Letter to the Ephesians that have been presented in recent weeks.

Today, the author portrayed life as a Jesus Follower as a struggle against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and the spiritual forces of evil. He urged that believers put on the armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness (appropriate behavior and being in right relation with God, others, and the world), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and use one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit (which the author says is the word of God).

The NJBC describes this section as presenting Christian existence “as a constant warfare against the malevolent spirits in the heavens.”

John 6:56-69

Reading

56 Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Commentary

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

The chronology of events is also different in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the Temple Event (“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 is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.

Today’s reading is the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse in Chapter 6. It is not surprising that some of Jesus’ followers found the sayings “difficult” (v.60) because (taken literally) the eating of flesh of a human is cannibalism and drinking blood (the life force in all creatures) belongs to God and was therefore forbidden to humans (Lev. 17:15).

The reference to the Son of Man (v.62) ascending is a reference to Daniel 7:13 (“I saw one like a human being [son of man] coming with the clouds of heaven.”)

In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is presented as omniscient, and therefore knew who would believe and who would betray him (v. 64). Faith, which is God’s gift (v.65), is what enables one to know that Jesus is the Messiah and the human embodiment of God.

Peter’s calling Jesus “the Holy One of God” (v.69) is a phrase that does not appear elsewhere in the Fourth Gospel. Other ancient texts substitute the words “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” in this verse. The only prior Scriptural references that are similar to “Holy One of God” are references in Judges 13:7 and 16:7 to Samson as a “nazirite to God.” A nazirite was a person who took a vow to dedicate their life to YHWH’s service. In Psalm 106:16, Aaron (Moses’ brother) is called “the holy one of the LORD.”

The Jewish Annotated New Testament says: “The passage suggests the practice of theophagy (lit., ‘eating the God’) associated with Greco-Roman mystery cults such as those of Demeter and Dionysius. The allusion implies the Gospel writer’s familiarity with such cults and supports the hypothesis that the audience included Gentiles.”

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Reading

10 David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. 11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.

3:3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

10 It pleased the LORD that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

Commentary

The Book of Kings is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. These books are a “didactic history” that covered the period from just before the entry into the Promised Land (c.1220 BCE, if the account is historical) to the release of the exiled king of Judah during the Babylonian Exile (562 BCE). The books were written in the period from 640 BCE to 550 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.

The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from many sources. They then 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 (and, by extension, the people) 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 Kings (to the extent it may be historical) covers from the end of the reign of David (965 BCE) to the time of the Exile (587-539 BCE).

At the end of last week’s reading, David was reported to be lamenting Absalom’s death, just as he lamented Saul’s death – another death that had political advantages for David. In the intervening chapters, David and Joab fought battles against persons who revolted against David. In Chapter 21, there are descriptions of battles with the Philistines (which seem to be transposed from earlier in David’s reign), including the killing of Goliath by Elhanan, the Bethlehemite (21:19). Chapter 22 is virtually the same as Psalm 18, a psalm of praise of YHWH. In Chapter 24, YHWH became angry with David because he took a census. YHWH offered David a choice of three punishments and David chose to have a pestilence visited upon the people. David then built an altar at the place where Solomon built one of the altars in the Temple, and the pestilence ended.

The first chapters of the Book of Kings are a continuation of 2 Samuel and were, at one time, not divided as they are now. David was described as old and, even though he was offered Abishag, the most beautiful girl in all Israel, he had lost his sexual potency (1:4).

Adonijah was David’s fourth (and oldest surviving) son and had been born in Hebron (where David first reigned). He was presented as similar in several ways to Absalom (2 Sam. 14:25-26). Learning of David’s decline, he began gathering allies to support his own kingship and had a celebration in anticipation of his kingship.

When Nathan and Bathsheba learned of this celebration, they decided to go to David to convince him that he had promised her that Solomon (David’s seventh son, and one who was born in Jerusalem) would be David’s successor. (This promise is not recounted anywhere in the Book of Samuel.) The high priest, Zadok (from whose name we get the word “Sadducees”) anointed Solomon king (1:39). David then gave last instructions to Solomon that, as The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, were “similar to God’s words to Joshua upon his succession to the leadership of Israel after Moses’ death (Josh. 1:6-9).”

In actions that “The Godfather” would later imitate, Solomon had his brother Adonijah killed for asking that Abishag be given to him as his wife; banished and later killed a rival high priest on a flimsy excuse; and had Joab killed for siding with Adonijah.

After all this mayhem and murder, in today’s reading, Solomon was presented by the authors in a favorable light. In a dream, he asked YJWH for wisdom, and was granted a “wise and discerning mind” (3:12). According to The NOAB, in saying he did not know whether to “go out or go in” (v.3:7), Solomon was noting his lack of military experience. YHWH granted Solomon both wisdom and wealth, and these became themes in describing most of his reign. The promise that had been given to David was, however, made conditional (“if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments as did your father David” (v.14).

In the omitted verses (2:13-3:2), Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter (3:1), thus starting down a path of marrying foreign wives that would lead to the breakup of his kingdom after Chapter 11.

Proverbs 9:1-6

Reading

1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town,
4 “You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Commentary

In Christian Bibles, the Book of Proverbs is included in the “Wisdom Literature,” but in the Jewish Bible (the “TaNaK”), it is part of the “Writings.” The other two parts of the Jewish Bible are The Torah and The Prophets. The name “TaNaK” is an acronym for the first letters of the Hebrew words for each of these sections: the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim.

Although Proverbs claims to be written by Solomon (v.1:1) who reigned from 968-928 BCE, most scholars agree that these sayings were compiled over a lengthy period and put in their final form around 450 BCE. In fact, two Chapters of Proverbs (22:17 to 24:34) are copied almost word-for-word from Egyptian wisdom literature dating to about 1100 BCE.

Most sayings in Proverbs are presented as teachings from the elders and are aimed at young men. They advised that moral living (diligence, sobriety, self-restraint, selecting a good wife, and honesty) would lead to a good life. The Jewish Study Bible notes that although chapters 1 through 9 serve as an introduction to the book, this section was probably written later as a guide to the interpretation of the old sayings that are contained in chapters 10 through 29.

The usual translation of a recurring theme in Proverbs is that “fear” of YHWH (translated as LORD – all capital letters in the NRSV) is the beginning of wisdom. Many scholars suggest that “awe of YHWH” or “reverence for YHWH” better captures the sense of the authors of the sayings in Proverbs.

The JSB notes that today’s reading is part of invitations to two contradictory banquets, one by Lady Wisdom and the other by Lady Folly (vv. 13-18). Wisdom here was portrayed as a woman who invited even the “simple” and “those without sense” to share the bread and wine at her table and to walk in the way of insight. The NOAB opines that the “seven pillars” (v.1) may allude to the pillars on which the earth was founded (Job 9:6).

In Proverbs 8:22, Wisdom was portrayed as being present at the Creation.

Ephesians 5:15-20

Reading

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading, the author continued to urge the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers in Ephesus to live wisely, soberly, and to be thankful to God. In the verses just before today’s reading, the author used light and dark imagery to show that they were all now children of the light.

The JANT points out that “do not get drunk with wine” (v.18) is “not a condemnation of wine – which would have been difficult, given the centrality of wine to the diet in most of the Roman world, including Judea and Galilee – but of drunkenness.”

The preparers of the Revised Common Lectionary were prudent in ending the reading where they did. Verses 22 and 23 reflect the patriarchy of the First Century: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.”

John 6:51-58

Reading

51 Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

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 is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.

Today’s reading is a continuation of the “Bread of Life Discourse” that has been the subject of the readings for the last two weeks. As usual, the author of the Fourth Gospel presents “the Jews” (the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees) as unduly literal. For them, consuming flesh was cannibalism, and blood (the lifegiving force) was reserved for God and was forbidden for humans. When animals were sacrificed at the Temple, the blood was poured on the altars. Meat that is “kosher” has all the blood drained from it.

The Bread of Life Discourse assumed the institution of the Eucharist (“eat this bread” – v.51 and “this is the bread” in v.58). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary sees these references to “bread” is as a later addition to the Discourse and evidence that the ritual of the Eucharist was part of the Jesus Followers’ worship by the time the Fourth Gospel was compiled late in the First Century. The NJBC also notes that, unlike the Eucharistic Formula in the Synoptic Gospels, this Gospel uses the term “flesh – sarx” rather than “body – soma” in verses 53-56.

According to The JANT, the ritual of “eating god” existed in some Greco-Roman mystery cults such as the cults of Demeter and Dionysius.

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Reading

5 The king, David, ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

6 So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword. Absalom happened to meet the servants of David.

9 Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.

15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.

31 Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my LORD the king! For the LORD has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my LORD the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.”

33 The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

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 covered 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 authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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 (and by extension, the people) 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).

Today’s reading has fast forwarded from last week’s reading in which Nathan told David that YHWH said, “I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house” (2 Sam. 12:11).

In the intervening six chapters, Amnon (David’s oldest son) became infatuated with his half-sister (Tamar) and raped her (13:14). David learned of this but declined to punish Amnon “because he loved him, for he was his firstborn” (13:21). Absalom (David’s third son) was Tamar’s full brother and got revenge by having his servants kill Amnon (13:29). In fear, Absalom ran away and lived with his maternal grandfather (13:37). After five years, he was allowed to see David and was subservient to him (14:33).

This subservience was short-lived. Absalom ingratiated himself with the people of Israel and led a revolt against David (15:13). David fled from Jerusalem and Absalom moved into David’s house and took all his concubines (a symbol of kingship and power). Absalom brought his army to pursue David but was persuaded by a person secretly sympathetic to David to hold off on attacking David. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the advice given to hold off was ”decreed” by YHWH (17:5-14). The delay in attacking gave David time to regroup his scattered forces (18:1-4).

David was now ready to attack Absalom’s troops but told his generals to “be gentle” with Absalom (v.5). In this way, the Deuteronomist absolved David of Absalom’s death.

Absalom was described as very beautiful (14:25) and had such a great head of hair that when he had it cut at the end of each year, the cut hair weighed five pounds (14:26). and Absalom’s unseating symbolized his loss of the kingdom. As Absalom was riding his mule (which as The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, was the royal mount for David and his sons), he was ensnared by an oak tree because of his beautiful hair (v.9), and was killed by Joab and 10 of Joab’s men. As The NOAB observes, because there were 10 men, no individual could be blamed for the actual killing.

In the omitted verses (16-34), Joab dissuaded people from bringing news of Absalom’s death to David and sent a “Cushite” (an Ethiopian) (v.21) instead. When David got the report, he was (according to the Deuteronomist) less interested in the victory over Absalom’s troops than he was about Absalom’s fate. He bemoaned Absalom’s death and said he would have preferred to die himself (v.33).

In the verses that follow today’s reading, Joab (who was fiercely devoted to David) scolded David for caring more about his rebellious son than all the persons who were loyal to David and helped him regain his throne.

The balance of 2 Samuel relates the return of David to power and the consolidation of his reign. Next week, the Lectionary introduces the reign of Solomon.

1 Kings 19:4-8

Reading

4 Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Commentary

The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel, usually called the “Deuteronomic History,” a didactic history of Ancient Israel from the time in the Wilderness (c. 1250 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.

These books were given their final form around 500 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate 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.)

After Solomon’s death in 928 BCE, the nation divided in two. The Northern Kingdom consisted of 10 tribes and was called “Israel.” The Southern Kingdom had two tribes, Judah and Benjamin and was called “Judea.” For the most part, the Deuteronomists portrayed the Kings of the North as unfaithful to YHWH. Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst offenders and his wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.

The prophet Elijah is the subject of today’s reading. Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings. Elijah and Elisha are both credited with numerous healings, restoring people to life, and other extraordinary events.

Just prior to today’s verses, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He brought fire upon a huge sacrifice, rain to end a drought, and then killed all 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, the consort of Baal (1 Kings 18).

Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done (v.1). Jezebel swore to kill Elijah (v.2), so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba (about 100 miles) and then to the Wilderness where he hoped to die (v.4). As The Jewish Study Bible observes, the theme of a prophet wishing to die out of a sense of isolation and failure was repeated in Jonah 4:3.

YHWH’s angels provided food to Elijah (v.5) so he could journey to Horeb and continue his ministry. For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain was called “Horeb” (which means “dry place”) rather than Sinai. (“Sinai” was the name used by the authors of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.) The location of the holy mountain in the Sinai Peninsula has never been determined. Elijah’s receiving food in the wilderness was parallel to Hagar’s story in Genesis 21:19.

The Jewish Study Bible points out that a person could cover 20-25 miles a day walking. If Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights (v.8), he could have covered between 600 and 1,000 miles. The JSB suggests that 40 is merely a “formulaic number” meaning “a long time.”

In the verses that follow today’s reading, Elijah had a theophany and was directed by YHWH to return to the north, anoint a new king of Israel, and appoint Elisha as his successor.

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Reading

25 Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

Because of the verses just before today’s reading, this passage appears mostly directed at the Gentile Jesus Followers. The author urged them to put away falsehood, not speak evil of others, and to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling and slander (v.4:31). He urged them live in love as Christ loved us. Describing Christ as a “fragrant sacrifice” (v.5:2) was a reference by the author to burnt offerings in the Hebrew Scriptures which are described as giving off an odor that was pleasing to YHWH, for example, Noah’s sacrifice in Gen. 8:21.

John 6:35, 41-51

Reading

35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.

Today’s reading begins with the closing verse of last week’s reading with Jesus asserting that he is the “Bread of Life” (v.35). In the omitted verses (36-40), Jesus asserted that he had come from heaven to do the will “of him who sent me” (v.38) and that those who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life (v.40).

The “Jews” who complained (v.41) about Jesus’ claim that he is the “bread from heaven” are the Temple Authorities and the Pharisees, not Jewish people generally. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary sees the reference to “his mother and father” (v.42) as indicating that “there is no evidence that John know of the traditions about Jesus’ conception or birth in Bethlehem. Such a tradition would be irrelevant in any case, since the point is that Jesus has come from heaven.”

In verse 45a (“And they shall all be taught by God”), Isaiah 54:13 was a paraphrase of a portion of Isaiah of the Exile in which the prophet said that the Exiles would be taught by God and would be restored to Jerusalem.

The NJBC understands “Not that anyone who has seen the Father except the one who is from God” (v.46) as asserting “there is no knowledge of God apart from Jesus [citing other verses in the Fourth Gospel]. One cannot be ‘taught by God’ apart from hearing and believing the word of Jesus.”

The Fourth Gospel does not contain an Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Today’s reading is part of an extended discussion in which Jesus affirmed his relationship with the Father and asserted that – unlike manna in the desert — he is the Bread of Life that brings eternal life.

The Fourth Gospel is the most theologically dense of the four Gospels, and the theology of the Eucharist is one of the most challenging religious constructs for Christians to appreciate. To affirm that bread and wine are somehow transformed into the Body and Blood of The Christ requires a leap of faith. To affirm that ingesting the Body and Blood will transform us and put us in “common union” with The Christ demands a leap of faith. To affirm that this union with The Christ opens us to “eternal life” (however understood) also is a faith statement.

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a

Reading

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, 12:1 and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against 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 covered 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 authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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).

Today’s reading picks up where last week’s reading ended – David sent a letter carried by Uriah to Joab to have Uriah placed in the front lines. In the omitted verses, Uriah was killed, and Joab sent a messenger to tell David that the battle did not go well, but then to tell him that Uriah was killed so that he (David) would not become angry (v.23).

Bathsheba mourned for the prescribed seven days (v.26), and David made her one of his wives, and she bore a son.

YHWH was not pleased with David’s behavior (v.27) and sent Nathan to tell a parable (structured as a legal case) to David about a rich man and a poor man. David became angry and said the rich man was required to repay the poor man fourfold (v.6). This was prescribed by Ex. 22:1.

YHWH (through Nathan) verbally chastised David for his ingratitude and noted that YHWH gave David the master’s (Saul’s) “house” (v.8). The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that this word is sometimes translated as “daughters” and considers it more consistent with the assertion that David acquired Saul’s wives and concubines and had no reason to take Uriah’s wife. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the claim that David took Saul’s wives and concubines in not mentioned elsewhere.

The distinction between the house of Israel and Judah (v.8) shows that this text was written after the division of the United Kingdom in 930 BCE soon after Solomon’s death.

YHWH told David that the sword (understood by The NOAB as a symbol for violence) would never depart from his house (v.10) because David “despised” (“spurned” in The Jewish Publication Society Translation) YHWH and took Bathsheba to be his wife (v.10). In the balance of the Book of Samuel, most of David’s problems arose because of his sons: Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah all met violent deaths.

In the verses just after today’s reading, Nathan told David that YHWH had remitted his sin, but YHWH afflicted the Bathsheba’s son (v.15). David fasted and prayed for the child’s recovery, but the son died after seven days. The NOAB understands that David’s sin was transferred to this son, and sees this as an example of intergenerational punishment in the Hebrew Bible.

David “consoled” Bathsheba and she bore another son (v.24). In the NRSV, it says David named this son Solomon, but in the JPS it says “she” named him (v.24). The name “Solomon” means “his replacement” – which could refer to the son who died after seven days or that Solomon would succeed David. In the next verse, YHWH named the child Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the LORD” (v.25) but this reference does not reappear.

Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

Reading

2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.’“ 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning, you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’“

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”

Commentary

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

In today’s reading, the Israelites had not yet reached Sinai, and were complaining (once again) to Moses that it would have been better to have died in Egypt than to starve in the Wilderness.

Because YHWH was perceived as controlling everything in most of the Hebrew Bible, the writers of this story said that the Israelites’ deaths in Egypt would have been at the hand of YHWH (v.3) rather than at the hand of Pharaoh.

The God presented in this story is very human-like. YHWH “heard” their complaining (v.7). YHWH “spoke” to Moses (v.4) and responded (twice – one in v.4 and again in v.11) by sending the Israelites manna and quail. The NOAB notes that the two responses indicate that this story is an amalgam of two oral traditions.

Man hu are the Hebrew words for “What is it?” (v. 15), so the name of the substance is also a play on words. “Manna” is, however, a real thing. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says it is “the carbohydrate-rich excretion of two scale-insects that feed on the twigs of the tamarisk tree.” In Israel today, something called “manna” is sometimes available for purchase in Arab markets. It is sweet and sticky.

In the omitted verses (5-7) the Israelites were directed to collect manna each day, collect two days’ supply of manna on the sixth day, and not to collect manna on the Sabbath. This shows the story was written (at least in part) by the Priestly writers – for whom the Sabbath was most important.

Numbers 11 contains another story about YHWH’s sending quail to the Israelites in such quantity that they gorged themselves and were struck by a great plague that killed many of them. The JSB notes that quail migrate, often in large numbers, from Africa to Europe in the spring and fall and sometimes fall exhausted in the Sinai Desert.

Ephesians 4:1-16

Reading

1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”

9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading, the author continued to urge the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers in Ephesus to be unified in Christ. He urged them to be humble, patient, “bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v.3).

The JANT notes that seven forms of unity are emphasized in vv.4-6 (body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God and Father who is above all and through all and in all).

The NOAB suggests that the quotation in v.8 is a paraphrase of Psalm 68:18 (“You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there.” )

Christ both ascended and descended (into Sheol?) so that he might come to all persons. Each person has different gifts for the body’s growth in building itself up in love (v.11-12). A perfect (i.e., complete) church is modeled on Christ himself.

John 6:24-35

Reading

24 The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.

Today’s reading is part of a longer discussion in the Fourth Gospel that is sometimes called “The Bread of Life Discourse” that is not found in the other Canonical Gospels. Conversely, this Gospel, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not include an institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. (Instead, Jesus washed the apostles’ feet at the Last Supper in the Fourth Gospel.)

The account contains terms that have deeper meanings. In saying that the Son of Man will “give you the food that endures for eternal life” (v.27) the author drew upon the Jewish understanding of the Son of Man as the messenger of God (Dan. 7:13) who makes God known (Jn.3:13). In referring to the Son of Man (v.27) and “him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29) in the third person, the author of the Gospel reflected the tension in the Gospel in the understandings that Jesus (as the Christ) is both an “agent” of God and divine.

The “work” to needed to “perform the works of God” is to “believe in him whom he [God] has sent” (v.29). In the Farewell Discourses, Jesus gave content to “belief in he whom God sent”: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (15:12).

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that the phrase “He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (v.31) conflates the story from Exodus with Psalm 78:24. It also points out that there are references to “bread of life” in a Jewish book, Joseph and Aseneth. This book was a midrash on Genesis written around 200 BCE. It provided an account of the relationship of the patriarch Joseph and his wife Azeneth — who received heavenly food from an angelic figure in answer to Joseph’s prayers.

The references to “my Father” and the “I am” (v.35) statement reflect the greater emphasis in the Fourth Gospel on the divinity of Jesus and his connection with the Father. All the “I am” statements in the Fourth Gospel echo the response from the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 – “I am what I am” – to Moses’ question about the name of God.

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

2 Samuel 11:1-15

Reading

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”

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 covered 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 500 BCE and continued to be revised even after that.

The authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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 New Jerome Biblical Commentary states that today’s reading is the first part of the stories that culminate in Solomon’s succession to the throne – even though he was David’s 7th son. Today’s story illustrated a weakness on the part of David that infected his family. Eventually, the disorder in David’s family enabled Nathan and Bathsheba to bring Solomon to power. These stories in Samuel are convoluted, and some of them will appear in the readings in upcoming weeks.

Today’s reading comes after three chapters that recount David’s successful wars. Wars were conducted primarily in warmer weather, and the text noted that it was in the Spring that kings “go out to battle” (v.1). Tellingly, David sent his generals to do battle, but stayed in Jerusalem (perhaps to avoid danger) and took naps in the afternoon.

The story is shocking in its details. Notwithstanding the fact that he was told that the woman was married, David had her brought to him, had sex with her and got her pregnant. He then attempted a cover up his actions by urging the woman’s husband, Uriah, to “wash his feet” (v.8) — which The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. As a pious soldier (even though a Hittite), Uriah (who was described in 23:39 as one of David’s best soldiers), refused to go to his own home to lie with his wife, even when David got him drunk (v.13).

David trusted Uriah so much that he then gave Uriah the task of delivering his own death warrant to Joab (v.14), knowing that if Uriah could read, he would not read the message to Joab. In the verses that follow today’s reading, Uriah was killed (v.17) and Joab made a tactical error in assuring Uriah’s death that caused the death of other officers (vv.20-21).

In the next week’s reading, David quickly took Bathsheba as one of his wives because she was pregnant, and she soon gave birth to a son (v.27).

As the stories about David continue in the Book of Samuel, this episode will be central to the difficulties David encountered – particularly with his family.

The Jewish Study Bible notes: “It is highly unusual for ancient literature to criticize powerful and successful kings. The way David’s behavior is depicted and condemned in the Bible shows the overriding importance it assigns to moral values.”

2 Kings 4:42-44

Reading

42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43 But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” 44 He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

Commentary

The authors of the Book of Kings also wrote the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel, usually called the “Deuteronomic History,” a didactic history of Ancient Israel from the time in the Wilderness (c. 1250 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity in 587 BCE.

These books were given their final form around 500 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH properly 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.)

Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings.

Elijah and Elisha are both credited with numerous healings, restoring people to life, and other extraordinary events involving food, such as the one presented in today’s reading.

Prior to today’ reading, there was a famine in Northern Israel. Elisha took a limited amount of food from a man from Baal-shalishah. He directed that the food be given to 100 people, and (miraculously) there was more food left over than to begin with. The Deuteronomist recounts (v. 43) that this was caused by the power of YHWH (translated as LORD in capital letters).

In today’s passage, even the name of the town (Baal-shalishah) shows that Baal worship was continuing in Israel in the 700’s BCE. Modern archeological evidence shows that significant Baal worship also continued in Southern Israel (Judea) – alongside worship of YHWH – until the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.

The NJBC states: “The text is obviously the inspiration for NT multiplication miracles (cf. Mark 6:34-44, 8:1-10).”

Ephesians 3:14b-21

Reading

14b I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading, the author states that he “bows his knees before the Father” (v.14) and The JANT comments that this was a “traditional Jewish position for prayer” citing 1 Kings 8:54 – a long prayer in which Solomon knelt.

The author then continued his efforts to unify the Jewish Jesus Followers and the Gentile Jesus Followers in Ephesus. Here, he reminded them that they are all part of the “family” of the Father (v.15) and prayed that they will be “rooted and grounded in love” (v.17). The author emphasized that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge (v.19) – it is a mystery. The prayer to be “filled with the fullness of God” is a prayer for believers to grow into the fullness of divinity.

Today’s reading concluded (vv. 20-21) with a “doxology” – a statement of glory and praise of God who can perfect the church through the Spirit, thus concluding the doctrinal portion of the letter.

John 6:1-21

Reading

1 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Commentary

The Fourth Gospel is different in many ways from the Synoptic Gospels. The “signs” (miracles) and many of the 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 is described as “the Lamb of God”) died at the time lambs were being sacrificed at the Temple for the Passover Seder to be held that night.

The feeding of the multitudes is the only miracle story found in all the Canonical Gospels. Multiplication of oil and grain were also miracles attributed to Elijah and Elisha.

The setting was on the Eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and was in the spring when the Passover occurs (v.4). The reference “of the Jews” (v.4) in this reading is one of the few times in the Fourth Gospel that it meant the Jewish people generally rather than only the Temple Authorities. One of the two ancient feasts that formed the basis of Passover was the Feast of the Unleavened Bread that coincided with the spring barley harvest. The loaves presented to Jesus were barley (v.9). The feast of the sacrifice of a lamb in the Spring was the other feast that was combined into the Passover Feast.

The JANT notes: “In contrast to his usual practice, Jesus does not go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem [for Passover] but stays in Galilee where the people flock to him rather than the Temple. The scene fulfills his prophecy to the Samaritan woman in 4:21 [“Woman, believe me the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”] and may reflect a post-70 perspective in which worship in the Temple is no longer possible, and from John’s viewpoint, no longer necessary.”

The collection of 12 baskets of leftovers was symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. The reaction of the crowd to make Jesus the king (v.15) because he fed large numbers of persons is not surprising, but such an action would have been seen by Rome as treasonous and would lead to crucifixion. The Fourth Gospel is the only gospel that included the idea that the crowd wanted to make Jesus the king.

The reference to “the prophet who is to come into the world” (v.14) refers to the expectation that the Messiah would be (among other things) a “New Moses” the basis for which is found in Deut. 18:15 (“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among your own people and you shall heed such a prophet.”)

The story of Jesus’ walking on the water (vv.16-21) is also found in Matthew 14 and Mark 6. Calming the sea was seen as a demonstration of Jesus’ divinity in that God was depicted as making order out of chaos (Genesis 1, Ps. 89:9). Jesus’ statement “It is I” (v.20) is also translatable as “I am” – the same translation of the word (“YHWH”) stated to Moses as the “name” of God in the Burning Bush story in Exodus 3.

During this Pentecost Season, there are two “Tracks” of Scriptures that are offered, and congregations may choose which Track they will follow. The first two readings presented are the readings from Tracks 1 and 2, respectively. The third and fourth readings are the same in both Tracks.

2 Samuel 7:1-14a

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: 5 Go and tell my servant David: 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. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

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 covered 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 authors of the Deuteronomic Books artfully wove their stories from numerous sources. They then 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 (and by extension, the people) 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).

Today’s reading is one of the most important passages in the Deuteronomic Corpus. In it, the Deuteronomists articulated three major religious ideas by casting them as pronouncements and promises by YHWH. The passages in today’s reading formed the scriptural bases for three critical understandings held by Ancient Israel: (1) Jerusalem was the central place for the worship of YHWH, the place where the Temple would be, and the place where the “presence” of YHWH would reside; (2) the “House” of David would be eternal (v.13); and (3) Israel will have rest from its enemies (v.11).

These promises were so central to Judaism that they were repeated in Psalms 89 and 132, and in 1 Chronicles 22.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that a king was often described in the Hebrew Bible as a “son” of God (v.14) and the promise of “steadfast love” (v.15) was also part of the promise given to David and his “house” forever. The Jewish Study Bible points out that this promise was not accompanied by any conditions but that a similar promise to Solomon in 1 Kings 9:4 required him to “walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my laws and my rules.”

For the Deuteronomists, the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, the interruption of the line of Davidic kings after 587 BCE because of the Babylonian Exile, and the occupation of Israel by (successively) the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids, and Romans were all the result of the failure of Israel to worship YHWH properly. Notwithstanding these events, the promises of YHWH were seen by the Deuteronomists as remaining in full force and effect, but the behaviors of the kings and people caused YHWH’s promises to be “suspended” for a time.

The “suspension” did not mean the promises were abrogated. Instead, YHWH’s promise regarding the Davidic line became one of the key characteristics of one of the understandings of the Messiah who was to come. The Messiah was to come from the House of David, and (for some) would unify the nation and drive out the outside occupiers.

In today’s reading, YHWH was presented anthropomorphically as having conversations with the prophet Nathan who, in turn, recounted YHWH’s words to David. As part of this conversation, YHWH promised that David’s offspring would build a “house” for YHWH’s name (vv.12-13). The Jewish Study Bible points out that these verses were was interpreted “in the postbiblical period as referring to the Messiah, who will be of the House of David and whose reign will last forever.” It also observes that verse 13 uses “My name” instead of “Me” to exclude the possibility of misunderstanding that God actually dwells in the house.

Later in the Books of Samuel and Kings, Nathan and Bathsheba conspired to arrange for David’s 7th son (Solomon) to become king. Solomon caused the First Temple to be built during his reign.

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Reading

1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. 3 Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.

5 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported many Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e., speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

Today’s reading is in prose style and attacked the kings and priests (the “shepherds”). The JSB notes that concern with false prophecy is an important theme in Jeremiah and that he was frequently in conflict with other prophets about the future course of the nation.

Consistent with the “do bad, get bad” theology of the Deuteronomists, YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) will “attend to” these shepherds for their “evil doings” (v.2). Consistent with the reading from Samuel for today, the writers held up the promise that YHWH would raise up for “David” (Judea) a righteous king who would also enable Israel to live in safety and righteousness (v.5). For the Deuteronomists, YHWH controlled everything. YHWH caused the Exile, the end of the Exile through Cyrus of Persia in 539 BCE, the return of the Judeans to Jerusalem, and the relatively peaceful Persian Era (539 to 333 BCE).

If these “predictions” by the prophet were in fact made after the Exile, the writers had “20/20 hindsight” that the “remnant” (v.3) (a “code word” for the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile) would be “fruitful and multiply” – the command given by God to the humans in Gen. 1:28.

Other translations of the name of the LORD (v.6) in addition to “righteousness” are “Vindicator” (JSB) and “Justice” (NJBC).

These prophesies by Jeremiah remained an important part of the 1st Century CE understanding (and expectation) of what the Messiah would be and do.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Reading

11 Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Commentary

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

The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that because the letter contained over 80 terms not used in Paul’s authentic letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms such as “mystery and “inheritance,” most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. In another difference, for Paul “salvation” is a future event, whereas in Ephesians it is a present experience.

The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

In today’s reading, the author spoke mostly to the Gentile (“uncircumcised”) Jesus Followers (v.11). In speaking of “the circumcision,” the author was referring to Jewish Jesus Followers who were required to obey the Mosaic Law and took the position that Gentiles who wanted to become Jesus Followers also needed to obey the Mosaic Law, including being circumcised and maintaining a kosher diet.

In considering the “dividing wall” and “hostility” (v.14), The JANT notes that “Holiness” in the Hebrew Bible conveyed a sense of separation from others. Later extensions of the Law (such as forbidding Jews from eating any Gentile food) made the “wall” even higher. This sense of self-separation often led to hostility towards Jews on the part of some Gentiles.

The author of Ephesians told the Gentile Jesus Followers that through Jesus the Christ they were brought into the Covenants of promise that formerly were only for the Jews (v.13). The author said that by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, Jesus created a New Covenant open to both Jews and Gentiles. Gentile and Jewish Jesus Followers are now “one new humanity in place of the two” (v.15) and “members of the household of God” (v.19), a phrase that is used in welcoming newly Baptized persons into the Church (BCP p.308).

Historical note: The question “Does a Gentile have to become a Jew (be circumcised and follow Kosher dietary rules) as a prerequisite to becoming a Jesus Follower?” was supposedly “answered” in the negative at Jerusalem in 49 CE (recounted in Acts 15). Many scholars, however, see Acts 15 as a “compression” of events that continued well past 49 CE until Acts of the Apostles was written around 85 CE by the same person who wrote the Gospel According to Luke.

The notion that the Christ “abolished the law” (v.15) is a late First Century development and was not a position taken by Paul in his authentic letters. For example, in the Letter to the Romans, his view was more nuanced and he acknowledged that the Law was still binding on Jewish Jesus Followers, even if it was not fully binding on Gentiles. Similarly, in 5:17 in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Reading

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

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 85-90 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.”

Today’s reading follows the story of the beheading of John the Baptizer and gives the author’s sense of the excitement that Jesus’ presence and healings caused. The reference to sheep and a shepherd (v.34) is a common one and echoes the metaphor used in the reading today from Jeremiah.

Gennesaret was a small town on the western (Jewish) side of the Sea of Galilee, about four miles south of Capernaum. (Sometimes the Sea of Galilee was referred to as the Lake of Gennesaret.)

The omitted verses today (35-52) recount one of Mark’s two versions of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus’ telling the disciples to row north to Bethsaida, his walking on the water during the night, and his calming the wind and sea when he got into the boat. Notwithstanding these events, the disciples “did not understand … because their hearts were hardened” (v.52). The JANT comments that this is “a serious condition, akin to that of Pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites.”

Mark’s mention of the fringes on Jesus’ cloak (v.56) is a reference to the blue threads (tzitzit) worn (even today) by devout Jewish men on the corners of their cloaks as directed by Num. 15:37-40. As with the woman with the hemorrhage (5:29), merely touching the fringes of Jesus’ cloak led to healing.