During Pentecost Season 2025, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.

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

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

Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Reading

15b In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, 2:1 the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4 Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

Commentary

Haggai is one the “Minor Prophets” – the 12 prophets whose works are much shorter than those of the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and are found in a single scroll.

The Jewish Study Bible says: “In the Jewish tradition, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are the last prophets; after them, prophecy ceased. According to tradition, they were among the members of the ‘Great Assembly,’ a group that was a precursor of the Sanhedrin, and after their death, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel, though ‘bat kol’ (lit. ‘the daughter of the voice,’ or ‘echo’ remained available to Israel [citing portions of the Talmud]. This ‘echo’ of the voice of God is sometimes available to the Rabbis in their deliberations about legal interpretation (halakhah) but it is not on the same level as prophecy…. As the final representatives of the prophetic tradition, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi represent the link in the transmission of the oral Torah between prophets and sages.”

The Persian King Cyrus defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE, decreed that the captive Judeans were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and encouraged them to rebuild the Temple. Little progress was made on the Temple in the next 18 years, in large measure because of economic conditions in Judea and ongoing hostilities between Persia and Egypt in which Judea was caught in the middle. In 520 BCE, the rebuilding process began in earnest and the Temple was rebuilt by 515 BCE.

Haggai, along with the prophet Zechariah, was primarily responsible for inspiring the Jewish leadership and populace to complete the reconstruction of the Temple. The JSB says: “The main focus of the book as a whole is the Temple, or to be more precise, the necessary character, centrality, and legitimacy of the Second Temple.”

The first verses of Haggai (vv.1-11) were an oracle of judgment against the people for failing to complete the Temple. The leaders and people responded favorably (vv.12-15a). In today’s reading, Haggai encouraged the people in their efforts and stated that YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) would support them.

The JSB also notes that building temples was the prerogative and obligation of kings, and the book recognizes the king at the time was Darius. Haggai’s prophecy is aimed at the high priest and the governor (v.2) as fulfilling the expected role of a king. In addition, because these actions were directed by the word of the LORD (v.1), this lent additional legitimization to the project.

The precise date for this portion of Haggai’s exhortation is October 17, 520 BCE, and he would have spoken during the Festival of Booths (Sukkot), a time of remembering the Exodus (v.5).

It is possible that some of the Judeans present in 520 BCE (“the remnant of the people” vv.2-3) would have remembered the Temple of Solomon that was destroyed in 586 BCE. The New Oxford Annotated Bible also understands the “people of the land” to be “those who had not gone into exile and who resisted the efforts of the returning exiles.”

Haggai told the people that the new Temple would be more splendid than the former and that building it will lead to prosperity (v.9).

The balance of this short book (two chapters) consists of an oracle of salvation, and the promise of an ideal age. This ideal age did not occur, though Judea remained under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians until the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE.

Job 19:23-27a

Reading

23 Job said, “O that my words were written down!
24 O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. The NOAB points out: “Job is part of the Wisdom Literature – along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. As such, it does not focus on the nation Israel or on its great formative historical memories. Instead, Wisdom Literature is a reflection on universal human concerns – especially the understanding of individual experiences and the maintenance of ordered relationships.”

The NOAB goes on to say: “Job denies the inevitability of rewards for living an upright life and decisively refutes the idea that human suffering is always deserved.”

The authors of Job are collectively referred to as “Poet-Job.” They are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 6th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters sometimes refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that God was put in a “no-win” situation: “If God were to refuse the test which the Satan proposes, would it be a sign of fear that human beings serve him only for themselves (and then the Satan is right)? On the other hand, the acceptance of the Satan’s wager makes God almost ‘demonic,’ but we are meant to understand that the Lord trusts those who serve him, and this is Job’s opportunity.”

Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing. The Jewish Study Bible says that the friends are “concerned to safeguard the goodness of the LORD (seen as the cause of all things, good and bad) by arguing that if a person suffers, the suffering must somehow be deserved.”

Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a righteous person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God” (9:33-35). He asked to confront God face-to-face and for a witness to testify on his behalf (16:19-21).

The JSB interprets today’s reading: “Job is so certain of his innocence that he wants his case to be inscribed on a monumental stele [or on leather in a book] rather than on the more temporary parchment or papyrus used in biblical antiquity.” The NOAB and The JSB explain that the Hebrew word for “Redeemer” (“Vindicator” in the Jewish Publication Society translation and in the translators’ notes in the NRSV) is “go’el,” the legal term for the person in the family responsible for avenging the murder of other members, citing Num. 35 and Deut. 19. The JSB continues: “While the term ‘go’el’ is sometimes applied to God, who is the ‘redeemer’ of Israel, Job is not speaking about God but rather about a future kinsman, who will vindicate him, who will take revenge on God for what God has done to Job.”

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary expands the definition of “go’el” to mean “the next of kin whose obligation it was to rescue from poverty, redeem from slavery, or avenge a death.”

Contrary to the claim in the traditional (King James Version) translation in Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and – in some respects, defiant.

Towards the end of the story (Chapters 38-42), God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and verbally overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. The JSB observes that “in the LORD’s argument, the reasons for suffering – if there are any – are simply beyond human comprehension.”

In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Reading

1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Commentary

Thessalonica, a port city in northern Greece, was capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in the First Century. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest part of the Christian Scriptures and was written by Paul before 50 CE, about 20 years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. A principal theme of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians was the return of the Lord Jesus in the end time.

In 2 Thessalonians, however, there was an emphasis on living in the present and warnings about forgeries of Paul’s writings. For these reasons, most scholars conclude that 2 Thessalonians was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century.

The first part of today’s readings discussed what has come to be known as the “Second Coming” of Christ. The idea of a Second Coming arose because many of the understandings about the “Day of the Lord” and the expected effects of the Messiah were not fulfilled either in the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth or in the period soon after his death. For this reason, the early Jesus Follower Community developed ideas about a “Second Coming” when these expectations would be fulfilled. Projections about a Second Coming are also found in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 13, Matt 24 and Luke 21) and the Book of Revelation – all written in the last 30 years of the First Century CE.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary understands the phrase “our being gathered together to him” (v.1) as the fulfillment of Christian life.

Today’s reading emphasized that the Second Coming had not yet occurred and urged rejection of the false claims regarding it. The Jewish Annotated New Testament advises “the author is concerned that congregants, acting as if the end is here, refuse to work or abandon moral strictures.”

The writer of the letter suggested that an unidentified “lawless one” (v.3) would be revealed as an event before the Second Coming/Day of the Lord. The JANT advises that the “lawless one” draws on Jewish apocalyptic literature and may be modelled on foreign oppressors such as Antiochus IV or Pompey, both of whom sought to desecrate the Temple. It also suggests that the “lawless one” may have been an actual person, perhaps a false teacher or Roman emperor claiming divine status.

The second part of today’s reading was a customary thanksgiving for the acceptance by the Jesus Follower Community of the good news (v.14) and an exhortation to hold fast to “Paul’s” teachings (v.15).

Luke 20:27-38

Reading

27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus 28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

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.

The NOAB describes the Sadducees as “the elite class of landed Jerusalem gentry who operated the Temple and wielded power from that religious base of operations.” Sadducees were hereditary priests, and were said to be descended from Zadok, the high priest of David and Solomon. Sadducees did not believe in resurrection because it was not in the Torah.

The scriptural bases for “levirate marriage” are found in Deut. 25:5 and in the story of Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen. 28). The purpose of levirate marriage was to protect widows and to preserve the dead husband’s name and estate.

The NOAB interprets vv.34-36 to mean: “Human relations in marriage do not exist in the same way beyond death. Jesus distinguishes two ages and kinds of existence. Mortals are part of this age by their physical birth and of the age to come by resurrection”.

In interpreting vv. 37-38, The NJBC notes: “Since God is the God of the living, God must have sustained the dead Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in life by resurrecting them.”

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 last two readings are the same in both Tracks.

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Reading

1 Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. 17 And Job died, old and full of days.

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous (generally referred to as “Poet-Job”) and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. The Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Ha-Satan then upped the ante and asked the LORD to be allowed to inflict harm to Job’s body. YHWH told ha-Satan that he could not take Job’s life, and the Satan caused Job to have sores all over his body. Although Job’s wife encouraged Job to curse God and die, he persisted in his faithfulness.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the KJV translation of Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant.

In the reading two weeks ago, Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

In last week’s reading, YHWH appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that theophanies (appearances by the Divine in Scripture) are typically accompanied by a storm. The LORD overwhelmed Job by using rhetorical questions that point out all that Job did not know, including the creation of the world and the intricacies of the animal world.

That reading was only 14 verses of a diatribe that continued for four chapters, and includes two lengthy speeches by YHWH. The Jewish Study Bible points out that God’s speech contended that Job also had no right to demand explanations. In the text, God did not give Job a straight answer to his demand for a hearing.

The JSB goes on to say that neither God nor the Book of Job provides an answer to the question why bad things happen to good people. Instead, The JSB editorializes: “The conclusion may be that we cannot know the ways of God, and that to insist that God act in a certain way is to limit God’s great power and knowledge. The effect of God’s speech is to put Job in his place, to awe him with God’s might.”

In today’s reading, Job “answered” YHWH. He quoted YHWH in verse 3 and acknowledged that he had spoken of matters he “did not understand.” Recognizing that he had heard and “seen” God (v.5), he said “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (v.6).

The NOAB suggests that instead of “I despise myself,” a better translation is “I relent” or “I recant” and that “repent in dust and ashes” can be better understood as “recant and regret mournfully” (i.e., upon dust and ashes). The JSB says that another way to understand the reference to “dust and ashes” is that Job recognized that he is a mortal, mere dust and ashes. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests that when Job “repents” it is of his “more outrageous statements in the debate [with God].”

In the omitted verses in the first part of the Epilogue, God was “incensed” (v.7) at Job’s friends for the positions taken by them that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer or his forebears. YHWH said that Job had been right (v.7) about his innocence and that his suffering came from God.

In the rest of the Epilogue (vv.10-17), Job’s riches were more than restored, he fathered a new family and died contented. It does not mention if his illness was cured, but his long life (140 years) implies that he was made healthy again. The JSB observes that the last verse is “formulaic” and is much like “and they lived happily ever after.”

Jeremiah 31:7-9

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.

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 Ancient 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.)

Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, but today’s reading is part of a two-chapter “Book of Consolation” (Chapters 30 and 31). It purports to be written during the Exile (586-539 BCE). The thoughts in these chapters are similar to Second Isaiah (Isaiah of the Exile) in stating that Jerusalem would be restored.

Today’s reading is in “poetry style.” It described a return from Babylon by the Judeans and the reunification of Samaria (“Ephraim” – the son of Joseph and the most powerful Northern Tribe) and Judea (“the remnant”) (v.7). The JSB notes that “the land of the north” recalls both the exile of northern Israel to Mesopotamia in 722 when Assyria conquered Samaria as well as Jeremiah’s warnings of an enemy from the north (Babylon) in chapters 2 to 6. The NJBC opines that the “remnant” refers to “the small number of those [from the north – Assyria] who have escaped the calamity of 721 and have been purified through exile to constitute a new Israel faithful to her God.”

The prophet uses “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably because Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel” when he wrestled with an angel/God in Genesis 32.

Hebrews 7:23-28

Reading

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that Hebrews has a Platonic philosophical orientation resembling that of Philo of Alexandria and that it contains the New Testament’s most sophisticated Greek.

The NOAB and The JANT agree that the author sought to ground his arguments in scripture (using the Septuagint) to argue that Jesus is superior to the Jewish traditions. The JANT states: “Hebrews offers a distinct and elevated Christology. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to all other beings, including angels — he is uncreated, immortal, and permanent. He is also superior to all biblical heroes, including Moses and Abraham, as well as institutions like the Levitical priesthood. As both perfect sacrifice and heavenly priest who intercedes for humans, Jesus supersedes the Jewish sacrificial system, rendering it obsolete.”

The JANT continues: “Because Hebrews argues for Jesus’ superiority over all else and the obsolescence of the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai, it expresses what scholars call supersessionist theology. Supersessionism is the idea that Christ’s entry into human history replaces all that has come before, including God’s unique covenant bond with Israel. The same idea is sometimes referred to as rejection/replacement theology.”

The author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The Letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are. The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is). The JANT points out that in the First Century, the high priest was chosen by Roman authorities and served at their pleasure.

Today’s reading continued the theme of Jesus of Nazareth as the high priest of the Order of Melchizedek. The first part of Chapter 7 described Melchizedek and recounted that Abraham treated Melchizedek as a superior (v.7). The NOAB points out that “the Dead Sea Scrolls give evidence of Jewish speculation on Melchizedek as an angelic, heavenly figure who rescues the righteous.” The JANT notes that in the book of 2 Enoch, “Melchizedek is miraculously born from his dead mother, is a priest from birth, is Noah’s nephew, and is kept safe from the flood in order to be the priest to Noah’s descendants.”

The author of Hebrews discussed the differences between the high priests of the tribe of Levi (“priests of Aaron”) (v.11) who were imperfect and who died, and the priesthood of Jesus. Because of the Resurrection, Jesus holds his priesthood permanently and without weakness. His offering of himself was once and for all (v.27). He was appointed “by word of [God’s] oath” (v.28) (citing Ps. 110.4), rather than by the law (which appointed the Levites as priests) and is the Son who is perfect forever.

The author of Hebrews accepted the commonly held views that the Torah was written at Sinai before the Psalms were written by David. Therefore, the appointment of Jesus a high priest in Psalm 110:4 was “superior” to the appointment of the Levites as priests.

Mark 10:46-52

Reading

46 Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Commentary

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

In traveling towards Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho, a city south of the Galilee and Samaria, and only about 13 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Today’s reading presents Bartimaeus whose name means “son of Timaeus.” Unlike the disciples who seem to be blind, Bartimaeus has “faith” (v.52) and he follows “the way” after his sight is restored.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes: “Son of David have mercy on me was likely a standardized form of words in a petitionary prayer. Some Jewish healers healed in the name of Solomon, the original son of David.” The JANT observes that both Matthew and Luke gave Joseph a genealogy that included David, but that Mark lacks a genealogy.

Referring to a person as a “Son of David” would also have created an expectation that the person would restore the fortunes of Israel. In describing himself as a servant, Jesus rejected that expectation for himself.

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 last two readings are the same in both Tracks.

Job 38:1-7, 34-41

Reading

1 The LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous (generally referred to as “Poet-Job”) and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. The Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Ha-Satan then upped the ante and asked the LORD to be allowed to inflict harm to Job’s body. YHWH told ha-Satan that he could not take Job’s life, and the Satan caused Job to have sores all over his body. Although Job’s wife encouraged Job to curse God and die, he persisted in his faithfulness.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the KJV translation of Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant.

In last week’s reading, Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

In today’s reading, YHWH appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that theophanies (appearances by the Divine in Scripture) are typically accompanied by a storm. The LORD overwhelmed Job by using rhetorical questions that point out all that Job did not know, including the creation of the world and the intricacies of the animal world.

Today’s reading is 14 verses of a diatribe that continued for four chapters, and includes two lengthy speeches by YHWH. The Jewish Study Bible points out that God’s speech contended that Job also had no right to demand explanations. In the text, God did not give Job a straight answer to his demand for a hearing.

The JSB goes on to say that neither God nor the book of Job provides an answer to the question why bad things happen to good people. Instead, The JSB editorializes: “The conclusion may be that we cannot know the ways of God, and that to insist that God act in a certain way is to limit God’s great power and knowledge. The effect of God’s speech is to put Job in his place, to awe him with God’s might.”

In the last Chapter in the Book (next week’s reading), God criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Isaiah 53:4-12

Reading

4 Surely, he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.
9 They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Commentary

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and, for the most part, gave encouragement to Judeans who returned to Jerusalem (which had been largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile.

Today’s reading is part of Second Isaiah and is one of the “Suffering Servant” songs, the longest of which is Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. The identity of the “Suffering Servant” is sometimes understood as the prophet Isaiah himself, but is more commonly is seen as Judea itself, whose suffering in the Exile (as the servant of YHWH) would lead to vindication by YHWH in the restoration to Jerusalem after 539 BCE.

The NOAB notes that “the servant’s sufferings and the violence inflicted on him were caused by the sins of others [v.5] and make atonement for sin.” “Unlike Jeremiah and Job, the servant suffered in silence.”

The JSB observes that in verses 11b-12, the LORD described the vindication of his servant and notes: “Either he [the servant] is saved from a fate like death, or he is actually described as being resurrected. In the latter case, his resurrection is probably a metaphor for the renewal of the nation at the end of the exile.”

The author of the Gospel According to Mark used many of the Suffering Servant themes to describe the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth and for the representation that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Hebrews 5:1-10

Reading

1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that Hebrews has a Platonic philosophical orientation resembling that of Philo of Alexandria and that it contains the New Testament’s most sophisticated Greek.

The NOAB and The JANT agree that the author sought to ground his arguments in scripture (using the Septuagint) to argue that Jesus is superior to the Jewish traditions. The JANT states: “Hebrews offers a distinct and elevated Christology. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to all other beings, including angels — he is uncreated, immortal, and permanent. He is also superior to all biblical heroes, including Moses and Abraham, as well as institutions like the Levitical priesthood. As both perfect sacrifice and heavenly priest who intercedes for humans, Jesus supersedes the Jewish sacrificial system, rendering it obsolete.”

The JANT continues: “Because Hebrews argues for Jesus’ superiority over all else and the obsolescence of the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai, it expresses what scholars call supersessionist theology. Supersessionism is the idea that Christ’s entry into human history replaces all that has come before, including God’s unique covenant bond with Israel. The same idea is sometimes referred to as rejection/replacement theology.”

The author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The Letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are (v.2). The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is). The JANT points out that in the First Century, the high priest was chosen by Roman authorities and served at their pleasure.

The quote in verse 5 (“You are my son”) is taken from Psalm 2:7, a psalm that is interpreted as relating to David and is seen as a coronation ode. The quote in verse 6 (“You are a priest forever”) is taken from Psalm 110:4 and is also regarded as applying to David. As seen in 2 Samuel 6 and 8, David sometimes assumed the role of a priest, and in 1 Kings 3:4, Solomon offered sacrifice at Gibeon.

The High Priest Melchizedek (v.6) appears only in Genesis 14 where he was identified as the King of Salem (an early name for Jerusalem). As a High Priest, Melchizedek offered bread and wine as a sacrifice and blessed Abram (before his name was changed to Abraham). The JANT points out that there was no special priestly branch known as “the Order of Melchizedek” and that the “Order” includes only Melchizedek and Jesus. The NOAB points out that the theme of Jesus the Christ as a High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek is expanded in Chapter 7 of the Letter.

The JANT observes that the idea of learning obedience through suffering (v.8) is found in 2 and 4 Maccabees, and that being made perfect through suffering (v.9) and as a way to atone for others was a prominent theme in 4 Maccabees, “an early Jewish text that became popular in Christian circles.”

Mark 10:35-45

Reading

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Commentary

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

Today’s reading follows Jesus’ telling “the twelve” (v.32) for the third time that the Son of Man would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and would be killed and after three days would rise again (v.34).

The NOAB observes that James and John’s request (v.37) showed that they either rejected or misunderstood Jesus’ mission and what Jesus had told them. The “cup” is the suffering that will be part of being a Jesus Follower, and in verses 42 to 44, Jesus expressed a view that, in contrast to the imperial practices of the Gentiles, Jesus Followers are called to be “servants” or “slaves.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that words used in the text are diakonos (literally, one who waits on tables) and doulos, an even humbler word than diakonos.

The NJBC notes: “In Matt 20:20, their [James’ and John’s] mother makes the request – probably part of Matthew’s attempt to tone down Mark’s negative portrait of the disciples.”

That the Son of Man would be a “ransom for many” (v.45) is derived from the Suffering Servant Songs of Isaiah 52-53. There are numerous theories about what these words mean. In the First Century (until 70 CE when the Temple was destroyed), animal sacrifice was being performed at the Temple. These sacrifices were offered for many different purposes – to offer thanksgiving to God, to atone for sins, and for establishing community among those offering the sacrifice.

In Christianity, there are different understandings of the meaning of the Crucifixion – that it was an example for Christians to be ready to offer themselves as a sacrifice for others and suffer by following Jesus’ example of being a servant to others by loving God and our neighbor; or that he died “for” our sins in the sense that Jesus died “because” of the sins which we share with the Roman Authorities and the Jewish Leaders who rejected his life and message.

In the 11th Century CE, Anselm of Canterbury developed the theory of “Substitutionary Atonement “ in which Jesus (as a perfect sacrifice) was seen as a “stand in” or substitute for all persons and that Jesus died to “square the account” with a God who was angry with humans because of Adam’s sin. This understanding of God as an angry God who demanded the killing of his Son is considered by many as inconsistent with an understanding of a God of Love who is merciful and forgiving.

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 last two readings are the same in both Tracks.

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Reading

1 Job said:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;
17 If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out: “Job is part of the Wisdom Literature – along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. As such, it does not focus on the nation Israel or on its great formative historical memories. Instead, Wisdom Literature is a reflection on universal human concerns – especially the understanding of individual experiences and the maintenance of ordered relationships.”

The NOAB goes on to say: “Job denies the inevitability of rewards for living an upright life and decisively refutes the idea that human suffering is always deserved.”

The authors of Job are collectively referred to as “Poet-Job.” They are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters sometimes refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the traditional (King James Version) translation of Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and – in some respects, defiant.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary understands todays reading as “entirely devoted to Job’s personal reflections and his search for God…. Job dwells on God’s inaccessibility and remoteness which makes it impossible for Job to ‘get through’ to him.” Job claimed that God was hiding (v.3) and had failed to intervene to prevent injustice. He said that if an “upright person” (v.7) could reason with God, he (Job) would be acquitted.

As the story will progress, Job will ask for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He will ask to confront God face-to-face.

Towards the end of the story, God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Reading

6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!

10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins — you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Commentary

After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with ten tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers. (A three-liter bottle of wine is called a “Jeroboam.”)

Amos was a cattle or sheep herder and also cared for fig trees in Judea (v. 7:14), but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos was the first of the “classical prophets” whose works have come down to us in the form of a book. He is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought in Israel about God.

Unlike many other prophets who condemned improper worship (cultic concerns), Amos was critical of social activities that involved ethical matters. He used vivid language and called for justice and righteousness, terms that deal with social equality and concern for the disadvantaged.

The writings included announcements that the “Day of the LORD” was imminent and urged that the special covenant with the LORD entailed special ethical responsibilities. Some of his presentations are indictments, some are exhortations, and others are visions.

Today’s reading is described by The New Oxford Annotated Bible as a lament for Israel. In it, Amos warned Israel — the “house of Joseph” (v.6) — and the city of Bethel (where there was a major shrine) of coming destruction if they did not change their ways. Amos warned that the powerful had turned justice into “wormwood” (v.7) – the leaves of which are very bitter. The Jewish Study Bible sees this section as a “dirge” that shows metaphorically that the nation is “dead” and observes that “the infractions [of Israel] are ethical rather than cultic.”

The “house of Joseph” is another name for the northern 10 tribes. Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) were each counted among the 12 tribes for the original division of the lands. The tribe of Levi (the priests) did not receive land, and Ephraim became the most powerful of the 10 Northern Tribes.

In ancient Israel, legal proceedings were held at the city’s gates, and Amos condemned the corruption of the legal system by the rich and the unjust treatment of the poor at the gate. Amos urged the leaders to “establish justice at the gate” (v.15) so that YHWH would be gracious to Israel, the “remnant of Joseph.”

In saying that the rich would not live in their homes or drink from their vineyards (v.11), the prophet was anticipating the conquest of the North (Israel) by the Assyrians in 722. The NOAB describes verse 11 as a “futility curse in which the connection between the actions and their expected effects are broken.”

Hebrews 4:12-16

Reading

12 The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that Hebrews has a Platonic philosophical orientation resembling that of Philo of Alexandria and that it contains the New Testament’s most sophisticated Greek.

The NOAB and The JANT agree that the author sought both to ground his arguments in scripture (using the Septuagint) to argue that Jesus is superior to Jewish traditions. The JANT states: “Hebrews offers a distinct and elevated Christology. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to all other beings, including angels — he is uncreated, immortal, and permanent. He is also superior to all biblical heroes, including Moses and Abraham, as well as institutions like the Levitical priesthood. As both perfect sacrifice and heavenly priest who intercedes for humans, Jesus supersedes the Jewish sacrificial system, rendering it obsolete.”

The JANT continues: “Because Hebrews argues for Jesus’ superiority over all else and the obsolescence of the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai, it expresses what scholars call supersessionist theology. Supersessionism is the idea that Christ’s entry into human history replaces all that has come before, including God’s unique covenant bond with Israel. The same idea is sometimes referred to as rejection/replacement theology.”

In today’s reading, the author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are. The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is).

The JANT offered an extended analysis of today’s reading. Verses 12 and 13 are “a severe, awe-inspiring characterization of the word of God (i.e., Scripture)…. It functions as a warning about the power of scripture to render judgment.”

Regarding the notion that God’s word can divide soul from spirit, The JANT says: “God’s word can separate what his seemingly indivisible. Soul from spirit, Gk ‘psych” and ‘pneuma.’ ‘Soul’ and ‘Spirit’ when used of persons are often synonymous in modern English, but in ancient Greek they refer to two distinct elements or substances that, together with the ‘body’ (‘soma’), make up a human being. ‘Psyche’ is typically understood as to be more intertwined with the body (or flesh) than is ‘pneuma.’ The Hebrew equivalent of ‘pneuma’ is ‘ruah.’ The words have different connotations but overlap in that both can mean ‘breath’ (as well as ‘wind’ and ‘spirit’ as a force outside of individual bodies). The closest equivalent to ‘psyche’ in Hebrew is ‘nephesh’ but the semantic difference between ‘psyche’ and ‘nephesh’ is greater than it is between ‘ruah’ and ‘pneuma.’ ‘Nephesh’ is not a distinctive element within a person; it is a person. As such, it is not separable from a person’s ‘body.’”

As to verse 13, The JANT says: “The word account in Greek is ‘logos’ and is rendered as ‘word’ in verse 12. The double use of ‘logos’ is an implicit argument that scripture demands that one give a personal account before God. Here it is used in the context of judgment before God.”

Regarding passed through the heavens (v.14), The JANT notes: “Special individuals like Enoch (Gen 5.24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2.1-12) experienced heavenly journeys. Ezekiel and Daniel have visions of heavenly journeys (Ezek 1; Dan 7). Heavenly journeys appear frequently in extra-biblical texts of the centuries surrounding the common era.”

Mark 10:17-31

Reading

17 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God, all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Commentary

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

Today’s reading presents a number of interpretive and textual issues.

The term “eternal life” (v.17) is treated as the equivalent of “entering the kingdom of God” (v.24).

Jesus’ rejoinder “Why do you call me good?” (v.18) may be part of Mark’s emphasis on the “Messianic Secret” – the notion that Jesus was not fully identifiable as the Messiah until after the Resurrection. By stating that only God is good, Jesus seems to be saying that he is not God. But for the Jesus Follower community to which the Gospel was directed, the hearers would understand the irony in the statement because of their belief that Jesus was divine.

In reciting the commandments, the author had Jesus choose from the second half of the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20 and added a new one: “You shall not defraud” (v.19).

In the Greek text of verse 21, the words “the money” are omitted, so the admonition is slightly modified to say, “sell what you own and give to the poor” (v.21).

Some ancient authorities modify verse 24 to say, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” If this addition is authentic, it juxtaposes “having wealth” (v.23) with “trusting in it.” (v. 24).

The verse about a camel passing through the eye of a needle (v.25) is regarded by some scholars as “peasant humor.” The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out: “Contrary to a commonly cited medieval legend, the is no narrow “Eye of the Needle” gate in Jerusalem. A Talmudic parallel uses a needle’s eye and an elephant to make the same point.”

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary points out that some ancient manuscripts substitute the word kamilon (meaning “rope”) for kamēlon (meaning “camel”) so that the phrase would be that it is difficult for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle.

It is not surprising that the disciples were perplexed (v.24) at the statement that it would be “hard” for those with wealth to enter the kingdom of God (v.23). In the First Century (as now), persons of substantial means (unless they are ill-gotten) are regarded as having been “blessed.”

Jesus’ reply to Peter’s concern (v.28) is confusing. It seems to say that “in this age” those who have sacrificed “for the sake of Jesus and the sake of the gospel” will receive back 100-fold all (except for fathers!) that they sacrificed. This obvious exaggeration appears cancelled out, however, by the persecutions the persons who have sacrificed will receive. The NJBC opines that the phrase “with persecutions” (v.30) appears to be a “Marcan editorial twist, suggesting that discipleship necessarily involves persecutions and suffering.”

In the age to come, those who sacrificed for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the good news (the gospel) will receive eternal life. The commentator in The New Oxford Annotated Bible described the last part of verse 30 as “a throw-away line mocking the rich man’s concern (v.17).”

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 last two readings are the same in both Tracks.

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

Reading

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

2:1 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out: “Job is part of the Wisdom Literature – along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. As such, it does not focus on the nation Israel or on its great formative historical memories. Instead, Wisdom Literature is a reflection on universal human concerns – especially the understanding of individual experiences and the maintenance of ordered relationships.”

The NOAB goes on to say: “Job denies the inevitability of rewards for living an upright life and decisively refutes the idea that human suffering is always deserved.”

The authors of Job are collectively referred to as “Poet-Job.” They are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters sometimes refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In today’s reading, Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz — usually regarded as somewhere south and east of Israel. The Jewish Study Bible says that it is a “poetic name for Edom (Lam.4.21)”.

The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, family, and riches. The Satan (ha-Satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that God was put in a “no-win” situation: “If God were to refuse the test which the Satan proposes, would it be a sign of fear that human beings serve him only for themselves (and then the Satan is right)? On the other hand, the acceptance of the Satan’s wager makes God almost ‘demonic,’ but we are meant to understand that the Lord trusts those who serve him, and this is Job’s opportunity.”

Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God, even though his wife urged him to do so. The NJBC observes that she had suffered all the losses with him and that Job was maintaining his relationship with God “for nothing.”

As the story progressed, his friends came to “comfort” him and relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears.

Job denied this reasoning and (contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11) Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant. He asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

At the end, God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering only results from some prior bad act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Genesis 2:18-24

Reading

18 The LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.

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

In Genesis, there are two Creation Stories. In the First Story (Gen. 1:1 to 2.4a), God created humankind (men and women) in God’s image on the sixth day and told them to be fruitful and multiply (1:27-28). God rested on the seventh day.

Today’s reading is part of the Second Account of Creation that begins in Gen. 2:4b. This Second Account is attributed to the “Jahwistic” Source and is generally dated to about 950 BCE. This Source presented God’s name as YHWH (translated with all capital letters as LORD or LORD God) and gave God many anthropomorphic qualities such as speaking with humans.

In this Second Creation Story, YHWH formed an earthling/human (in Hebrew, adam) from the fertile earth/humus (in Hebrew, adamah)(v.7). In today’s reading, the human “named” all other creatures (v.20). Naming something implied control over it. At the end of the reading, YHWH gave the human a “partner” (in Hebrew, ezer).

Ezer is not a word often used in the Bible, and it is usually used to refer to God as the “partner” of Israel. Accordingly, the partner/ezer (the female) of the adam should not be understood as being subordinate to the male. In today’s reading (somewhat amusingly), God created animals as the first attempt to find a helper/partner for the human, but then created a woman from the adam’s rib/substance to be the ezer of the man.

Verse 24 is quoted in today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark as a basis for prohibiting divorce.

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Reading

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

2:5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?

7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8 subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. 11 For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes that Hebrews has a Platonic philosophical orientation resembling that of Philo of Alexandria and that it contains the New Testament’s most sophisticated Greek.

The NOAB and The JANT agree that the author sought both to ground his arguments in scripture (using the Septuagint) to argue that Jesus is superior to the Jewish traditions. The JANT states: “Hebrews offers a distinct and elevated Christology. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to all other beings, including angels — he is uncreated, immortal, and permanent. He is also superior to all biblical heroes, including Moses and Abraham, as well as institutions like the Levitical priesthood. As both perfect sacrifice and heavenly priest who intercedes for humans, Jesus supersedes the Jewish sacrificial system, rendering it obsolete.”

The JANT continues: “Because Hebrews argues for Jesus’ superiority over all else and the obsolescence of the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai, it expresses what scholars call supersessionist theology. Supersessionism is the idea that Christ’s entry into human history replaces all that has come before, including God’s unique covenant bond with Israel. The same idea is sometimes referred to as rejection/replacement theology.”

In today’s reading, The JANT notes: “The author affirmed that the author and the audience understood themselves as rooted in the same lineage as any ancient or modern Jew would claim.”

The Son is the “exact imprint of God’s very being” (v.3) and participated in creation (just as Wisdom participated in creation as stated in Proverbs 8). The author described the Son as superior to the angels (vv.6-8), and re-interpreted Psalm 8:4-6 as referring to Jesus. The author stated that Jesus was made lower than the angels (as a human being) only “for a little while” (2:9).

The JANT notes that the references to “name” (1:4 and 2:12) were intended to evoke God’s name (in Hebrew, ha-Shem) which is treated with great reverence.

Mark 10:2-16

Reading

2 Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Commentary

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

The issue of divorce was a difficult one in the First Century. Mark noted that under Jewish Law (Deut.24:1-4 and Jer.3:8), only a husband could divorce his wife (v. 4), but Jesus emphasized the equality of marriage as described in Genesis 2:24 and noted that the permission for divorce in the Torah was given only because of “hardness of heart” (v.5). The JANT describes Mark’s position as “a legal move not unlike Paul’s argument of which scriptural passages take priority (Gal 3.17).”

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary suggests: “The question from the Pharisees may have been designed to draw Jesus into conflict with the much- divorced Herod Family.”

At this time, under Roman Law, both husbands and wives could divorce their spouses and the text recognizes this (vv. 11-12). In Matthew’s version of this discussion on divorce, Jesus gave an exception that a man could divorce his wife for unchastity (Matt. 19:9) but did not give the same exception for women.

The NOAB points out that the portion of the reading about little children is not about idealizing children but is an illustration of how one might receive the Kingdom of God. Children in the First Century had the lowest status in society and the Kingdom “belongs” to them (and to us) not by merit but by God’s love.

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.

Today, Track 1 offers two different readings from 1 Samuel 17 so there are a total of five readings.

1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49

Reading

1a The Philistines gathered their armies for battle. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!”

38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”

48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

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 story of the killing of Goliath appears twice in the Book of Samuel. The older version is in 2 Sam. 21:19, in which Goliath of Gath was killed by Elhanan, the son of a Bethlehemite. Today’s account is the better-known story. In the Bible, it follows an account in which Saul (who was being tormented by “an evil spirit”) sent messengers to Jesse (David’s father) to have David come to him to play his lyre for him. David’s music soothed Saul and the evil spirit departed from Saul when David played (16:23). David’s lyre playing became the basis for the fiction that David was the author of the psalms.

The description of Goliath is fearsome. The cubit was about 18” so he was 9 feet tall. His armor weighed about 130 pounds and his spear weighed 15 pounds. Scholars have noted that the shepherd boy vs. the giant incorporated many fairy tale motifs.

Having each side represented by a hero was not uncommon in literature, particularly in The Iliad in which Paris opposed Menelaus and Hector opposed Ajax.

In today’s reading, David was sent by Jesse to bring food to his three older brothers who were in Saul’s army. In this version of the Goliath story, it appeared that David met Saul for the first time when David volunteered to fight the Philistine (vv. 31-37). (As an attempt to reconcile the accounts, verse 15 – a later addition — suggests David was shuttling back and forth from playing his lyre for Saul and then returning to Bethlehem to watch the flocks.)

The promise by Saul to give his daughter in marriage (v.25) to the person who defeated Goliath was upheld, and one of David’s first wives was Michal (18:27). Michal loved David (18:20) and served him well for many years, choosing David over her father in some instances. The Jewish Study Bible points out: “Michal is the only woman in all biblical narrative of whom it is said that she loves a man.” She was later effectively banished because she criticized David for dancing naked in the streets of Jerusalem after he brought the Ark of Covenant there. (2 Sam.6:20-23.)

Referring to the Philistine as “uncircumcised” (v.26) was intended as an insult and may also reflect a later addition. In opposition to the Philistine’s taunts, David gave a theological speech about the power of YHWH (vv.45-47).

In today’s reading, David killed Goliath with a stone. In the verses that follow, David beheaded Goliath (v.51) and brought the head to Jerusalem (v.54). This is clearly an anachronism, because – according to another tradition — Jerusalem was not conquered by David until later (2 Sam. 5:6-9).

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16

Reading

57 On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

18:1 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.

10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand 11 and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.

Commentary

The alternative Track 1 Reading for today continued the account in Samuel after the killing of Goliath. It was derived from another source — as shown by the anomaly that David brought the Philistine’s head to Saul (v.57), even though v.54 said he brought it to Jerusalem. David’s introduction to Saul by Abner was presented as if it were the first meeting between David and Saul (Saul asked David who was his father in v.58), notwithstanding the stories in Chapter 16 and the conversation between David and Saul in Chapter 17.

Scholars agree that verses 1-5 are an insert to establish the depth of the relationship between Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David. The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that “loved” (v.3) implied political loyalty in addition to personal affection, and that Jonathan’s royal robe and armor represented his status as crown prince. Jonathan’s giving the robe and armor therefore depicted David as Saul’s true successor — a status achieved by the initiative of Jonathan himself. Throughout the Book of Samuel, David never usurped the throne or harmed Saul, even though he had opportunities to do so.

The omitted verses (6-9) stated that the women gave greater glory to David than to Saul because of David’s prowess in battle, and this made Saul angry and jealous of David (v.9).

This jealousy explained Saul’s throwing a spear at David while he was playing his lyre (v.11). Saul’s decision to put David in charge of a large army group (a “thousand”) was done because Saul was afraid to have David nearby and he hoped David might be killed in battle.

The relationship between David and Jonathan was developed in the balance of 1 Samuel, and Jonathan (like his sister, Michal) was loyal to David rather than his father.

One of the unspoken issues in the books of Samuel was the legitimacy of David’s accession to the throne. The JSB points out that by becoming Saul’s son-in-law, it gave David a right of succession, even though Saul’s own sons would have precedence. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary emphasizes that David’s accession to the throne was presented in these stories as the will of God, and that there was no justification for any charge of ruthless ambition.

Job 38:1-11

Reading

1 The LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—
9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Ha-Satan (the “adversary” – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made a wager with God and argued that Job was righteous only because he had health, family, and riches. Ha-Satan bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.

Ha-Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God. His friends came to “comfort” him and (using typical Deuteronomic thought) told him that his deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears.

Job denied this reasoning and (contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11) Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant. He asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

Today’s reading is the beginning of a four-chapter “response” by God to Job. The “response” is structured by the author (called “Poet-Job”) as a series of rhetorical questions from God to Job that demonstrated the complexity of created reality and presented an imaginative inspection of the cosmos. God did not, however, give Job a “straight answer” to his question. The NOAB points out that storms typically accompany a theophany and this answer came “out of the whirlwind” (v.1).

After the theophany (the appearance of God to Job), Job acknowledged his limitations as a human (“I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” – 42:6). The NOAB suggests that the words translated as “I despise myself” should probably be translated as “I relent” or “I recant.” It goes on to say that Job may be understood to say that he recanted and regretted mournfully, and that he was consoled about the limitations of the humanity.

In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored, he had another family, and the LORD told Job’s friends that they had not “spoken the truth about Me as did My servant Job” (42:7).

The Book of Job does not “answer” the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Bad things just happen, and humans cannot demand that a God of Mystery must act in a certain way in order to be “worthy” to be known as God.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Reading

1 As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.

Commentary

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.

Based on internal references in the two remaining letters to the Corinthians, scholars agree that Paul likely wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. The so-called Second Letter to the Corinthians is composed of fragments of these letters.

Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians was sometimes strained (2:2-4). In today’s reading, Paul relied on Isaiah 49:8 in which the prophet, speaking for YHWH, told the Judeans that “on a day of salvation” they would be delivered from the Babylonian Exile. Paul used this verse to urge the Corinthians to accept God’s grace as an inbreaking of salvation.

He continued his defense of his ministry (v.3), enumerated his sufferings (v.4-5), defended his works (v.6-7), and countered charges against him (v.8-10). He claimed that his affection for the Corinthians was unrestricted, but the affections of the Corinthians were limited (v.11).

The NOAB observes that Paul’s use of contrasting pairs in verses 8-10 are not paradoxes to show that he was imperturbable (like an ideal sage in Stoic philosophy) but were antitheses to refute charges made against him. It sees these verses as a summary of his self-defense that began in chapter 2.

The NJBC understands Paul’s use of the words “sorrowful” (v.10) and “poor” as demonstrating his refusal to accept support from the Corinthians – a notion that had been used by his opponents to prove that he was not an apostle.

Mark 4:35-41

Reading

35 When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Commentary

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

Today’s reading (and readings that follow up to Chapter 8) emphasize Jesus’ connection to both Moses and Elijah with sea crossings, exorcisms, healings, and wilderness feedings. These actions occur in the face of opposition and the disciples’ misunderstandings about the person of Jesus and his ministry.

In today’s story, Jesus was going from the Jewish/Western side of the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile/Eastern side. Like Jonah, Jesus was asleep in the boat during a storm. The disciples were presented here (and elsewhere) by Mark as uncomprehending, weak-willed or cowardly. The boat may also be a symbol for the small Jesus Follower community in 70 CE.

The sea was often portrayed as a metaphor for confusion or chaos. Control of the sea and the restoration of order (shalom) was seen as a divine power.

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.

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Reading

1 Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. 17 And Job died, old and full of days.

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of James 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant.

Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

In last week’s reading, YHWH appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. The speech of YHWH continued for four chapters and demonstrated Poet-Job’s extraordinary knowledge of science, biology, and the intricacies of animals and fish.

In today’s reading, Job “answered” YHWH. He quoted YHWH in verse 3 and acknowledged that he had spoken of matters he “did not understand.” Recognizing that he had heard and “seen” God, he said “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (v.6).

Some scholars suggest that instead of “I despise myself,” a better translation is “I relent” or “I recant” and that “repent in dust and ashes” can be better understood as “recant and regret mournfully” (i.e. upon dust and ashes). Another way to understand the reference to “dust and ashes” is that Job recognized that he is a mortal, mere dust and ashes.

In the omitted verses, God was “incensed” (v.7) at Job’s friends for the positions taken by them that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer or his forebears. YHWH said that Job had been right (v.7) about his innocence and that his suffering came from God.

In the rest of the Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored, he fathered a new family and died contented. It does not mention if his illness was cured, but his long life (140 years) implies that he was made healthy again.

Jeremiah 31:7-9

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.

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 “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 (“Ephraim” – the son of Joseph and the most powerful Northern Tribe) and Judea (“the remnant”).

The prophet uses “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably because Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel” when he wrestled with an angel/God in Genesis 32.

Hebrews 7:23-28

Reading

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written sometime after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced many important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are. The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing
process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is).

Today’s reading continued the theme of Jesus of Nazareth as the high priest of the Order of Melchizedek. The first part of Chapter 7 described Melchizedek and recounted that Abraham treated Melchizedek as a superior (v.7).

The author discussed the differences between the high priests of the tribe of Levi (“priests of Aaron”) (v.11) who were imperfect and who died, and the priesthood of Jesus. Because of the Resurrection, Jesus holds his priesthood permanently and without weakness. His offering of himself was once and for all (v.27). He was appointed “by word of [God’s] oath” (v.28) (citing Ps. 110.4), rather than by the law (which appointed the Levites as priests) and is the Son who is perfect forever.

The author of Hebrews accepted the commonly held views that the Torah was written at Sinai before the Psalms were written by David. Therefore, the appointment of Jesus a high priest in Psalm 110:4 was “superior” to the appointment of the Levites as priests.

Mark 10:46-52

Reading

46 Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Commentary

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

Today’s reading presents Bartimaeus whose name means “son of Timaeus.” Unlike the disciples who seem to be blind, Bartimaeus has “faith” (v.52) and he follows “the way” after his sight is restored.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes: “Son of David have mercy on me was likely a standardized form of words in a petitionary prayer. Some Jewish healers healed in the name of Solomon, the original son of David.” The JANT observes that both Matthew and Luke gave Joseph a genealogy that included David, but that “Mark does not have any such information.”

Referring to a person as a “Son of David” would also have created an expectation that the person would restore the fortunes of Israel, In describing himself as a servant, Jesus rejected that expectation for himself.

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.

Job 38:1-7, 34-41

Reading

1 The LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant.

Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

In today’s reading, YHWH appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know.

Later in the Book, God criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Isaiah 53:4-12

Reading

4 Surely, he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

9 They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.

11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.
because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Commentary

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and, for the most part, gave encouragement to Judeans who returned to Jerusalem (which had been largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile.

Today’s reading is part of Second Isaiah and is one of the “Suffering Servant” songs, the longest of which is Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. The identity of the “Suffering Servant” is sometimes understood as the prophet Isaiah but is more commonly is seen as Judea itself, whose suffering in the Exile (as the servant of YHWH) would lead to vindication by YHWH in the restoration to Jerusalem after 539 BCE.

The author of the Gospel According to Mark used many of the Suffering Servant themes to describe the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth and for the representation that “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Hebrews 5:1-10

Reading

1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written sometime after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced many important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

The author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are. The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing
process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is).

The quote in verse 5 is taken from Psalm 2:7, a psalm that is interpreted as relating to David and is seen as a coronation ode. The quote in verse 6 is taken from Psalm 110:4 and is also regarded as applying to David. As seen in 2 Samuel 6 and 8, David sometimes assumed the role of a priest, and in 1 Kings 3:4, Solomon offered sacrifice at Gibeon.

The High Priest Melchizedek (v.6) appears only in Genesis 14 where he was identified as the King of Salem (an early name for Jerusalem). As a High Priest, Melchizedek offered bread and wine as a sacrifice and blessed Abram (before his name was changed to Abraham).

Mark 10:35-45

Reading

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Commentary

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

Today’s reading follows Jesus’ telling “the twelve” (v.32) for the third time that the Son of Man would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and would be killed and after three days would rise again (v.34).

James and John’s request (v.37) showed that they either rejected or misunderstood Jesus’ mission and what Jesus had told them. The “cup” is the suffering that will be part of being a Jesus Follower, and in verses 42 to 44, Jesus expressed a view that, in contrast to the imperial practices of the Gentiles, Jesus Followers are called to be “servants” or “slaves.”

That the Son of Man would be a “ransom for many” (v.45) is derived from the Suffering Servant Songs of Isaiah 52-53. There are numerous theories about what these words mean. In the First Century (until 70 CE when the Temple was destroyed), animal sacrifice was being performed at the Temple. These sacrifices were offered for many different purposes – to offer thanksgiving to God, to atone for sins, and for establishing community among those offering the sacrifice.

In Christianity, there are different understandings of the meaning of the Crucifixion – that it was an example for Christians to be ready to be sacrificed and suffer for following Jesus’ example of being a servant to others by loving God and our neighbor; or that he died “for” our sins in the sense that Jesus died “because” of the sins which we share with the Roman Authorities and the Jewish Leaders who rejected his life and message.

In the 11th Century CE, Anselm of Canterbury developed the theory of “Substitutionary Atonement “ in which Jesus (as a perfect sacrifice) was seen as a “stand in” or substitute for all persons and that Jesus died to “square the account” with a God who was angry with humans because of Adam’s sin. This understanding of God as an angry God who demanded the killing of his Son is considered by many as inconsistent with an understanding of a God of Love who is merciful and forgiving.

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.

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Reading

1 Job said:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;
17 If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!”

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth. Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.

Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).

Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing.

Contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant.

In today’s reading, Job claimed that God was hiding (v.3) and had failed to intervene to prevent injustice. As the book will progress, Job will ask for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He will ask to confront God face-to-face.

At the end, God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Reading

6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!

10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins — you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Commentary

After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with ten tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers. (A three-liter bottle of wine is called a “Jeroboam.”)

Amos was a cattle or sheep herder and also cared for fig trees in Judea (v.14), but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought in Israel about God. Unlike many other prophets who condemned improper worship (cultic concerns), Amos was critical of social activities that involved ethical matters.

In today’s reading, Amos warned Israel (the “house of Joseph”) and the city of Bethel (where there was a major shrine) of coming destruction if they did not change their ways. Amos warned that the powerful had turned justice into “wormwood” (v.7) – the leaves of which are very bitter.

The “house of Joseph” is another name for the northern 10 tribes. Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) were each counted among the 12 tribes for the original division of the lands. The tribe of Levi (the priests) did not receive land, and Ephraim became the most powerful of the 10 Northern Tribes.

In ancient Israel, legal proceedings were held at the city’s gates, and Amos condemned the corruption of the legal system by the rich and the unjust treatment of the poor at the gate. He urged the leaders to “establish justice at the gate” (v.15) so that YHWH would be gracious to Israel, the “remnant of Joseph.”

In saying that the rich would not live in their homes or drink from their vineyards (v.11), the prophet was anticipating the conquest of the North (Israel) by the Assyrians in 722.

Hebrews 4:12-16

Reading

12 The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written sometime after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced many important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

In today’s reading, the author interpreted the life, death, and heavenly role of Jesus through the category of the “high priest’ who perfected the ancient sacrificial system of Judaism (which ended when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE).

The letter emphasized that Jesus (as high priest) was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he (as a human) had been tested as we are. The presentation of Jesus as high priest in the Letter to the Hebrews is unique in the Christian Scriptures and reflected the continuing process in early Christianity of developing images to describe who and what Jesus of Nazareth was (and is).

Mark 10:17-31

Reading

17 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God, all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Commentary

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

Today’s reading presents a number of interpretive and textual issues.

The term “eternal life” (v.17) is treated as the equivalent of “entering the kingdom of God” (v.24).

Jesus’ rejoinder “Why do you call me good?” (v.18) may be part of Mark’s emphasis on the “Messianic Secret” – the notion that Jesus was not fully identifiable as the Messiah until after the Resurrection. By stating that only God is good, Jesus seems to be saying that he is not God. But for the Jesus Follower community to which the Gospel is directed, the hearers would understand the irony in the statement because of their belief that Jesus was divine.

In reciting the commandments, Jesus chose from the second half of the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus and added a new one: “You shall not defraud” (v.19).

In the Greek text of verse 21, the words “the money” are omitted, so the admonition is slightly modified to say, “sell what you own and give to the poor” (v.21).

Some ancient authorities modify verse 24 to say, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” If this addition is authentic, it juxtaposes “having wealth” (v.23) with “trusting in it.” (v. 24).

The verse about a camel passing through the eye of a needle (v.25) is regarded by some scholars as “peasant humor.” The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out: “Contrary to a commonly cited medieval legend, the is no narrow “Eye of the Needle” gate in Jerusalem. A Talmudic parallel uses a needle’s eye and an elephant to make the same point.”

It is not surprising that the disciples were perplexed (v.24) at the statement that it would be “hard” for those with wealth to enter the kingdom of God (v.23). In the First Century (as now), persons of substantial means (unless they are ill-gotten) are regarded as having been “blessed.”

Jesus’ reply to Peter’s concern (v.28) is confusing. It seems to say that “in this age” those who have sacrificed “for the sake of Jesus and the sake of the gospel” will receive back 100-fold all (except for fathers!) that they sacrificed. This obvious exaggeration appears cancelled out, however, by the persecutions the persons who have sacrificed will receive.

In the age to come, those who sacrificed for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the good news (gospel) will receive eternal life. The commentator in The New Oxford Annotated Bible described the last part of verse 30 as “a throw-away line mocking the rich man’s concern (v.17).”

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.

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

Reading

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

2:1 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Commentary

The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. Job was presented as a righteous person (in right relation with God and others) and as a non-Jew living in the land of Uz (somewhere in what is now Saudi Arabia).

Its authors are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 7th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters do refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.

In today’s reading the Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, family, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.

Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God. As the story will progress, his friends will come to “comfort” him and will rely on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears.

Job denied this reasoning and (contrary to the claim in the traditional translation of Jas. 5:11) Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and in some respects, defiant. He asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God.” He asked to confront God face-to-face.

At the end, God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering only results from some prior bad act of the sufferer. In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.

Genesis 2:18-24

Reading

18 The LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.

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

In Genesis, there are two Creation Stories. In the First Story (Gen. 1:1 to 2.4a), God created humankind (men and women) in God’s image on the sixth day and told them to be fruitful and multiply (1:27-28). God rested on the seventh day.

Today’s reading is part of the Second Account of Creation that began in Gen. 2:4b. This Second Account is attributed to the “Jahwistic” Source and is generally dated to about 950 BCE. This Source presented God’s name as YHWH (translated with all capital letters as LORD or LORD God) and gave God many anthropomorphic qualities such as speaking with humans.

In this Second Creation Story, YHWH formed an earthling/human (in Hebrew, adam) from the fertile earth/humus (in Hebrew, adamah). In today’s reading, the human “named” all other creatures (v.20). Naming something implied control over it. At the end of the reading, YHWH gave the human a “partner” (in Hebrew, ezer).

Ezer is not a word often used in the Bible, and it is usually used to refer to God as the “partner” of Israel. Accordingly, the partner/ezer (the female) of the adam should not be understood as being subordinate to the male. In today’s reading (somewhat amusingly), God created animals as the first attempt to find a helper/partner for the human, but then created a woman from the adam’s rib/substance to be the ezer of the man.

Verse 24 is quoted in today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark as a basis for prohibiting divorce.

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Reading

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

2:5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?

7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8 subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. 11 For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Commentary

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon addressed to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers which urged them to maintain their Faith in the face of persecution.

Although the Letter to the Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul, most scholars agree that it was written some time after Paul’s death in 63 CE, but before 100 CE. The letter introduced a number of important theological themes. The first four chapters explored the word of God spoken through the Son.

In today’s reading, the author affirmed that the Son is the “exact imprint of God’s very being” (v.3) and participated in creation (just as Wisdom participated in creation as stated in Proverbs 8). He described the Son as superior to the angels, and re-interpreted Psalm 8:4-6 as referring to Jesus. The author stated that Jesus was made lower than the angels (as a human being) only “for a little while” (2:9).

Mark 10:2-16

Reading

2 Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Commentary

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

The issue of divorce was a difficult one in the First Century. Mark noted that under Jewish Law, only a husband could divorce his wife (v. 4), but Jesus emphasized the equality of marriage as described in Genesis 2:24 and noted that the permission for divorce in the Torah was given only because of “hardness of heart” (v.5). At this time, under Roman Law, both husbands and wives could divorce their spouses and the text recognizes this (vv. 11-12). In Matthew’s version of this discussion on divorce, Jesus gave an exception that a man could divorce his wife for unchastity (Matt. 19:9) but did not give the same exception for women.

The portion of the reading about little children is not about idealizing children but is an illustration of how one might receive the Kingdom of God. Children in the First Century had the lowest status in society and the Kingdom “belongs” to them (and to us) not by merit but by God’s love.