answering

May 16, 2019

Will God delay? (Lk 18:7-18:7)

“Will not God

Grant justice

To his chosen ones

Who cry to him

Day and night?

Will he delay long

In helping them?”

 

ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν βοώντων αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός, καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς;

 

Luke is the only synoptic writer with this parable about the widow and the bad judge.  Luke had Jesus bring this parable to a conclusion with a comment about God.  He wondered whether God (ὁ δὲ Θεὸς) would grant justice (οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν) to his chosen ones (τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ) who cried to him (τῶν βοώντων αὐτῷ) day and night (ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός)?  Would God delay long in helping them (καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς)?  The comparison was explicit.  Jesus said that God would grant justice to his chosen ones who petitioned him day and night.  Their persistence prayer would pay off.  God would not delay in helping them and answering their prayers for justice.  Has God answered your persistent prayers?

October 7, 2018

What did Moses say? (Mk 10:3-10:3)

“Jesus answered them.

‘What did Moses

Command you?’”

 

ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Τί ὑμῖν ἐνετείλατο Μωϋσῆς;

 

This questioning and answering of the Pharisees about divorce can also be found in Matthew, chapter 19:3-9, particularly 7-8.  However, it was the Pharisees who brought up Moses, not Jesus there.  Here, Mark said that Jesus answered them (ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς), by asking his own question about Moses.  What did Moses command or instruct them to do (Τί ὑμῖν ἐνετείλατο Μωϋσῆς)?

May 28, 2018

The response of Jesus about divorce (Mt 19:8-19:9)

“Jesus said to them.

‘It was because

You were so hard-hearted

That Moses allowed you

To divorce your wives.

But from the beginning,

It was not so.

I say to you!

Whoever divorces his wife,

Except for sexual immorality,

Then marries another,

Commits adultery.’”

 

λέγει αὐτοῖς Ὅτι Μωϋσῆς πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν· ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως.

λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην, μοιχᾶται.

 

This questioning and answering of the Pharisees about divorce can also be found partially in Mark, chapter 10:5, where there was no equivalent verse about an exception.  Jesus responded to the Pharisees (λέγει αὐτοῖς).  He said that Moses allowed them to divorce their wives (Ὅτι Μωϋσῆς …ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν) because they were so hard-hearted, perverse, and obstinate (πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν).  However, as he had noted earlier, this was not so from the beginning, (ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως).  Then in a solemn proclamation (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν) he said that whoever divorced his wife and married another woman committed adultery (ὅτι ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ…καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην, μοιχᾶται), except for the sexual immorality or fornication (μὴ ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ) of his wife.  Jesus had taken the stronger stance of no divorce, but gave one exception, the sexual misconduct of the wife, much like some of the stricter Jewish rabbis at that time.

May 27, 2018

Moses and divorce (Mt 19:7-19:7)

“The Pharisees said

To Jesus.

‘Why then did Moses

Command us

To give

A certificate of dismissal?

To divorce her?’”

 

έγουσιν αὐτῷ Τί οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καὶ ἀπολῦσαι;

 

This questioning and answering of the Pharisees about divorce can also be found in Mark, chapter 10:3-4, almost word for word, with some minor changes, where Jesus asked this question instead of the Pharisees.  Here the Pharisees asked Jesus (έγουσιν αὐτῷ) why did Moses command or instruct them (Τί οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο) to give a certificate of dismissal or divorce (δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καὶ ἀπολῦσαι)?  The reference to Moses here is from Deuteronomy, chapter 24:1-4, where there was talk about a certificate of divorce, and the possibility of many marriages.  This certificate was called in Hebrew a “get.”  Clearly divorce for a man was okay.  However, after the second marriage there was a defilement.  This command or instruction of Moses would appear to contradict what Jesus had said about the Genesis story and marriage.

April 20, 2018

The hidden things from the wise ones (Mt 11:25-11:25)

“At that time,

Jesus said.

‘I thank you!

Father!

Lord of heaven

And earth!

You have hidden

These things

From the wise ones

And the intelligent ones.

You have revealed them

To unlearned little ones.”

 

Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, Πάτερ, Κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν, καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις·

 

Then Matthew has Jesus say that the unlearned little one had received revelation, but the wise and intelligent ones did not understand them.  Luke, chapter 10:21, has a similar statement, indicating a possible common Q source.  Mathew used the transition phrase “At that time” (Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ).  Jesus was answering people (ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν).  He said thank you to his Father, the Lord of heaven and earth (εἶπεν Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, Πάτερ, Κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς).  He had hidden these things from the wise and intelligent ones (ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν).  However, he revealed them to the unlearned little ones (καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις).  Somehow, the unwise ones were the ones who got God’s revelation, while the wise and intelligent ones did not understand them, because God had hidden it from them.

April 25, 2016

Be firm (Sir 5:8-5:12)

“Do not depend on dishonest wealth.

It will not benefit you

In the day of calamity.

Do not winnow with every wind.

Do not follow every path.

Stand firm for what you know.

Let your speech be consistent.

Be quick to hear.

But be deliberate in answering.

If you know what to say,

Answer your neighbor.

But if you do not know,

Put your hand on your mouth.”

Now the righteous person is asked to stand firm. They should not depend on dishonest wealth to benefit them in the days of their trouble. They were not to follow every wind and every path. They should stand firm for what they know. Their speech should be consistent. They should be quick to listen, but deliberate in answering. If they know what to say, say so. However, if they do not know what to say, they should put their hand over their mouth and be silent.

July 14, 2015

Job calls out his friends for lying (Job 21:27-21:34)

“O, I know your thoughts.

I know your schemes to wrong me.

For you say.

‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked live?’

Have you not asked those who travel the roads?

Do you not accept their testimony?

The wicked are spared in the day of calamity.

The wicked are rescued in the day of wrath.

Who declares their way to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

When are they carried to the grave?

A watch is kept over their tomb.

The clods of the valley are sweet to them.

Everyone will follow after.

Those who went before are innumerable.

How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Job continued to respond to his detractors. In the end he called them liars. They were trying to wrong him. Where was the house of the wicked? Where were their tents? Ask anyone you meet on the roads. The wicked will be rescued and spared from disaster on the day of wrath. Who got in their face? Who repaid them for what they did? The wicked dead ones have a grave, a tomb, and someone to watch over them. There were many examples of this. He did not want them to try to comfort him with empty sayings. They were answering falsely.