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December 26, 2018

Mary ponders this (Lk 2:19-2:19)

“But Mary

Treasured

All these words.

She pondered them

In her heart.”

 

ἡ δὲ Μαρία πάντα συνετήρει τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα συνβάλλουσα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς.

 

Luke said that Mary (ἡ δὲ Μαρία) treasured all these words or matters about Jesus (συνετήρει τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα).  She pondered (συνβάλλουσα) them in her heart (ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς).  Mary was very self-reflective on what was going on around her.  How would Luke know this?  Apparently, this infancy story was around before the time of Luke’s writing.  There is no question that this infancy story is written from the perspective of Mary.

 

June 9, 2018

The absentee land owner of the vineyard (Mt 21:33-21:33)

“Listen to another parable!

There was a landowner

Who planted a vineyard.

He put a fence around it.

He dug a wine press in it.

He built a watchtower.

Then he leased it

To tenants.

He went away

To another country.”

 

Ἄλλην παραβολὴν ἀκούσατε. Ἄνθρωπος ἦν οἰκοδεσπότης ὅστις ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθηκεν καὶ ὤρυξεν ἐν αὐτῷ ληνὸν καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργον, καὶ ἐξέδετο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς, καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν.

 

This parable of the absentee landowner can be found in Mark, chapter 12:1, word for word, and Luke, chapter 20:9, almost word for word.  Jesus wanted them to listen to another parable or story (Ἄλλην παραβολὴν ἀκούσατε) about a male landowner (Ἄνθρωπος ἦν οἰκοδεσπότης), who planted a vineyard (ὅστις ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα).  He then put a fence around it (καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθηκεν) and dug a wine press in it (καὶ ὤρυξεν ἐν αὐτῷ ληνὸν).  He even built a fortified watchtower (καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργον).  This seemed like a very nice vineyard.  This was reminiscent of the allegory of the vineyard of Isaiah, chapter 5:1-2.  Isaiah had a song about a friend’s fertile field.  He also dug out stones and planted choice vines.  He put a tower in the middle to look over the vineyard with a carved wine vat there also.  However, he got bad grapes instead of good grapes.  Clearly, he did not get what he expected.  However, this landowner here leased his land or rented it to farmer tenants (καὶ ἐξέδετο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς).  Then he left that region and went away to another country (ἀπεδήμησεν).  These last two things, renting and leaving the land will cause him a problem.

March 29, 2017

Ezekiel builds a model of Jerusalem unde siege (Ezek 4:1-4:3)

“You!

O son of man!

Take a brick!

Set it before you!

Portray a city on it,

Jerusalem!

Put the siege works

Against it!

Build a siege wall

Against it!

Cast up a ramp

Against it!

Set camps also

Against it!

Plant battering rams

Against it all around!

Then take an iron plate!

Place it

As an iron wall

Between you

And the city!

Set your face

Toward it!

Let it be

In a state of siege!

Press the siege

Against it!

This is a sign

For the house of Israel.”

Here we have the one of the many symbolic actions by Ezekiel. A voice, either Yahweh or his Spirit, told Ezekiel to be an expert model Lego builder of the siege of Jerusalem. Ezekiel, the son of man, was to take a brick and portray the city of Jerusalem. He was to put the siege works with a siege wall against this city. He was to put a ramp and camps against this city with battering rams all around it. Then he was to take an iron plate and make an iron wall between himself and the city, looking at it. Thus there was a state of siege, a sign for the house of Israel. Ezekiel was part of the exiles from 598 BCE before the taking of Jerusalem and the second captivity in 587 BCE.

July 15, 2016

The darkness (Isa 8:21-8:22)

“They will pass through the land.

They will be greatly distressed.

They will be hungry.

When they are hungry,

They will be enraged.

They will curse their king.

They will curse their gods.

They will turn their faces upward.

Or they will look to the earth.

But they will see only distress.

They will see only darkness.

They will see only the gloom of anguish.

They will be thrust into thick darkness.”

Isaiah has some kind of dark night march. These soldiers were greatly distressed, as they passed through some unnamed land. They were hungry. Thus they were mad at their king and their gods. Whether they looked up or just around them on earth, they could only see distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish. They seemed to be in some kind of thick darkness.

February 22, 2016

The earth around us (Eccl 1:4-1:7)

“A generation goes.

A generation comes.

But the earth remains forever.

The sun rises.

The sun goes down.

The sun hastens to the place

Where it rises.

The wind blows to the south.

The wind goes around to the north.

Round and round goes the wind.

On its circuits

The wind returns.

All streams run to the sea.

But the sea is not full.

They continue to flow

To the place where the streams flow.

There they continue to flow.”

This is a stunning appreciation of creation. Generations of humans come and go, but the earth remains forever in a static flat world concept. The sun rises and sets every day. There was no thought that the earth was moving around a static sun. The wind blew in from the north to south and then around and around again. The wind, as we know, blows in various directions. The streams do run to the sea, and not vice versa. However, the seas never seem to fill up because there is osmosis. No matter what, the streams continue to flow to where they want to go, usually downhill because of gravity. Thus this poetic expression of creation uses the scientific assumptions of its day, not those of the later scientific age.

January 5, 2016

The importance of paternal commandments (Prov 6:20-6:22)

“My child!

Keep your father’s commandment!

Do not forsake your mother’s teaching!

Bind them upon your heart always!

Tie them around your neck!

When you walk,

They will lead you.

When you lie down,

They will watch over you.

When you awake,

They will talk with you.

The commandment is a lamp.

The teaching is a light.

The reproofs of discipline are the way of life.”

Now we are back at parental advice and the importance of fatherly commandments and motherly teachings. The opening phrases are a repeat from chapters 1 and 3 of these Proverbs. You were to keep these commandments in your heart. You were to tie them around your neck. Thus whenever you were walking, these teachings would lead you. When you would lie down, these teachings would watch over you. When you were awake, these teachings would speak with you. These commandments would be a constant reminder in your life, whether you were awake or not, whether you were moving or not. The paternal commandment was like a lamp, while the maternal teaching was like a light. Both of them lit up your life. They provided you the corrective discipline to guide you in your way of life.

September 4, 2015

Sing to Yahweh in the Temple (Ps 27:6-27:6)

“Now my head is lifted up above.

My enemies are all around me.

I will offer in his tent

Sacrifices with shouts of joy.

I will sing.

I will make melody to Yahweh.”

David’s head was lifted above all his enemies who were all around him. He was going to offer sacrifices in the tent or Temple of Yahweh. He was going to sing and make melody to Yahweh. However, the problem was that only the Levites and priests could make the sacrifices in the Temple. David was not a Levite.

August 25, 2015

Yahweh and the sun (Ps 19:4-19:6)

“In the heavens,

He has set a tent for the sun.

The sun comes out

Like a bridegroom

From his wedding canopy.

The sun is like a strong man

Who runs his course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens.

Its circuit is to the end of them.

There is nothing hid from its heat.”

This is almost a hymn to the sun. However, Yahweh is in control of the sun. Clearly this sun is revolving around the earth. The sun comes out like a bridegroom from a wedding canopy. What a description of a sunrise! The sun is like a strong man who cannot be deterred from his course that he runs with joy. The sun rises at one end and does a circuit to the other end of heaven or the sky. Nothing can hide from the heat of the sun.

July 29, 2015

The hymn to the divine power over the climate (Job 36:24-36:37)

“Remember to extol his work!

Men have sung to his work.

All people have looked on it.

Everyone watches it from far away.

Surely God is great!

We do not know him.

The number of his years is unsearchable.

He draws up the drops of water.

He distils his mist in rain.

The skies pour down rain.

Rain drops upon mortals abundantly.

Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds?

Can anyone understand the thundering of his pavilion?

See!

He scatters his lightning around him.

He covers the roots of the sea.

For by these he judges peoples.

He gives food in abundance.

He covers his hands with the lightning.

He commands it to strike the mark.

Its crashing tells about him.

He is jealous with anger against iniquity.”

Elihu wanted Job to understand and extol the power of God over the climate we live in. Interesting enough I began working on this the day that Pope Francis I issued his encyclical on the climate “Laudato Si.” Yet here, Elihu in his hymn clearly sees God as the controller of the climate. God controls the rain, so that quite often we pray to God for more or less rain. This is especially true in strong farming communities. They also pray for good harvests from the land. We have seen both drought and over flooding this year in the USA. God has control over thunder and lightning as well as the seas.   God is jealous and angry against the wicked. Perhaps we do not pray to God enough about the climate. Just as we have moved from the poetic flat world concept of sunrise and sunset to the earth moving around the sun, so too we might see climate as not the poetic unique concern of God alone, but see the impact of human actions on the climate also.

July 22, 2015

Job remembers the good old days (Job 29:1-29:6)

“Job again took up his discourse.

He said.

‘O that I were as in the months of old.

As in the days when God watched over me,

When his lamp shone over my head,

By his light I walked through darkness.

As I was in my prime,

When the friendship of God was upon my tent,

When the Almighty Shaddai was still with me,

When my children were around me,

When my steps were washed with milk,

The rock poured out for me streams of oil!’”

Now it is back to the old complaining Job. Once again this is a solemn discourse, not a mere complaint with his friends. This time he was reminiscing about the “good old days.” God was watching over him as his head had something like a lamp around it. Job was able to walk through darkness because God liked him in his tent. He was in the prime years of his life. The friendship of the almighty Shaddai was still with him. His children were all around him. His steps were washed with milk, while oil gushed out of rocks. In other words, these were metaphors for the fact that he was prosperous and happy.