explicit mention

February 15, 2019

Jesus was preaching the good news (Lk 8:1-8:1)

“Soon afterward,

Jesus went traveling

Through cities

And villages.

He was preaching

And bringing

The good news

Of the kingdom

Of God.

The twelve apostles

Were with him.”

 

Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ καθεξῆς καὶ αὐτὸς διώδευεν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κώμην κηρύσσων καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενος τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ δώδεκα σὺν αὐτῷ,

 

Luke uniquely said that soon after naming his apostles (Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ καθεξῆς), Jesus went traveling through the various cities and villages (καὶ αὐτὸς διώδευεν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κώμην).  He was preaching (κηρύσσων) by proclaiming the good news (καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενος) about the kingdom of God (τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ).  His newly named Twelve apostles were with him also (καὶ οἱ δώδεκα σὺν αὐτῷ).  While there is no explicit mention of this elsewhere, the other gospels often said that Jesus went from place to place preaching the good news of the kingdom of God with his apostles and disciples.  Do you think that people should go from place to place preaching about the good news of the kingdom of God?

November 15, 2018

Remove this cup (Mk 14:36-14:36)

“Jesus said.

‘Abba!

Father!

All things are possible

For you!

Remove this cup

From me!

Yet,

Not what I want,

But what you want.’”

 

καὶ ἔλεγεν Ἀββᾶ ὁ Πατήρ, πάντα δυνατά σοι· παρένεγκε τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ· ἀλλ’ οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλὰ τί σύ.

 

This is almost word for word in Matthew, chapter 26:36.  In Luke, chapter 22:42, it is somewhat similar, while in John, chapter 22, there were no indications of this prayer in the garden.  Here there is an explicit mention of both the “Father” and the “cup of suffering”.  Mark recounted that Jesus prayed directly to his Father, using the Aramaic “Abba” for the word father but then immediately explained its meaning (καὶ ἔλεγεν Ἀββᾶ ὁ Πατήρ).  Anything was possible with the Father (πάντα δυνατά σοι).  He wanted the Father to remove or take away this cup of suffering from him (παρένεγκε τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ).  However, he was willing to do whatever the Father wanted, because his will was second to his Father (ἀλλ’ οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλὰ τί σύ).  Clearly, Jesus subordinated his will to the will of his heavenly Father.

October 5, 2018

Give water in the name of Christ (Mk 9:41-9:41)

“Whoever gives you

A cup of water

To drink,

Because you bear

The name of Christ,

Truly!

I say to you!

He will

By no means

Lose his reward.”

 

Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποτίσῃ ὑμᾶς ποτήριον ὕδατος ἐν ὀνόματι, ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐστε, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ.

 

This verse of Mark is similar to Matthew, chapter 10:42, but not in Luke.  Matthew had the gift of water to the little ones, not the disciples.  Mark indicated that Jesus said that whoever gave them a cup of cold water to drink (Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποτίσῃ ὑμᾶς ποτήριον ὕδατος), because they bear the name of Christ (ἐν ὀνόματι, ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐστε), would be rewarded.  Jesus spoke with a solemn pronouncement (ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν).  They would not lose their reward (οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ).  Why would they lose their reward anyhow?  Once again, Jesus spoke with authority.  There is an explicit mention of Christ (Χριστοῦ) that was rare in Mark.  People would not lose anything by giving cold water to his Christian disciples, a very small gesture.

March 11, 2018

Jesus goes to Capernaum (Mt 4:13-4:13)

“Jesus left Nazareth.

He made his home

In Capernaum

By the sea,

In the territory

Of Zebulun,

Of Naphtali.”

 

καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὰ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ

 

Matthew is the only gospel story that mentions that Jesus set up his home in Capernaum. However, John, chapter 2:12, mentioned that he went with his family to Capernaum for a few days. Instead of going home to Nazareth, Jesus actually left Nazareth (καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὰ). He went and made his home in Capernaum (ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ), about 20 miles northeast of Nazareth, probably a fishing village of about 1.500 people at that time. Capernaum was on the northwest seaside (τὴν παραθαλασσίαν) corner of the Sea of Galilee, in the old territory of Zebulun and Naphtali (ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ). There was no explicit mention of the Sea of Galilee, but Capernaum is on that sea in the territory of Naphtali. However, the territory of Zebulun was west of Naphtali and not on the Sea of Galilee.

February 5, 2018

Universal letters

There are seven other letters that are not addressed to a specific church, but are more universal in nature.  They are the three letters that have been attributed to John, although there is no explicit mention of his name in them.  They are 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, dating from 100-110 CE.  There are two letters that explicitly say that they are from Peter, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, written sometime between the late 60s and 130 CE.  Then there are the individually named letters from James, from the 90s-100 CE, and Jude, from 70-90 CE.  These letters have the purported authors as the apostles of the early Christian communities, John, Peter, James, and Jude.

December 27, 2017

Title (Zech 1:1-1:1)

“In the eighth month,

In the second year

Of King Darius,

The word of Yahweh

Came to the prophet Zechariah,

The son of Berechiah,

The son of Iddo.”

The word of Yahweh came to the prophet Zechariah in the same year as it had come to Haggai, the second year of Persian King Darius I in 520 BCE.  However, this was the 8th month and not the 6th month as with Haggai, so that it was 2 month later.  Zechariah was the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo.  In the Book of Ezra, chapter 5, there is an explicit mention of Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo.  Nehemiah, chapter 12, mentioned Iddo as one of the high priests who came with Zerubbabel when he left Babylon in 538 BCE.  Thus, Iddo would have been an important person.  Berechiah seemed to be less important, but could be the father of the young Zechariah.  Nehemiah mentioned Berechiah as the son of Meshezabel, in chapter 3.

September 24, 2017

Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan 14:31-14:32)

“They threw Daniel

Into the lions’ den.

He was there

For six days.

There were seven lions

In the den.

Every day,

They had been given

Two human bodies,

With two sheep.

But now

They were given nothing.

Thus,

They would devour Daniel.”

Once again, Daniel is in the lion’s den as in chapter 6 of this book. This time, the duration is 6 days, instead of one night. There was an explicit mention of 7 lions in the den, instead of the earlier vague den of lions. Normally, these lions feasted on 2 human bodies and 2 sheep each day. During the time that Daniel was there, they were not given their normal diet, so that they might want to eat Daniel.

March 6, 2017

The Moses speech (Bar 2:29-2:31)

“‘If you will not obey

My voice,

This very great multitude

Will surely turn

Into a small number

Among the nations,

Where I will scatter them.

I know that they will not

Obey me.

They are a stiff-necked people.

But in the land of their exile

They will come to themselves.

They will know

That I am

The Lord their God.

I will give them

A heart

That obeys.

I will give them

Ears that hear.’”

This is reminiscent of the end of chapter 28 in Deuteronomy. There was no explicit mention of an exile in that chapter. However in chapter 30, there was a call to return from the scattered countries. The Israelites were to obey the voice of Yahweh. Otherwise this great multitude would become a small number of people among many nations, since they were going to be scattered. Moses and Yahweh knew that the Israelites would not obey the Mosaic Law because they were a stiff-necked people. However, they would discover themselves in the land of their exile. This happens a lot. When separated from their basic culture, people tend to re-discover all the great things of their original culture that they had overlooked. The Israelites would come to realize that Yahweh was their true God. Thus Yahweh would give them an obeying heart and hearing ears so that they would be more attentive to him.

April 18, 2016

Egypt was more culpable than Sodom (Wis 19:13-19:17)

“The punishments did not come upon the sinners

Without prior signs

With the violence of thunder.

They justly suffered

Because of their wicked acts.

They practiced a more bitter hatred of strangers.

Others had refused to receive strangers

When they came to them.

But these made slaves of guests

Who were their benefactors.

Not only so,

While punishment of some sort

Will come upon the former

For having received strangers with hostility,

The latter,

Having first received them with festal celebrations,

Afterward afflicted them with terrible sufferings.

They had already shared the same rights.

They were stricken also with loss of sight.

Just as were those at the door of the righteous man.

When surrounded by yawning darkness,

Each tried to find the way through their own door.”

Who was worse, the Egyptians or the Sodomites from Genesis, chapters 18-19? Did the Egyptians deserve to be punished? The decision rested on how they treated strangers. Interesting enough, the argument is not about immorality but about hospitality. There is no explicit mention of Sodom or Egypt, but the implications are clear. These Egyptians were clearly warned with the various plagues. Instead of refusing strangers, the Egyptians had welcomed the Israelites, especially based on the stories about Joseph in Genesis, chapters 37-47. There his whole family, father and brothers, the sons of Jacob were welcomed into Egypt. However, as pointed out at the beginning of Exodus, chapters 1 and 5, they then enslaved them and tried to kill the Israelite male babies. Unlike the Sodomites they were not blind, but simply lived in darkness. This story about blindness is clearly from the Sodomite story in Genesis.

April 5, 2016

The will of God (Wis 9:13-9:18)

“Who can learn the counsel of God?

Who can discern what the Lord wills?

The reasoning of mortals is worthless.

Our designs are likely to fail.

A perishable body weighs down the soul.

This earthy tent burdens the thoughtful mind.

We can hardly guess at what is on earth.

What is at hand

We find with labor.

But who has traced out

What is in the heavens?

Who has learned your counsel,

Unless you have given wisdom?

You sent your Holy Spirit from on high.

Thus the paths of those on earth

Were set right.

People were taught

What pleases you.

They were saved by wisdom.”

What is the will of the Lord (θέλει ὁ Κύριος)? How can you have counsel with God (βουλὴν Θεοῦ)? What man is able to know (ἄνθρωπος γνώσετα) these things because human reasoning is worthless? By our own designs we are likely to fail. Then we have the Platonic thought about how our perishable body (σῶμα) weighs down our souls (ψυχήν) as our earthly tent holds back our minds. We can only guess what is going on even when we work hard here on earth (γῆς). We have no idea what is going on in heaven (οὐρανοῖς). The only way that we know anything is with the counsel and the wisdom (σοφίαν) that your Holy Spirit (τὸ ἅγιόν σου πνεῦμα) gives to us. Here is a clear rare explicit mention of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament books. This is the only way that we can stay on the right path. We are saved by wisdom (τῇ σοφίᾳ).