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December 27, 2018

The parents of Jesus appear (Lk 2:27-2:27)

“Guided

By the Spirit,

Simeon came

Into the temple.

The parents

Brought in

Their child Jesus,

To do for him

What was customary

Under the law.”

 

καὶ ἦλθεν ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι εἰς τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς γονεῖς τὸ παιδίον Ἰησοῦν τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸ εἰθισμένον τοῦ νόμου περὶ αὐτοῦ,

 

Luke said that Simeon, guided by the Holy Spirit (ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι), went into the Jerusalem Temple (καὶ ἦλθεν…εἰς τὸ ἱερόν).  Then the parents of the child Jesus brought him into the Temple (καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς γονεῖς τὸ παιδίον Ἰησοῦν τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοὺς) for the customary actions under the Law (κατὰ τὸ εἰθισμένον τοῦ νόμου περὶ αὐτοῦ).  Unfortunately, there were no ordinary customs for the children, since the purification ritual was for the mother.  It was rare for a mother to offer up her son to God.  Normally, the 2 birds were sufficient as an offering for the first-born male child.  Nevertheless, Simeon was there in the Temple when Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus came into the Jerusalem Temple.

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.

February 13, 2017

The attack of King Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:4-52:5)

“In the ninth year

Of King Zedekiah’s reign,

In the tenth month,

On the tenth day of the month,

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Came with all his army

Against Jerusalem.

They laid siege to it.

They built siege works

Against it

All around.

So the city was besieged

Until the eleventh year

Of King Zedekiah.”

Once again, this is an exact date, word for word as in 2 Kings, chapter 25 and earlier in this book of Jeremiah, in chapter 39. It is rare that we have exact dating, but here it is very specific, not some vague “at that time.” In the 9th year of King Zedekiah, in the 10th month on the 10th day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his army to Jerusalem in order to besiege the city. King Zedekiah had probably began to plot with the Egyptians and rebelled against the king of Babylon. This siege of Jerusalem began in 588 BCE and lasted about 18 months to 2 years

July 22, 2016

The punishment of the Lord (Isa 13:11-13:13)

“I will punish the world

For its evil.

I will punish the wicked

For their iniquity.

I will put an end

To the pride of the arrogant.

I will lay low

The insolence of tyrants.

I will make mortals

More rare than fine gold.

I will make humans

More rare than the gold of Ophir.

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble.

The earth will be shaken out of its place.

The wrath of Yahweh of hosts

Will show his fierce anger

On that day.”

Isaiah turns to the first person singular of Yahweh to punish the whole world, in particular the evil ones. The evil, the wicked, the iniquitous, the prideful, the arrogant, the tyrants, and the insolent will all be punished. Thus human mortals will become as rare as fine gold, especially the expensive gold from Ophir. The heavens will tremble and the earth will shake like an earthquake. The wrath and anger of Yahweh will show itself on that day against human sinners. There is no doubt that this is an end time scenario.

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).

February 17, 2016

Stupidity (Prov 30:2-30:3)

“Surely I am too stupid to be human.

I do not have human understanding.

I have not learned wisdom.

I do not have knowledge of the Holy One.”

In a rare expression of humility, this Agur proclaims that he is too stupid to even be a human. He admits his human limitations since he does not even have human understanding. He has never learned about wisdom. He does not even know the holy one.

October 20, 2015

God helped to defeat enemies (Ps 68:11-68:14)

“Yahweh gives the command.

Great is the company

Of those who bore the tidings.

‘The kings of the armies,

They flee!

They flee!’

The women at home

Divide the spoils.

Although they stayed among the sheepfolds,

They found

The wings of a dove covered with silver,

Its pinions with green gold.

When the almighty Shaddai scattered kings there,

Snow fell on Zalmon.”

When Yahweh gave the command, the armies of the enemy kings were defeated. They fled. The women at home or in the sheepfolds divided the spoils of the fleeing armies. This sounds like a settled people rather than a group in the wilderness. Among these spoils they found a silver dove with green gold feathers. When the almighty Shaddai, as opposed to Yahweh, scattered these kings, snow fell on Mount Zalmon, which was near Shechem. This mountain was mentioned in Judges, chapter 9. Snow would have been rare as this incident was not mentioned elsewhere in the biblical literature.