set up

June 9, 2019

Whose wife? (Lk 20:33-20:33)

“In the resurrection,

Therefore,

Whose wife

Will this woman be?

Seven brothers

Had married her.”

 

ἡ γυνὴ οὖν ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τίνος αὐτῶν γίνεται γυνή; οἱ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἔσχον αὐτὴν γυναῖκα.

 

Luke indicated these Sadducees asked Jesus in the resurrection time (ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει), whose wife would this woman be (ἡ γυνὴ οὖν…τίνος αὐτῶν γίνεται γυνή), since all 7 brothers had married her (οἱ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἔσχον αὐτὴν γυναῖκα).  This story with the 7 brothers married to one woman was the set up for this question about the afterlife.  The Sadducees asked whose wife would she be among these 7 brothers in the resurrected life?  They were testing Jesus and questioning the concept of the resurrection after death.  This kicker question of the Sadducees can also be found in Matthew, chapter 22:28, and in Mark, chapter 12:23, almost word for word.  Mark said that in the resurrection (ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει), when they would rise up again (ὅταν ἀναστῶσιν), the Sadducees wanted to know whose wife would she be (τίνος αὐτῶν ἔσται γυνή)?  All 7 of these brothers had married her (οἱ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἔσχον αὐτὴν γυναῖκα).  Matthew indicated that these Sadducees asked about the future resurrection (ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οὖν).  Whose wife of the 7 brothers would she be (τίνος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἔσται γυνή)?  All 7 brothers had married her (πάντες γὰρ ἔσχον αὐτήν).  They assumed that the afterlife would be a continuation of this present earthly life.  What would happen to people who had multiple husbands or wives?  How was Jesus going to answer their tricky question?  Would you be confused in the future eternal life?

June 1, 2019

Surrounded on every side (Lk 19:43-19:43)

“Indeed,

The days

Will come upon you,

When your enemies

Will set up ramparts

Around you.

They will hem you in

On every side.”

 

ὅτι ἥξουσιν ἡμέραι ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ παρεμβαλοῦσιν οἱ ἐχθροί σου χάρακά σοι καὶ περικυκλώσουσίν σε καὶ συνέξουσίν σε πάντοθεν,

 

Luke indicated that Jesus remarked that bad days were coming to Jerusalem (ὅτι ἥξουσιν ἡμέραι ἐπὶ σὲ).  Jesus said that it would come to them when their enemies would put up a barricade against them (καὶ παρεμβαλοῦσιν οἱ ἐχθροί σου χάρακά σοι).  They would surround them (καὶ περικυκλώσουσίν σε) so that they would be hemmed in on every side (καὶ συνέξουσίν σε πάντοθεν).  This is the only Greek biblical use of the word περικυκλώσουσίν that means to hem them in on every side, encircle, surround, or encompass.  Jesus was using the words and images of the ancient Israelite prophets against Jerusalem.  Isaiah, chapter 29:1-3, called Jerusalem Ariel, a symbolic name for Jerusalem and its altar.  Isaiah, warned Jerusalem about what was going to happen to it.  Yahweh was going to encamp against it and set up siege works against it.  They would be able to speak only from below the earth and the dust.  Their voices would be reduced to a whisper, like a ghost in the middle of this dust pile.  Jeremiah, chapter 6:6-8, warned Jerusalem that its enemies were going to cut down trees in order to make a ramp siege against Jerusalem, because this city needed to be punished.  There was nothing but oppression and wickedness within her.  Jerusalem was a place of violence and destruction with sickness and wounded people all around.  Yahweh was going to turn away in disgust against Jerusalem. Thus, it would become a desolate uninhabited land, if it did not heed his warning.  Ezekiel, chapter 4:1-3, also condemned Jerusalem with Ezekiel’s symbolic action.  A voice 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.  Of course, here this was allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Roman soldiers putting down a revolution in Judea.  Luke would have known about this at the time of his writing.  Have you ever seen a city destroyed?

November 16, 2018

Judas had a signal (Mk 14:44-14:44)

“Now the betrayer

Had given them

A sign.

He said.

‘The one I will kiss

Is the man.

Seize him!

Lead him away

Under guard!’”

 

δεδώκει δὲ ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν σύσσημον αὐτοῖς λέγων Ὃν ἂν φιλήσω αὐτός ἐστιν· κρατήσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπάγετε ἀσφαλῶς.

 

This is almost word for word in Matthew, chapter 26:48.  In Luke, chapter 22:47, there is an abbreviated version of only Judas kissing Jesus.  In John, chapter 18:2-9, there is long dialogue of Jesus with the crowd, with no Judas kiss at all.  It is interesting to note that John left this out in his otherwise well detailed description.  Mark said that this betrayer or deliverer of Jesus, Judas, had given the crowd a sign (δεδώκει δὲ ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν σύσσημον αὐτοῖς).  Judas had told them that the one that he kissed (λέγων Ὃν ἂν φιλήσω) would be the man to seize or hold (αὐτός ἐστιν·κρατήσατε αὐτὸν).  They were to lead him away securely under guard (καὶ ἀπάγετε ἀσφαλῶς).  Judas had this all set up, so that there would be no mistaken identity, as regards Jesus.

October 27, 2018

Whose wife will she be? (Mk 12:23-12:23)

“In the resurrection,

When they rise up,

Whose wife

Will she be?

The seven brothers

Had married her.”

 

ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, ὅταν ἀναστῶσιν, τίνος αὐτῶν ἔσται γυνή; οἱ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἔσχον αὐτὴν γυναῖκα.

 

This kicker question of the Sadducees can also be found in Matthew, chapter 22:28, and in Luke, chapter 20:33, almost word for word.  This story with the 7 brothers married to one woman was the set up for this question about the afterlife.  The Sadducees asked whose wife would she be among these 7 brothers in the resurrected life?  They were testing Jesus and questioning the concept of the resurrection after death.  Mark said that in the resurrection (ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει), when they would rise up again (ὅταν ἀναστῶσιν), the Sadducess wanted to know whose wife would she be (τίνος αὐτῶν ἔσται γυνή)?  All 7 of these brothers had married her (οἱ γὰρ ἑπτὰ ἔσχον αὐτὴν γυναῖκα).  They assumed that the afterlife would be a continuation of this present earthly life.  How was Jesus going to answer their tricky question?

June 15, 2018

Who is the husband in the resurrection? (Mt 22:28-22:28)

“In the resurrection,

Then,

Whose wife

Of the seven brothers

Will she be?

All of them

Had married her.”

 

ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οὖν τίνος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἔσται γυνή; πάντες γὰρ ἔσχον αὐτήν.

 

This kicker question of the Sadducees can also be found in Mark, chapter 12:23, and in Luke, chapter 20:33, almost word for word.  This story with the 7 brothers married to one woman was the set up for this question about the afterlife.  Whose wife would she be among these 7 brothers?  They were testing Jesus and questioning the concept of the resurrection after death.  In the resurrection (ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οὖν), whose wife of the 7 brothers would she be (τίνος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἔσται γυνή).  All 7 of them had married her (πάντες γὰρ ἔσχον αὐτήν).  They assumed that the afterlife would be a continuation of this present earthly life.  How was Jesus going to answer their tricky question?

December 29, 2017

The stone with an inscription (Zech 3:9-3:10)

“‘I will engrave

Its inscription.

On the stone

That I have set

Before Joshua,

On a single stone

With seven facets.’

Says Yahweh of hosts.

‘I will remove

The guilt of this land

In a single day.’

Says Yahweh of hosts.

‘On that day,

You shall invite each other

To come

Under your vine,

Under your fig tree.’”

Yahweh was going to set up a stone with a single inscription on it but with 7 facets or 7 eyes.  Was this the priesthood of the new Temple?  Yahweh was going to take away the guilt of their land in a single day.  On that day, everyone would sit around talking to their friends and neighbors under their cultivated vines and fig trees.

August 7, 2017

The king spoke to the three men (Dan 3:14-3:15)

“King Nebuchadnezzar

Said to them.

‘Is it true?

O Shadrach!

O Meshach!

O Abednego!

Do you not

Serve my gods?

Do you not worship

The golden statue

That I have set up?

Now if you are ready,

When you hear

The sound of the horn,

The pipe,

The lyre,

The trigon,

The harp,

The drum,

The entire musical ensemble,

To fall down,

To worship,

The statue

That I have made,

Well and good.

But if you do not worship,

You shall immediately

Be thrown

Into a furnace

Of a blazing fire.

Who is the god

That will deliver you

Out of my hands?’”

King Nebuchadnezzar gave the 3 companions of Daniel, the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to know it was really true that they, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, did not serve his gods. Did they not worship the golden statue that he had set up? Did they not respond to the musical instruments of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the trigon, the harp or the drum? Did they not fall down and worship his golden statue? If they did not worship this statue, then they would be immediately thrown into the blazing furnace. The king then asked them what god would deliver them from his hands.

August 7, 2017

The accusations against his Jewish appointees (Dan 3:12-3:12)

“‘There are certain Jews

Whom you have appointed

Over the affairs

Of the province

Of Babylon,

Shadrach,

Meshach,

Abednego.

These pay no heed

To you.

O king!

They do not serve

Your gods.

They do not worship

The golden statue

That you have set up.’”

These Chaldeans were more specific. They accused the 3 companions of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were in charge of the provinces of Babylon, of not listening to the king. They were not serving the gods of Babylon. They even did not worship the golden statue that the King had set up. Thus, these Babylonian officials, although Jewish, were not following the king’s orders.

August 6, 2017

The assembly at the statue dedication (Dan 3:3-3:3)

“Then the satraps,

The prefects,

The governors,

The counselors,

The treasurers,

The justices,

The magistrates,

All the officials

Of the provinces,

Assembled

For the dedication

Of the statue

That King Nebuchadnezzar

Had set up.

They stood before

The statue

That King Nebuchadnezzar

Had set up.”

Guess what! All these officials showed up for the dedication of this statue. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered around the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They all understood that the request was really an order to show up.

July 21, 2017

The boundaries and division of the land (Ezek 47:13-47:14)

“Thus says Yahweh God!

‘These are the boundaries

By which

You shall divide

The land

For inheritance

Among the twelve tribes

Of Israel.

Joseph shall have two portions.

You shall divide it

Equally.

I swore to give it

To your ancestors.

This land shall fall

To you

As your inheritance.’”

Next Yahweh, via Ezekiel, took up the question of the boundaries of Israel and the division of the land among the tribes. Joshua, in chapters 13-22, first faced this problem. Here, it appears in a more summary fashion. Nevertheless, the problem of what to do with the people already there in this land was not even mentioned. Ezekiel was going to set up these ideal borders or boundaries of Israel. He also was going to lay out the inheritance distribution of the land between the 12 tribes. The tribe of Joseph was to be given 2 portions, one for Manasseh and one for Ephraim. Yahweh had already promised to give this land to their ancestors as their inheritance.