waiting

January 23, 2019

Well and sick people (Lk 5:31-5:31)

“Jesus answered them.

‘Those who are well

Have no need

Of a physician.

But those who are sick

Do need one.’”

 

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλὰ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες·

 

Luke indicated that Jesus answered them (καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς).  He said to them (εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς) that those who are well (οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες) do not need a physician (Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν…ἰατροῦ).  However, those who are sick do need one (ἀλλὰ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες).  Mark, chapter 2:17, and Matthew, chapter 9:12, are almost word for word to Luke, so that Mark might be the source of this saying.  Mark and Matthew said that Jesus heard what the Pharisees were saying to his disciples.  Jesus responded to them that the well people or strong ones did not need a physician or medical doctor, but the sick did.  As Pope Francis likes to say, the Church is a mobile ambulance, not a hospital waiting for people to come in.  Jesus saw his mission as reaching out, rather than expecting people to come to him.

August 26, 2018

Jesus wants a boat (Mk 3:9-3:9)

“Jesus told

His disciples

To have a boat ready

For him,

Because of the crowd.

Thus,

They would not

Crush him.”

 

καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον, ἵνα μὴ θλίβωσιν αὐτόν·

 

There is no exact parallel to this summary statement in the other synoptics, although Jesus and his disciples were quite often in a boat in Matthew.  Mark indicated that Jesus told his disciples (καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ) to have a boat ready or waiting for him (ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ αὐτῷ) because of the crowds (διὰ τὸν ὄχλον).  He was afraid that they might crush him (ἵνα μὴ θλίβωσιν αὐτόν).

 

August 21, 2018

Physicians go to the sick people (Mk 2:17-2:17)

“When Jesus heard this,

He said to them.

‘Those who are well

Have no need

Of a physician.

But those who are sick

Do need a physician.

I have come

To call

Not the righteous,

But sinners.’”

 

καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλ’ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες· οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς.

 

Luke, chapter 5:31-32, and Matthew, chapter 9:12-13, are almost word for word similar to Mark, so that Mark might be the source of this saying.  Mark said that Jesus heard (καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ Ἰησοῦς) what the Pharisees were saying to his disciples.  He responded to them (λέγει αὐτοῖς) that the well people or strong ones do not need (Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες) a physician or medical doctor (ἰατροῦ), but the sick do (ἀλλ’ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες).  As Pope Francis likes to say, the Church is a mobile ambulance, not a hospital waiting for people to come in.  Jesus had come not to call the people who were righteous already (οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους), but to call the sinners (ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς).

July 2, 2018

Ten bridesmaids (Mt 25:1-25:1)

“The kingdom of heaven

Will be like this.

Ten bridesmaids

Took their lamps.

They went to meet

The bridegroom.”

 

Τότε ὁμοιωθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν δέκα παρθένοις, αἵτινες λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας ἑαυτῶν ἐξῆλθον εἰς ὑπάντησιν τοῦ νυμφίου

 

This parable is unique to Matthew, but there is something similar in Luke, chapter 12:35-36, about having lamps lit.  Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven would be like (ότε ὁμοιωθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν)10 bridesmaids, virgins, or unmarried maidens (δέκα παρθένοις) having lamps with them (αἵτινες λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας ἑαυτῶν).  They were waiting to go out to meet the bridegroom (ἐξῆλθον εἰς ὑπάντησιν τοῦ νυμφίου).  The custom at that time was to have these virgin bridesmaids or unmarried maidens accompany the bridegroom from his house to the house of the bride before they would go to the wedding place.  Thus, these bridesmaid virgins would act as an escort in a procession to the bride’s house and then to the wedding banquet place.

May 7, 2018

The boat in the middle of the sea (Mt 14:24-14:24)

“But by this time,

The boat,

Battered by the waves,

Was far from the land.

The wind

Was against them.”

 

τὸ δὲ πλοῖον ἤδη σταδίους πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀπεῖχεν, βασανιζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων, ἦν γὰρ ἐναντίος ὁ ἄνεμος.

 

This incident about the disciples in the boat at sea can be found in Mark, chapter 6:47, and John, chapter 6:18-19.  By this time, instead of the disciples waiting near shore, their boat was far from the land, many “stadiums” “σταδίους” from the shoreland (τὸ δὲ πλοῖον ἤδη σταδίους πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς).  A stadium was about 1/8 of a mile based on the race tracks in the Roman arenas.  The waves tossed the boat (ἀπεῖχεν βασανιζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων) and the wind was against them (ἦν γὰρ ἐναντίος ὁ ἄνεμος).  In other words, they were in a little trouble.

April 17, 2018

The disciples of John question Jesus (Mt 11:3-11:3)

“The disciples of John

Said to Jesus.

‘Are you the one

Who is to come?

Or are we to wait for another?’”

 

εἶπεν αὐτῷ Σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν

 

The question in Luke, chapter 7:19 is exactly the same, word for word, as here, indicating a possible Q source.  These disciples of John came to Jesus.  They had one big important question to ask him directly (εἶπεν αὐτῷ).  Was Jesus the expected Messiah (Σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος) or should they wait for someone else (ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν)?  The disciples of John were true messianic Jews, waiting for the Messiah.  Did they not realize that Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist?  In fact, John had already met Jesus, had a conversation with him, and witnessed his baptism in chapter 3:11-17.  What more did he need?

December 1, 2017

Micah was different (Mic 7:7-7:7)

“But as for me,

I will look to Yahweh.

I will wait for the God

Of my salvation.

My God will hear me.”

This may have been the original end of this work.  Micah pointed out that he was different from the others.  He was looking for Yahweh.  He was waiting for God to save him.  He believed that Yahweh God would hear him.

November 30, 2017

No more just people (Mic 7:1-7:2)

“Woe is me!

I have become

Like one

After the summer fruit

Has been gathered.

I have become

Like one

After the vintage

Has been gleaned.

There is no cluster to eat.

There is no first-ripe fig

For which I hunger.

The faithful have disappeared

From the land.

There is no one left

Who is upright.

They all lie in wait

For blood.

They hunt each other

With nets.”

Micah started this lament with a woeful thought about himself.  He was lonely, because the late summer fruits had been harvested.  All the vineyards had been picked and gleaned.  There was nothing left to eat.  It did not make any difference, because Micah had no appetite for fig clusters or anything.  All the faithful people had disappeared from the land.  There was not even one good upright person left.  They were all waiting to steal from each other.  They were hungry for the blood of others, so that they were hunting each other with nets.

September 20, 2017

Under what tree did all this take place (Dan 13:58-13:59)

“‘Now then,

Tell me!

Under what tree

Did you catch them

Being intimate

With each other?’

The second elder answered.

‘Under an evergreen oak.’

Daniel said to him.

‘Very well!

This lie will cost you

Your head.

The angel of God

Is waiting

With his sword

To split you in two.

Thus,

He will destroy you both.’”

Daniel asked the second elder the same question that he had asked the first elder. Under what tree did you find Susanna and her friend being sexually intimate with each other? The second elder said that they were under an evergreen oak tree, a large holly oak tree, quite different from the small mastic tree. Once again, Daniel told this elder, like the first elder, that his lying response would cost him his life. The angel of God was waiting with his sword to split him in two. Thus, both these lying old judges would be destroyed. Once again there is a Greek play on words with evergreen oak tree (πρϊνος) and split (καταπριση).

March 2, 2017

Being pursued (Lam 4:19-4:19)

Qoph

“Our pursuers

Were swifter

Than the eagles

In the heavens.

They chased us

On the mountains.

They lay in wait

For us

In the wilderness.”

Continuing with the first person plural, the people of Jerusalem and this author believed that they were being pursued by their enemies that were faster than the eagles in the sky. Their foes chased them into the mountains and lay waiting to ambush them in the desert wilderness, since their enemies were all around them. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Qoph in this acrostic poem.