wanting

February 19, 2019

Your mother and brothers want to see you (Lk 8:20-8:20)

“Jesus was told.

‘Your mother

And your brothers

Are standing outside,

Wanting to see you.’”

 

ἀπηγγέλη δὲ αὐτῷ Ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ἑστήκασιν ἔξω ἰδεῖν θέλοντές σε.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus was told (ἀπηγγέλη δὲ αὐτῷ) that his mother (Ἡ μήτηρ σου) and his brothers (καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου) were standing outside (ἑστήκασιν ἔξω), wanting to see him (ἰδεῖν θέλοντές σε).  Mark, chapter 3:32, and Matthew, chapter 12:47, have something similar, almost word for word, so that Mark might be the source of this saying.  Mark indicated that someone from the crowd sitting around Jesus said that he should look because his mother, his brothers, and his sisters were outside wanting to talk to him.  Matthew and Luke never mentioned anything about his sisters, only his brothers, who were all unnamed.  Matthew said that his relatives sent for Jesus, as someone told him that his mother and brothers were outside wanting to talk to him.  Were they not allowed to come into where he was talking?  Would you stop what you were doing to talk to your close family members?

February 4, 2016

Evil doers (Prov 21:5-21:8)

“The plans of the diligent

Lead surely to abundance.

But everyone who is hasty

Comes only to want.

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

Is a fleeting vapor

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

Is a snare for death.

The violence of the wicked

Will sweep them away.

They refuse to do what is just.

The way of the guilty is crooked.

But the conduct of the pure is right.”

Diligent plans will lead to abundance, but hasty plans will only come up wanting. If you get money by a lying tongue it will be like a fleeting breath that leads to a death trap. The very violence of the wicked will sweep them away, since they refuse to do what is just. The guilty go on a crooked path, but the pure conduct their way correctly.

January 8, 2016

Generosity (Prov 11:24-11:28)

“Some give freely.

Yet they grow all the richer.

Others withhold what is due.

But they only suffer want.

A generous person will be enriched.

One who gives water will get water.

The people curse those who hold back grain.

But a blessing is on the head of those who sell it.

Whoever diligently seeks good things seeks favor.

But evil comes to the one who searches for it.

Those who trust in their riches will wither.

But the righteous will flourish like green leaves.”

There is a need for generosity. Those people who give freely usually grow richer. Those who withhold what is due only suffer more wanting of things. A generous person will be enriched. If you give water, you will get water. If you hold back your grain, hoping for a higher price, you will be cursed. However, you will be blessed if you sell it to others in the normal course of the harvest. If you are seeking good things, you will be favored. If you are looking for evil, you will find it. If you trust in your wealth, it will wither away on you. However, if you are righteous, you will flourish like green leaves on a tree.

September 15, 2015

Prayer against the enemies (Ps 36:10-36:12)

“O continue your steadfast love

To those who know you!

Let your salvation come to the upright of heart!

Do not let the foot of the arrogant thread on me!

Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away!

Let these evildoers lie prostrate!

Let them be thrust down!

Let them be unable to rise!”

This short psalm ends with David wanting the continual steadfast love of Yahweh to come on those who knew and loved Yahweh. He wanted salvation for the upright of heart. He did not want the hands and feet of the arrogant and the wicked to thread on him or drive him away. However, he wanted the evildoers to lie prostrate, to be thrust down so that they would not be able to rise up again. Thus this psalm ends with a vindictive message.

 

July 14, 2015

Eliphaz describes God (Job 22:12-22:20)

“Is not God high in the heavens?

See the highest stars!

How lofty they are!

Therefore you say.

‘What does God know?

Can he judge through the deep darkness?

Thick clouds enwrap him.

Thus he does not see.

He walks on the vault of heaven.’

Will you keep to the old way?

Will you tread the path of wicked men?

They were snatched away before their time.

Their foundation was washed away by a flood.

They said to God.

‘Leave us alone.

What can the Almighty Shaddai do to us?’

Yet he filled their houses with good things.

The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.

The righteous see it.

The righteous are glad.

The innocent laugh them to scorn, saying.

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off.

What they have left,

The fire has consumed.’”

Eliphaz described God as a distant unknowable God. He was high in heaven above the stars. How then can this faraway God know and judge what is going on here on earth with all the dark clouds around him? Once again, he referred to the wicked as wanting to be left alone by God. Why would they want the almighty Shaddai since they had everything they wanted? However, the righteous see that the wicked fill their houses with good things. The righteous think that bad things will happen to the wicked. The distant God seemed unconcerned about what was happening here on earth.