John Shearman's Lectionary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
PROPER 14 ORDINARY 19
AUGUST 9, 2009.

2 SAMUEL 18:5-9, 15, 31-33. Without doubt this is one of the most moving stories from the whole of David’s reign. Essentially, it told about God’s love for Israel in a very personal parable. A palace revolution set Absolam, one of David’s sons, against his father ending in David’s flight and a bloody battle for power. Absolam suffered an accident and was slain by David’s ambitious general, Joab. When told the tragic news, David wept bitterly for his rebellious son, as God weeps for all whom God loves.

PSALM 130. As a prayer of penitence this psalm has few equals. It reflects of an actual situation evoking a desperate cry for God’s forgiveness. The need to be reconciled to God has universal application in the patient hope with which the psalm ends.

I KINGS 19:4-8. (Alternate) This is only a brief incident in a life-changing experience of the prophet Elijah. Threatened by Jezebel, he ran for his life. He headed out into the wilderness, a dry and barren place where he fell asleep under a broom tree, one of the few that will grow in such arid conditions. Strengthened for a longer journey by food miraculously provided, he trekked all the way to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain where Yahweh and Israel, led by Moses, had made covenant.

PSALM 34:1-8. (Alternate) This psalm presents one of the clearest statements of God’s redemptive purpose to be found in the Old Testament.

EPHESIANS 4:25-5:2. Either Paul himself, or one of his disciples who wrote this letter, exhorted his audience to live in a gentle and kindly way rather than angrily venting their frustrations and injustices. Their model was to be God’s loving forgiveness for them so fully expressed in Jesus Christ who died for them.

JOHN 6:35, 41-51. So different from the other gospels, John adds this discourse to the story of Jesus feeding of the five thousand. It is filled with John’s reflections on who Jesus really is and the meaning of his being the bread of life.

Jesus’ claim to be the complete revelation of God puzzled his Jewish contemporaries. They protested that they knew full well who he was because they knew his parents. Jesus went on to explain that he was not only the successor to the prophets, but the one who makes perfectly plain all that can be known about God and gives eternal, spiritual life to all who believed.

John’s Gospel was written possibly as long as sixty years after the resurrection for the third generation of Christians. He gave the early church’s most profound understanding of what Jesus really means to every generation.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

2 SAMUEL 18:5-9, 15, 31-33. The story of Absolam, David’s third son, forms a subplot to the life of David, in particular as a consequence of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. An earlier part of the narrative gave some justification for Absolam’s rebellion. Believing that his father had lost his ability to provide adequate justice, Absolam took matters into his own hands. He arranged the death of Ammon, David’s oldest son, for raping his sister, Tamar (1 Sam. 13:1-29). A palace revolution set Absolam against his father won a considerable following in Israel. No longer sure of the loyalty of his troops, David fled from Jerusalem, raised three battalions, returned to guerilla warfare and engaged Absolam’s forces in a bloody battle for power.

David’s forces won the battle, causing Absolam to flee. But Absolam suffered a silly accident by being caught by the forked branch of a tree as his mule ran through a forest. David’s ambitious general, Joab, found and slew Absolam as he hung there totally vulnerable. When told the tragic news, David wept bitterly for his rebellious son, as God weeps for all whom God loves.

Without doubt this is one of the most moving stories from the whole cycle of narratives about David’s reign. It expresses profoundly human sentiments and contains genuine theological relevance. In a very personal parable it told of David’s love and grief for his both his sons, Ammon and Absolam, both of whom had repulsed him. The story may also be seen as a metaphor of God’s love for recalcitrant Israel. Because of this double intent, it became sacred scripture. Read in an extremely dramatic way, it can bring a deep sense of its pathos to an attentive audience.

PSALM 130. As a prayer of penitence this psalm has few equals. It reflects of an actual situation evoking a desperate cry for God’s forgiveness. The need to be reconciled to God has universal application in the patient hope with which the psalm ends.
Yet at the same time this deep sense of trust in God’s mercy and forgiveness rested on the assurance of Yahweh’s steadfast love. After all, the whole of Israel faith-history of Yahweh’s redemptive love lay behind this fervent prayer.

The psalm was included in a collection known as the “Songs of Ascent,” believed to have been sung by pilgrims as they approached Jerusalem for one of the great festivals. This one appears to fit the mood of those coming for Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement. On that holiest of occasions, all individual and national sins were repented and received merciful forgiveness. All the people and the nation received atonement with Yahweh through the designated sacrifices and the entrance of the high priest into the Holy of Holies. The fact that no mention is made of atoning sacrifices in this psalm has caused some scholars to assign it to a late, post-exilic date when Israel’s religious tradition had become more dependent on a spiritual relationship with Yahweh much more like that of the New Testament.

Vs. 6 contains a vivid image of watchmen on the eastern walls of Jerusalem watching for dawn to break over the Mount of Olives. From this, one can surmise that the poem may well have been composed by an individual engaged in a long night vigil contemplating two spiritual realities. Or, if he was a pilgrim, he may even have been close to the city itself as he spent the night too moved by his deep feelings to get any rest. In his wakefulness, he longed for morning to come when he could enter the city for the great festival. At the same time he was deeply conscious of his personal sin and had great hopes for the peace of repentance and forgiveness. Repentant Christians as well as Jews have turned to this psalm for the reassuring hope that it brings tot the troubled conscience.

I KINGS 19:4-8. (Alternate) This is only a brief episode in a life-changing experience of the prophet Elijah. Having won a decisive victory, Elijah had been threatened by Jezebel. So he ran for his life. He headed out into the wilderness, a dry and barren place where he fell asleep under a broom tree, one of the few that will grow in such arid conditions. Hunger and fatigue by an angel’s intervention in his plight he received food miraculously provided for a longer journey. So strengthened he trekked all the way to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain where Yahweh and Israel, led by Moses, had made covenant.

Angels as intermediaries between God and the prophets did not appear in Hebrew religious thought until after the Babylonian exile (639 BCE). The Septuagint (LXX, in Greek from 4th century BCE) translated this phenomenon as “someone,” likely interpreting the incident as a theophany and the “angel” as a manifestation of God in human form.

The passage depicts the prophet as humanly at the end of his own strength but miraculously receiving divine strength to return to the mount of God where Israel’s religious history began. In the northern tradition known as E (for Elohim) and in later Deuteronomic narrative (D), Horeb was the name given to the sacred mountain, the dwelling place of the God of Israel where the covenant was established. The alternative J tradition from the Southern Kingdom of Judea used the name Sinai for the holy mountain.

In the mid-20th century, British historian Arnold J. Toynbee described twenty-one different civilizations which had risen and fallen during the sweep of human history. One of his significant insights was to posit a time of retreat for renewal as a necessary step in the life cycle of any civilization or culture, then to return as a creative minority to establish a whole new approach to challenges to be faced. Out of the ruins of the old, the new was created. One finds a similar experience in the return of Elijah to Horeb. This becomes clear in the subsequent verses (19:9-18) where the prophet’s epiphany is described in detail.

PSALM 34:1-8. (Alternate) This psalm presents one of the clearest statements of God’s redemptive purpose to be found in the Old Testament. In the Hebrew text it has an acrostic form, each line beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm also is in the wisdom style and so dates from the late Persian or early Greek period. Some scholars believe it may also have been associated with the lament of Ps. 25 as a hymn of thanksgiving.

The main purpose of the psalm is to celebrate with gratitude the saving power of Yahweh. It expresses great confidence and trust in Yahweh’s special care for the righteous.

While the superscription mistakenly attributes the psalm to an incident in David’s flight from his rebellious son Abimilech, no direct reference to that or any other event in David’s reign can be found. Such Davidic references were given to about half of the psalms, probably related to a special collection attributed to David. These titles were added during the compilation process somewhere between the fourth and second centuries BCE.

Viewed from a wider perspective, the psalm points to the constant mercy and love with which Yahweh watched over and delivered Israel from innumerable disasters. At the same time it draws more attention to the individual believer who trusts in Yahweh than to the nation as a whole. This too has been the attitude of devout Christians through many generations.

EPHESIANS 4:25-5:2. As this continuing analysis of Ephesians has been saying, either Paul himself, wrote this letter, or more probably one of his disciples composed it from his knowledge of Paul’s teaching, possibly after using it as a baptismal sermon. In this brief excerpt he exhorted his audience to live in a gentle and kindly way rather than angrily venting their frustrations and complaining about injustices they may have suffered. Their model was to be God’s loving forgiveness for them so fully expressed in Jesus Christ who died for them.

We need to keep at the forefront of our minds that the NT, and especially the letters, were written for congregations scattered far and wide across the eastern Roman empire. However obliquely, they referred to real situations within those faith communities. We have few resources to decipher exactly what those circumstances may have been when these letters were composed. It would appear from the context of this passage that there was a considerable amount of bickering and quarreling going on in this congregation. Either that, or the letter was addressed to faith communities in general who were in great conflict over the issue of whether Jews and Gentile could fellowship together. As someone put it in a comment on last week’s lesson, the issue was peace, not unity, although the unity of Christ’s body, the church, is named as one of the main themes of this letter.

Apparently anger and deceit within the fellowship had become serious concerns for “Paul” (vss. 25-27). People also seem to have been taking advantage of one another. Some may have been only partially reformed thieves (vs. 28). When people are riled up about issues, they often criticize and condemn one another mercilessly. That may be what Paul had in mind about “evil talk” in vs. 29. His antidote to that kind of talk is worth noting. An elderly concert musician and teacher once said, “Like good music, life needs to have plenty of grace notes. That’s what gives it colour and flavour.”

Did the anonymous author also have in mind Paul’s “fruits of the Spirit” in vs. 30? He certainly made direct reference to the Spirit as the seal of our future redemption, a phrase that occurs in the Pauline corpus many times. Then he returned to his earlier concern about serious communication issues that had arisen within the church for which there was only one solution: to speak in kindly, gentle words with gracious forgiveness modeled on God’s forgiving grace in Jesus Christ.

That, of course, would require considerable change of heart and perhaps some personal sacrifice of pride, especially for those who had been hurt by harshly spoken words. Could the Corinthians with whom Paul had such difficulty have been in the author’s mind here? As Frederick B. Craddock said in a sermon to one of Canada’s most prestigious congregations and a large radio audience, “Only those who have been hurt can be forgiving because they have been wounded and violated.” That is exactly what God did – and does – continually and consistently.

JOHN 6:35, 41-51. So different from the other gospels, John added this discourse to the story of Jesus feeding of the five thousand as an interpretation of something much more relevant to his own time and audience. The discourse consists of John’s reflections on who Jesus really is and the meaning of his being “the bread of life.”

If as many scholars have concluded, John was writing for the church in Ephesus in the last decade of the 1st century, what was he saying to them in this metaphor and its elaboration in the discourse? Within the decade before John wrote, the final distinction between the Jewish and the Christian faith traditions had become clear. Having been expelled from all Jewish synagogues, Christians no longer could be considered as a sect of Judaism. This expulsion meant that Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah were alienated from Israel and even their own families. At the same time, Christian communities now had a majority of Gentiles in their ranks. The teaching of the apostles defined more and more the limits of this tradition.

This prompted Christian communities to create radically transformed liturgies from their Jewish antecedents to express their peculiar Christian beliefs. Gospels recording Jesus’ sayings and deeds, the story of his passion, death and resurrection, and especially letters attributed to the apostle Paul, circulated more and more widely among churches. Into this milieu John’s Gospel introduced these reflections about the eucharistic celebration which marked every Christian gathering for worship.

In this passage, Jesus’ claim to be the complete revelation of God greatly puzzled his Jewish contemporaries. They protested that they knew full well who he was because they knew his parents. Mistakenly, they had understood him in an entirely literal way. Jesus had spoken in characteristic metaphors.

Bread had been particularly important in the Jewish religious tradition. Not only was it the staff of life, it held the promise of life itself. The Deuteronomists regarded the gift of eating bread without scarcity in the Promised Land as the promise of life in freedom and prosperity (Deut. 8:9). The sacrificial system included an offering of cereal used in the making of bread. Tabernacle and temple both required a permanent display of bread representing the presence of Yahweh (Exod. 25:30; 1 Chron. 28:16). The Passover festival of unleavened bread formed the central religious rite in remembrance of the Exodus.

Like the manna that fed the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus identified himself with this ancient tradition as the “bread from heaven.” In doing so, he at once acknowledged the significance of this divine gift of bread and reinterpreted its meaning. He explained that he was not only the successor to the prophets, of whom Moses was foremost, but actually represented God in every way. He was the one who makes perfectly plain all that can be known of God and gives God’s eternal, spiritual life to all who believe.

Thus John gave the early church its most profound understanding of what Jesus really meant to his own and still means to every generation. Whenever we participate in the breaking of bread, in the sacred eucharist or in the humblest of meals, we have fellowship with him and with God whom he reveals to us through the working of the Spirit. As the traditional grace at table prays: “Be present at our table, Lord, be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we may feast in Paradise with thee.”

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
PROPER 13 ORDINARY 18
AUGUST 2, 2009.

2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:13a. The confrontation between David and Nathan, the prophet, brings to the fore the magnitude of David’s adultery with Bathsheba, another man’s wife. The story is one of the most powerful in the whole sequence of hero-legends about Israel’s greatest king. The story makes the point, however, that even the greatest cannot misuse God-given authority and power for selfish ends.

PSALM 51:1-12. Because of the superscription many assume that this psalm refers directly to David’s sin, but that is highly unlikely. Psalm titles were added much later by scribes seeking to relate as many of them to David’s life on the mistaken assumption that he was author of the psalms. Nonetheless this one is a very beautiful prayer of repentance.

EXODUS 16:2-4, 9-15. (Alternate) After their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt by crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites pressed on into the wilderness. When they complained to Moses that they would starve, further evidence of God’s guidance and providence was given in flocks of quails and a flaky substance they called manna (Hebrew for “what is it?”) in plentiful supply for their daily needs.

PSALM 78:23-29. (Alternate) The whole psalm celebrates God’s mighty acts on behalf of the Israelites during their migration toward the promised land. In this segment the psalmist recalls the instance of them being fed with manna and quail at a time of threatened famine.

EPHESIANS 4:1-16. This exhortation to live the Christian life in all its fullness emphasizes the gift of the Spirit to bring unity to the church and the power to equip all members for their common ministry. It presents a clear mandate for the mission of every congregation.

JOHN 6:24-35. This reading shows a special way in which John handled the miracle of feeding of the five thousand. For John, miracles had much more to them than seeing them happen and benefitting from them. This one led to a discourse by Jesus about being the bread of life. Many scholars believe that John used this discourse in place of the narrative of the Last Supper in the other three Gospels. The story also recalls the feeding of the Israelites during their wandering in the wilderness.

The passage makes three significant points: The miracle was another of the signs identifying Jesus as the Messiah/Christ, the Son of God. Somewhat ambiguously, however, it pointed beyond Jesus to God who is the source of all life. Finally, by placing particular emphasis on his statement, “I am the bread of life,” it identifies Jesus completely with God. This is a more spiritual and theological reflection than one finds in the other Gospels.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:13a. The confrontation between David and Nathan, the prophet, brings to the fore the magnitude of David’s sin with Bathsheba, then arranging for her husband’s death in battle to cover up what he had done. The story is one of the most powerful in the whole sequence of hero-legends about Israel’s greatest king. On the surface it makes the point, however, that even the greatest cannot misuse God-given authority and power for selfish ends.

There is some artificiality about the story, however, probably for dramatic effect. David should have seen through Nathan’s device without difficulty. As king he was also the chief judge of the nations, so the incident that Nathan related was a case that might have come before him. Whether it actually happened in David’s reign (circa 1000 BCE) or is a parable with a deeper purpose is moot. The situation was not uncommon when viewed in light of the social justice messages of Amos and Isaiah in the 8th century BCE . As a parable, it ranks with those of Jesus in the NT gospels for its power “to disturb the conscience and produce repentance.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, 2, 1102). That is its primary purpose in the David cycle as redacted by the Deuteronomists of the late 7th century BCE.

The intent of the redactor was not to denigrate or diminish David in the eyes of a later generation. Rather he intended it to show how David’s transgression fitted the overall tendency of Israel to depart from the covenant of Yahweh in much the same way as had Saul and all succeeding monarchs from the founding of the institution to its end in the Babylonian exile (596 BCE). In every instance, as in this case, a continuing moral and spiritual crisis beset the nation and led to its ultimate destruction. Although this is a serious crisis for David and the beginning of his decline, he is to be seen not so much as an individual, but as the representative of the nation. Thus the story has to be read from the perspective of the prophetic mandate to call Israel to repentance so that it may survive the crisis into which the sins of its whole populace were leading, as had the sins of their greatest king.

PSALM 51:1-12. Because of the superscription many assume that this psalm refers directly to David’s sin, but that is highly unlikely. Psalm titles were added much later by scribes seeking to relate as many of them to David’s life on the mistaken assumption that he was author of the psalms. Seventy-three psalms bear titles referring David in one way or another. Some of them related top specific incidents in his life, as does this one. The existence of these titles in the Greek version indicate that they date from pre-Christian times as Jewish traditions derived from the late compilation of the Psalter.

Nonetheless this one is a very beautiful prayer of repentance by an individual who is both deathly ill and very conscious of his personal transgressions. More significant, perhaps, is the fact that there are no attempts to blame anyone but himself for the fate that has befallen him. The whole psalm presents a personal confession as poignant as any in all of scripture.

The psalm begins with a plea for mercy and an expression of faith in Yahweh’s forgiveness. The double parallel of vs.1 emphasizes the way in which the psalmist has cast himself wholly on divine mercy. The phrase “blot out my transgressions” conveys an image of a record from which the sin be completely obliterated. The image of washing in vs. 2 recalls the liturgical ablutions of Leviticus 14:11-20 as an act of atonement. The Seer of Revelation (7:14) adapted the image to refer to the baptismal garments of lst century Christians. Similarly evangelical Christians envisage being “washed in the blood of the Lamb” as a metaphor of their salvation and atonement through the death of Jesus Christ.

The confessor makes no effort to conceal his sin and deny his guilt. Vs. 4 readily acknowledges the justice of whatever penalty is laid to his charge. Various translations of vs. 5, however, have led many to assume that this is a statement of original sin. Rather than placing blame on his parents, it affirms of what Ecclesiasticus 15:11-15 described as an evil inclination resulting from the freedom of our human wills. We are not born sinful, but do sin because of self-motivated willfulness resulting in sinful choices. (Ecclesiasticus is also known as the apocryophal book of Sirach and dates from the 2nd century BCE.)

Vs. 6 posits Yahweh’s choice for humanity: freedom from sin expressed as “truth in the inward being.” (NSRV) The Hebrew text is difficult to translate. The New English Bible has a better translation: “Though thou hast hidden the truth in darkness, through this mystery thou dost teach me wisdom.” This brings forth a further petition for cleansing and a desire to rejoice in the resulting freedom of spirit (vss.7-9).

The final verses of this reading have a depth of spirituality and moral responsibility reminiscent of the great prophets of the exilic period, Jeremiah (31:33-34) and Ezekiel (37:26-27). It is not improbable that the psalmist either knew these scriptures or belonged to the same prophetic company from which those texts came. The psalmist draws upon a concept of spiritual regeneration through the activity of the Spirit close to that expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and Romans 8.

EXODUS 16:2-15. (Alternate) After their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt by crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites pressed on into the wilderness. When they complained to Moses that they would starve, further evidence of God’s guidance and providence was given in flocks of quails and a flaky substance they called manna (Hebrew for “what is it?”) in plentiful supply for their daily needs.

In this ancient story we have an important part of the Passover and Exodus saga told from the point of view of the highly developed faith of later generations. Modern scholars know, as the priests or scribes who committed this story to writing may also have known, that the manna and quails on which the Israelites fed were natural phenomena to be found in the wilderness of Sinai. Recent investigations suggest that manna is produced not by secretion of sap from the tamarisk bush as previously thought, but by insects which ingest the sap and excrete a honeydew rich in sugars and pectin thus creating a scale on the branches of the shrub. Quail are still found migrating along their natural flight path through the Sinai wilderness to and from their nesting grounds in Europe and wintering grounds in Africa.

Natural explanations do not deny what the Israelites saw as miraculous. Not what fed them, but that they were fed by the providence of Yahweh remained the great blessing which generations praised as in the following psalm.

This faith remained strong even in Jesus’ time, as it still may be for our time. Jesus identified himself as “the true bread from heaven” come down to give life to the world. (John 6:30-35) So also now, faith in Jesus means faith in the providence of God, a tradition as old as Abraham and Moses. (Cf. Genesis 22:8) If Israel’s faith extended nearly two millennia into the past through an oral tradition recounting the saga of their ancestors trek though the wilderness, does it not also extend two millennia forward to our time and a place in history when the global economy is suffering such vast imbalances of riches and poverty? It has been estimated that there are at least one billion poverty-stricken people living in urban slums around the world. Each year their number is swelling by many millions more.

But what does that faith mean in an age when the technologically developed nations have the means of producing far more food than needed but have problems marketing their surplus at prices which pay the producers a fair return for the costs of production? What does it mean for the current controversies about government subsidies to agriculture, transportation and genetically altered foods? How do issues such as the migration of unemployed refugees from Asia, Africa, South and Central America fit into this paradigm of divine providence for the needs of God’s people? Are these not the struggles of our generation which must we must think through and share openly with the politically powerful who have responsibility for making decisions that will determine the fate of millions?

PSALM 78:23-29. (Alternate) This whole psalm celebrates God’s mighty acts on behalf of the Israelites despite their obstinate disbelief during their migration toward the Promised Land. In this segment the psalmist recalls the instance of them being fed with manna and quail at a time of threatened famine.

The recitation of such mighty acts as this psalm celebrates always described Yahweh’s goodness and loving kindness toward Israel. Throughout the psalmist defines a stark contrast in the Deuteronomic mould between Yahweh’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness. In all likelihood this psalm had a significant place in the liturgy of the Second Temple after the return from the Babylonian exile. The celebration of Passover would have been a suitable festival for this liturgical recitation of the nation’s religious history. However, due to several references to the Davidic dynasty still reigning, it may well date from before the exile when the tradition of the Exodus was taking shape.

This passage omits the concluding two verses (vss. 30-31) which state the basic issue repeated throughout the psalm: Yahweh’s anger at their unfaithfulness.

As noted above the phenomenon interpreted as an act of Yahweh had a very natural origin. Manna is the digestive by-product of an insect which appears as a whitish scale on the branches of the tamarisk tree. Quail still migrate through the Egyptian and Jordanian wilderness from their nesting grounds in Europe to their winter feeding grounds in Africa. But who does not interpret the most ordinary things around us, even a brilliant sunrise or sunset, as gifts of God’s infinite grace?

EPHESIANS 4:1-16. At this point in the letter, the mood changes from one of exultation in the blessings of salvation to exhortation about living the Christian life in all its fullness. The author places emphasis on the gift of the Spirit to bring unity to the church and the power to equip all members for their common ministry.

Memories of Paul’s troubles in Ephesus and in Corinth may well lie behind this passage. The early church did not have an easy transition from being a Jewish sectarian movement to a Gentile community of faith distinct from and yet continuous with its predecessor. Factionalism was its greatest problem. Dependence on the Spirit with the particular gifts of humility, patience and love had to be its primary resource for creating a sense of unity and motivating its evangelical mission. The symbol of this spiritual competence which all could share came from their common baptism, “the outward sign of inward, spiritual grace.”

Particular functions, divisions of labour and specific responsibilities in the evangelical mission may have been under development but had not yet become fixed when this letter was composed. Apostles and prophets are named together with evangelists, pastors and teachers without any recognizable difference in their functions within the community. The offices identified in vs. 11 cannot be regarded as literally applicable to any later period. Rather these are functions of service common to all members of the community. Every member had a responsibility “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” However, this should still be interpreted as a clear mandate for the mission of every member in every congregation today.

In his Church Order in the New Testament (SCM Press, 1961) Eduard Schweizer makes a strong point that in the Pauline epistles, notably Colossians and Ephesians, the church has the attributes of the kingdom of God. The image of the body serves to describe “not so much the Church’s state as its growth; this is true both for 4:12-16, where the head is both the source and the object of growth, and also for the image of the temple or God’s dwelling, where everything grows from Christ the cornerstone, and from the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets (2:20-22).”

Schweizer also notes that in ancient times, buildings such as temples were regarded as living organisms much like a living body in contrast to our modern view of buildings as manufactured infrastructure. This view finds expression clearly in the metaphor of maturity measured by the “full stature of Christ” (vs. 13) contrasted with the vacillations of immaturity (vs. 14) and the emphasis on love as the crucial element of nurture which “promotes the body’s growth” (vs. 16).

In Schweizer’s analysis, under the influence of the Spirit the church has become both a world wide unity and a cosmic reality. “Its mission is indeed of cosmic range.” As a result, the members of the church as well as the apostle function in a common ministry on a global and even cosmic scale, not merely as part of a particular local congregation. This passage thus forms the scriptural basis for the outreach ministry of every local congregation where, as individual members and as a gathered community, we must think globally and act locally.

JOHN 6:24-35. This reading shows a special way in which John handled the miracle of feeding of the five thousand. For John, miracles had much more to them than seeing unnatural events occur and benefiting personally from them. This one led to a discourse by Jesus about being the bread of life. Many scholars believe that John used this discourse in place of the narrative of the Last Supper in the other three Gospels. John completely omitted that pericope from his version of the Passion. This discourse is a homily on the meaning of the sacrament.

The passage makes three significant points: The miracle was another of the signs identifying Jesus as the Messiah/Christ, the Son of God. In vs. 27, Jesus claims to be the Son of Man, which by this time had acquired a christological connotation which it did not have in the Hebrew scriptures of Ezekiel and Daniel. He also bears the “seal” which the Father has set on him. The Greek verb spragizein used in this instance occurs also in 3:33. In both cases the verb refers to the well-known custom of stamping one’s personal signet on wax sealing a document, product or vessel to validate its ownership and authenticity in much the same way that modern silver is hallmarked. Ephesus, a noted commercial centre and the probable place from which the Fourth Gospel came, the custom would have been well known. Here it symbolized trustworthiness, i.e. Jesus is the one person who can give eternal, spiritual life because God has set his seal upon him.

Somewhat ambiguously, however, the passage points beyond Jesus to God who is the source of all life. The miracles Jesus performs are “the works of God” recalling the “mighty acts” of the Old Testament. Believing in Jesus, the Christ, is the only essential divine work because God alone is the source of all life and power including Jesus’ power to perform the miracle of feeding the multitude. The manna the Israelites ate in the desert came not from Moses but from God. Then John has Jesus’ interlocutors ask reverently for this “bread from heaven” which opens the way for Jesus to launch into his discourse, “I am the bread of life.”

Finally, by placing particular emphasis on this statement, John identifies Jesus completely with God. This is a more spiritual and theological reflection on the both the miracle and the person of Christ than one finds in the other Gospels. It comes close to defining the Trinitarian view of the person and work Christ. Writing from the viewpoint of a Jew in a thoroughly Hellenistic cultural milieu, John had not yet gone as far as his successors the Greek Fathers would go in defining the abstract Trinitarian hypostasis of Christ. He still maintains the Hebrew sense of spiritual life in the context of daily existence in the world where bread is eaten for physical sustenance.

Yet, it also looks beyond the materialistic element of a few loaves and fish to the divine, spiritual source of life itself. The purpose of eating the bread of life (i.e. believing in Jesus Christ) is to live spiritually in the world here and now while waiting for the eschaton yet to come. But that carries us beyond the immediate passage to the remainder of the discourse (vss.35-58).
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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
Proper 12 Ordinary 17
July 26, 2009

2 SAMUEL 11:1-15. The story of David’s double sins of adultery and calculated murder form the introduction to a new and troubled phase of the monarch’s reign. His adultery with Bathsheba and his plan to cover it up by causing the death of her husband, Uriah, remains to this day the symbol of a very human failure: through pride great leaders often bring about their own demise.

PSALM 14. Profound wisdom and a deep sense of social justice lies behind this psalm: Before God all people are sinful. It ends with a plaintive hope that God will deliver Israel from some unstated ill fortune.

II KINGS 4:42-44. (Alternate) Surprise! The New Testament Gospels include several stories of Jesus which were dependent on Old Testament passages. This pericope from the Elisha cycle could well have been the basis for the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.

PSALM 145:10-18. (Alternate) The Book of Psalms ends with a series of hymns praising God and meditating on the nature of God. Note that these reflections are not couched in theological abstractions, but in terms describing God’s actions, as was typical of Jewish thought.

EPHESIANS 3:14-21. This letter which may have begun as a liturgy for baptismal candidates at Pentecost. Its first segment (chapters 1-3) consists of a great prayer of blessing ending with rapturous petition for Christ to come alive in the hearts and lives of those who first heard it. The end result will be that those they will be filled with the fullness of God whose Spirit gives them the power to love as Christ himself loved. A final benediction ascribes praise to God who is able to do far more than anyone could ever ask or imagine.

JOHN 6:1-21. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. John’s version of the tradition varies from the others in revealing yet another sign of Jesus’ divinity in several ways. Knowing how the multitude would be fed and the danger he was in revealed his omniscience. Performing the miracle and later walking on water while the disciples crossed the lake in a boat against strong winds revealed his omnipotence. As in other instances, John used this story to introduce a long discourse about the meaning of this sign. For John, this event became the turning point in Jesus’ ministry by separating believers from disbelievers.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

2 SAMUEL 11:1-15. The story of David’s double sins of adultery and calculated murder form the introduction to a new and troubled phase of the monarch’s reign. He had already consolidated his power and reinforced it with the nation’s most important religious symbol, the Ark of the Covenant. He had become strong enough to commit his army to war with the Ammonites who lived east of the Jordan River. Under the leadership of Joab, the army were in the process of besieging their capital, Rabbah. Perhaps unwisely, as vs. 1 appears to imply, David stayed home in Jerusalem. With too much time on his hands, he spied Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop and lusted after her. Exercising his assumed rights of power, he lay with her and impregnated her while her husband was away with the army.

After messing with another man’s wife, he had made matters worse by sending for Uriah at the front and tried to get him to sleep with Bathsheba, so he would be recognized as the child’s father. Faithful to his military oath not the sleep with his wife while on duty, Uriah foiled David’s deception. So the king ordered him sent to the most dangerous part of the battle line where he would killed.

David’s adultery with Bathsheba and his plan to cover it up by causing the death of her husband remains to this day the symbol of a very human failure: through pride and the mistaken assumptions about power, even great leaders often bring about their own demise. It does not matter that monarchs are few and virtually powerless today, it still happens to democratically elected politicians who take advantage of their positions for immoral purposes.

Henry Kissinger, former American Secretary of State once said, “Power is a great aphrodisiac.” While still prime minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill vowed never to preside over the demise of the British Empire. He didn’t, but it happened anyway, because the empire had already begun to disintegrate and he was soundly defeated in the next election. David’s willful adultery followed the familiar pattern of human sinfulness. Perhaps Jesus had this familiar story in mind when he said, according to Matthew 5:28 “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Many people sneered at former US President Jimmy Carter when he admitted to a journalist that he had done what Jesus condemned. In the more recent past we have seen President Clinton ruin his promising presidency and bring ignominious shame upon himself by a dalliance more common on a college campus than in the highest public office. High office does not protect even the most powerful from human corruptibility.

PSALM 14. It may astonish some to realize that this psalm is almost identical to Psalm 53. The only explanation for this double appearance is its prior existence in two distinct collections. Scholars regard Ps. 53 as the better preserved. Of note is the name of Yahweh (“the Lord”) in this version while Ps. 53 uses the name Elohim (“God”), as do most of the psalms in what is known as “the Elohistic Psalter,” (Pss. 42-83) associated with the Elohist Document of the Pentateuch.

Profound wisdom and a deep sense of social justice lies behind this psalm: Before Yahweh all people are sinful. But those who are atheistic receive special condemnation. The end state of unbelievers is to be greatly feared (vs.5a). A time of retribution is at hand. Neglect of a spiritual relationship with Yahweh results in the destruction of truly human nature. As Augustine of Hippo said in his Confessions, “Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

The psalm ends with a plaintive hope that Yahweh will deliver Israel from some unstated ill fortune. The great prophets often spoke of an imminent threat of foreign invasion or subjugation to a foreign overlord as the penalty for the apostasy of the people. This would indeed be an unmitigated disaster. In those times each nation was held to have a different god whose power and authority protected the people. This religious tradition regarded defeat in battle or a foreign invasion as spiritually ruinous as well as politically and economically catastrophic. In many respects, this still occurs today as a result of wars.

II KINGS 4:42-44. (Alternate) The story is a simple one, but is linked with the preceding pericope of another miracle at Gilgal during a famine (4:38-41). At the time of the first fruits after the famine, a man brought his thankoffering, twenty loaves of barley, to Elisha, the man of God. Elisha instructed that the loaves be given to the assembled prophetic company of one hundred (“the sons of the prophets”). So little among so many? At the prophet’s insistence, the donor obeyed. And as the prophet had promised, there was enough and some left over.

Long ago the obvious parallel of these anecdotes from the Elisha cycle with the feeding the five thousand in the four Gospels caught the attention of anyone reading the scriptures. On the other hand, one commentator complained that the feeding of the hungry in these stories does not really compare with those in the Gospels because “those who are reported to have wrought them do no occupy the altitude of the personality of Jesus.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, II.209)

Be that as it may, many New Testament passages, including several stories of Jesus, were dependent on Old Testament passages. This pericope from the Elisha cycle may well have been the basis for the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. After all, in the latter part of the 1st century CE, the only scriptures the authors of the New Testament knew were the Hebrew scriptures, probably in the Greek version, known as the Septuagint. They could only understand Jesus in the light of what they had read in those more ancient and revered texts.

PSALM 145:10-18. (Alternate) Like several other psalms, in Hebrew this hymn of praise takes the form of an acrostic. Each couplet begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (Cf. Psalms 9-10, 25, 34, 37, 111-112, 119). This poetic form developed relatively late and characterized poetry of the wisdom teachers of the Persian and Greek periods in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Despite that severe structural limitation, the psalm possesses a surprisingly rich spiritual power.

Though the concept of Yahweh as a powerful monarch had developed much earlier, the idea of Yahweh’s sovereignty over all nations came to the fore only during the prophetic period from the late 8th to the 6th centuries BCE. The psalm glorifies Yahweh as a ruler whose greatness is beyond human comprehension (vs.3). Yahweh’s mighty, miraculous acts give rise to this praise (vss. 4-5). But it is Yahweh’s faithful, compassionate justice and tender care for all people which draws the greatest praise from the psalmist (vss.17-20). Therefore, the psalmist repeats his vow made in vs.1 to “speak the praise of Yahweh” and summons “all flesh” to join him (vs. 21).

Few other OT passages reach the inspirational level found in praising Yahweh’s constant love that this psalm expresses (vss. 8-9). What a pity that this part of the psalm has been omitted from this reading. Nonetheless these few verses reveal the richness of the psalmist’s personal faith. He fixes his hope not only the sovereignty of divine love (vss. 10-13), but Yahweh’s everlasting faithfulness (vss. 14-18). Herein too lies our hope for these difficult times.

EPHESIANS 3:14-21. As previously noted, this letter which may have begun as a liturgy for baptismal candidates at Pentecost. Its first segment (chapters 1-3) consists of a great prayer of blessing (similar to a Jewish berakah) ending with this rapturous petition that Christ come alive in the hearts and lives of those who first heard it. The author was probably not Paul, but one who knew his teaching well. Christian tradition as well as the added the title and address at the beginning of the letter attributed it to the great apostle to the Gentiles.

Vs. 14 contains a vivid image of a person at prayer. Standing was the normal Jewish posture for prayer. Prostration represented particular intensity. Bowing the knees, presumably with the face lifted upward and the hands spread out, would appear to be somewhere between normalcy and ecstasy. William Barclay, however, thought that the prayer was from Paul himself and was so intense that he was probably prostrate.

This petition expresses the hope that the Spirit of God would strengthen his audience spiritually (vs. 16). That would come about through Christ dwelling in their hearts. This is the imaginative effect of faith in Christ. As the old Sunday school chorus resoundingly proclaimed, they would have “the love of Jesus down in their hearts.” The image Paul used was that of a tree firmly rooted in the ground.

In his recent book, Rabbi Paul, Bruce Chilton states that Paul’s success as an evangelist lay in his ability to convey to others the saving experience of the formation of Christ within them. In the life, death and resurrection of Christ, the fullness of the love of God had been made abundantly clear. Through the working of the Spirit in the believer, Christ came alive once again so that our human lives become a reflection of him.

Like a swiftly changing video, the image in Paul’s mind changed to one that appears almost architectural or even astronomical. To know what a building is like, it must be measured in all its spatial perspectives – length, breadth, depth, height. The love of Christ is such that it cannot be measured or fully comprehended. Indeed, when the love of God in all its fullness invades, dwells in and fills the human heart, as Barclay and Chilton note, it is as if Paul has asked us to look at the whole universe and measure it. This will give all who believe the power to love as Christ himself loved.

A final benediction ascribes praise to God who is able to do far more than anyone could ever ask or imagine. The NSRV translation loses much of the poetic grandeur of the KJV: “Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think ….” An early 20th century evangelist once put in this way: “God is able to do all that we ask or think;… above all that we ask or think;… abundantly above all that we can ask or think; … exceeding abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think.”

That is how Paul thought of the church, a fellowship of infinite, boundless, universal, eternal love. The church exists to give glory to God who could do all that through love fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Would that this were so!

JOHN 6:1-21. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. John’s version of the tradition varies from the others in that this miracle depicts yet another of the distinctive signs by means of which Jesus reveals his divinity. Mark and the other synoptic gospels tend to use it to deepen the mystery about Jesus’ identity.

Knowing how the multitude would be fed and of the danger he was in revealed his omniscience (vs. 6). Performing the miracle not only filled the crowds’ need for food, but convinced them that he was “the prophet who is to come into the world” (vs. 14). This may be a reference to Elijah whose return was thought to precede the coming of the Messiah. On the other hand, it may actually be a messianic reference. Immediately John reports that Jesus realized that the crowd intended “to make him king,” according to their perception of the Messiah. Knowing this is another indication of Jesus’ omniscience. Later, walking on water while the disciples crossed the lake in a boat against strong winds revealed his omnipotence. These several small clues represent John’s intention that the events pointed beyond themselves to Jesus’ divine nature.

The passage cannot be read in isolation from the rest of the chapter. As in other instances throughout the Fourth Gospel, John used this miraculous sign to introduce a discourse by Jesus about its true meaning (vss. 25-59), including another of his “I am …” sayings (vs. 35). Furthermore, John saw these events and the discourse as the turning point in Jesus’ ministry. The narrative of the discourse is set in a running debate with “the Jews” (vss. 25, 28, 34, 41-42, 52). The end result separates believers from disbelievers, including many of his erstwhile disciples (vs. 66).

Did John have access to a tradition unknown to the earlier gospel authors? More than likely, John knew the same tradition as they, but had engaged it as a theological reflection more explicitly suited his literary purpose. No hidden Messiah as in Mark; no new Moses as in Matthew; no compassionate friend of Jew and Gentile as is Luke; this is the sovereign Son of God, fully revealed in all his power and glory. He moves steadily forward knowing where he is going and what he must do to achieve his mission, almost above the ebb and flow of the world around him, yet in total control of all that happens.

Disciples, crowds, opponents alike all contribute to his self-revealing ministry. As at the moment of the first creation, in him light had come into the world. Exposed to this light, all people must decide where they stand, in the light with him or hiding from him in the darkness of their alienation. By him food for body and spirit is freely provided. Each person has only to decide whether to accept or reject it. To see him exercise his creative and redemptive power with a few loaves and fish or walking on water is not just astonishing, it is terrifying even to those who have been closest to him. Once reassured as to who he really is amid the stormy waves and strong winds, they are safely ashore (vss. 18-21).

The passage can be seen as a midrash, a theologically interpretive narrative. The events form a microcosm of life. Without expressing it in so many words, it asks and answers the question: “Who do you say that I am?”

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Proper 11   Ordinary 16
July 19, 2009

2 SAMUEL 7:1-14a. Having pacified and united the nation, David sought to build a temple in which to house the ark of the covenant, but was denied. The story reflects a struggle between a more ancient tradition of the ark in a movable tent or tabernacle in contrast to the custom in other cultures of having the main religious symbol housed in a more permanent temple. The role of the monarch, nationalism and religious tradition intermingle in this passage.

PSALM 89:20-37. This paean of praise for David was written in the first person as if God was speaking. It dates from a later time after the elite of Israel had been taken into exile in Babylon (586 BC). The hero-stories of David then served both a religious and political purpose in retaining a meaningful national identity during the exile. It reads more like a prophetic oracle than a hymn.

JEREMIAH 23:1-6. (Alternate)  The shepherd is a common Old Testament symbol for the king of Israel. After condemning Israel’s leaders for failing to provide care for God’s flock, this prophecy promises a monarch who will return Israelites from foreign lands and rule them in security, prosperity and peace.

PSALM 23. (Alternate) No psalm is better known or more loved as a prayer of trust in God who cares for us now and forever. It cannot be correctly attributed to David, however, as ancient tradition supposed and generations have followed.

EPHESIANS 2:11-22. The author of the letter strove to create a sense of unity among the several classes of converts  in the early church. Gentiles and Jews are most prominent in this attempt to reconcile very significant differences. The crucial element is their common faith in what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did in giving everyone access to God.

The church is only now beginning to realize how fully open and universal in the gift of God’s Spirit to create a new humanity through faith. This has great significance in the pluralist age in which we live. There can be no closed doors in an inclusive fellowship of believers.

MARK 6:30-34, 53-56. No matter where Jesus and his disciples went, they could not escape the multitudes that ran after them. That only gave Jesus more opportunities to teach the people and be compassionate toward those in need.  The implications for the church’s life today are obvious.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

2 SAMUEL 7:1-14a. The Jews were great storytellers. Many of the narrative parts of the Old Testament were ex post facto tales of bygone days when the  heroic legends of Israel’s history were being reconstructed from scant records and ancient oral traditions. This is particularly true of the Saul and David narratives that compose the main contents of 1 and 2 Samuel. In the Hebrew text, the two books are continuous. The current division of the two books originated with the Greek version, commonly known as the Septuagint, in the 3rd century BCE.

If there is a central theme to this skillfully woven composite work, it is the development of the covenantal institutions linking Yahweh and Israel during the reign of the greatest of all Israel’s hero-kings, David. As Peter R. Ackroyd, of King’s College, University of London, pointed out in his article in The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford University Press, 1993. 677), the final text does more than “describe what was believed about the past; claims are being made about the present, to depict for a community that has its own questions and uncertainties the meaning of that age which had brought into being the major institutions of the monarchical period and to invite the re-evaluation of these institutions in a later time of change.”

This passage shows how David, having pacified and united the nation, sought to build a temple in which to house the ark of the covenant, but was denied. The story reflects a struggle between a more ancient tradition of the ark in a movable tent or tabernacle in contrast to the custom in other cultures of having the main religious symbol housed in a more permanent temple. This was no minor issue for the covenant faith of Israel. It represented a conflict of intense importance for Israel’s concept of Yahweh’s true nature as well as reflecting the growing urbanization of Israel’s society.

Historically,  David’s reign is believed to have occurred about 1000 BCE. The invasion of Canaan and settlement in the Promised Land was more two centuries behind them (about 1250 BCE). Gone were the days of wilderness wandering, the religious traditions of the patriarchs and the tribal laws that contributed to the Decalogue of Sinai and its subsequent elaboration. While they had defeated the earlier inhabitants of Canaan and the Philistine invaders from the sea, the Israelites had also adopted many of the cultural and religious customs of their more settled environment.

Among the most important of these were alphabetic writing and literacy for a limited number of religious and cultural leaders, and forms of institutional architecture such as temples for sacred rites such as worship and sacrifice. The religious practices of the wilderness and invasion periods no longer suited this more settled and urbanized environment. This story reflects the transition that was taking place during the early monarchy and would continue for several more centuries until the period of the great prophets of the 8th century BCE.

The Books of Samuel did not reach their final form until after the return from the Babylonian exile. At that time, the redactors of Israel’s religious literature faced an equally critical transition. So they looked back to this earlier period when under the leadership of their great hero-kings, David and Solomon, the nation had been at peace and the national institutions established. They believed and rewrote the national saga with a theological framework so that these developments were seen as having taken place under Yahweh’s direction.

PSALM 89:20-37. This paean of praise for David was written in the first person as if God was speaking. It dates from a later time after the elite of Israel had been taken into exile in Babylon (586 BCE). The hero-stories of David then served both a religious and political purpose in retaining a meaningful national identity after that disaster. It reads more like a prophetic oracle than a hymn.

As in the passage from 2 Samuel 7 above, the role of the monarch, nationalism and religious tradition intermingle in this passage.  The closest parallel in modern times is the dual role of the monarch as sovereign and high priest is that of Queen Elizabeth II as “defender of the faith” and titular head of the Church of England. However, while technically she appoints bishops recommended by her prime minister, she attends but does not conduct worship. In Scotland, she usually attends worship in the Church of Scotland.

A civic religion, nonetheless, does not depend on an established church. The fact that in the most republican constitutions and national anthems declare a trust in God and dependence on divine guidance, and religious institutions receive considerable tax benefits from the public purse denies the much professed separation of church and state.

Developing Judaic and Christian traditions both read messianic concepts into this psalm. Christian piety found in it proofs that the church became the New Israel. It is more expressive, however, of the covenant theology of Israel derived from the prophetic era and institutionalized in the centralized temple and its liturgies of the late monarchical and early post-exilic periods.

Veiled references in vss. 38-45 included in this reading appear to speak of a recent military disaster. This may possibly refer to the Babylonian wars 598-586 BCE. If this is so, then the psalm expresses a religious means of coping with that devastating experience when monarchy and temple were swept away by the destructive invader and the liturgies of the people became laments for a nation still clinging to its identity as the covenant people of Yahweh.

JEREMIAH 23:1-6. (Alternate)    As many of us know from painful experience, in every age and in every tradition political and religious leaders have often created difficulties for those for whom they had responsibility. This passage makes abundantly clear that ancient Israel was no exception. In these six verses at least two and possibly three brief oracles dealing with this leadership crisis have been grouped together to condemn what had happened and to promise a better future.

It is likely that these oracles were pronounced against the advisers of King Zedekiah of Judah  (597-586 BCE). Placed on the throne as a vassal of the Babylonians, he was the last of the Davidic dynasty to reign. Contrary to the advice of Jeremiah, Zedekiah rebelled against his overlords. This brought on the invasion of Judah, the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the exile of the king and the nations’ leading citizens to Babylon.

The fact that there are so many oracles packed into so few lines of poetry should not surprise us. Prophetic oracles were more commonly expressed as ecstatic outbursts fired by deeply emotional experiences of the presence and purpose of Yahweh. The text from 22:1 to 23:8 consists of a whole series of such oracles against Judah’s last three kings and their advisers. Some of these oracles may have come from the hand of the Deuteronomic editor of the post-exilic period rather than Jeremiah. Scholars believe that only vss. 1-3 and 5-6 of this chapter came from Jeremiah himself. Vs. 4 is most likely an inserted note of encouragement written by a later hand after the return from the Babylonian exile.

Generally, the term “shepherd” referred only to the kings of Israel. Here it is more likely that the reference includes all ruling officials, the priesthood as well as the king and his court. Other passages in the Books Jeremiah and Ezekiel show Zedekiah as weak and vacillating. Jeremiah expressed some ambivalence toward the leaders of Judah during this fateful period and suffered for it. He hoped Zedekiah would turn out to be a better king than he proved to be. However, vss.1-2 leave little room for such ambiguity.

Vss. 3-4 imply that the exile had already taken place. On the other hand, the idea of a “remnant” had appeared in the prophecies of Amos, and particularly those of Isaiah. Although Isaiah prophesied much earlier in the latter half of the 8th century BCE, Jeremiah and Ezekiel shared his conviction that a limited number of the faithful would survive the total destruction of the nation. After the exile, those who had returned identified themselves with this “remnant” under Ezra’s leadership (late 6th century BCE). It is possible that this oracle could have come from that later period and from the same editorial hand as Jeremiah 3:15-18 which contains similar ideas of restoration. Ezekiel 34 also shares this point of view.

Scholars also debate the authenticity of vss.5-6 as a prophecy of Jeremiah because of its specifically messianic references, a concept not prominently displayed by him. On the other hand, Jeremiah was both disappointed in Zedekiah’s leadership as well as hopeful of a promising future under a more stable monarch of the Davidic dynasty. Vs.6 ends with a curious name for Yahweh, “the Lord is our righteousness,” which in Hebrew is actually a play on Zedekiah’s name. This word-play probably was intended to suggest that some future king would fulfill the promise of Zedekiah’s name. While the term “a righteous branch” in vs. 5 is thought to be messianic and come from a later period, in this instance it may not mean more than a different member of David’s line.

Regardless of its varying origins, traditional Christian interpreters have had no difficulty in seeing this passage as a distinct reference to Jesus as Israel’s true Messiah. Such an interpretation, however, ignores the historical context to which it was obviously related.

PSALM 23. (Alternate)  No psalm is better known or more loved as a prayer of trust in God who cares for us now and forever. Only the first four verses depict the pastoral scene of the shepherd caring for his flock in several different circumstances from pleasant pasturage to grave danger.

Another image in vs. 4 refers to a banquet, or at least a meal provided for a refugee from pursuing enemies. Tribal custom among pastoral Semites dictated that anyone fleeing from enemies bent on the rough justice of the wilderness could appeal for refuge from any encampment he might happen upon. Pursuing enemies could not take the refugee while he was guest at supper in the sheltering encampment. The additional imagery of the guest being anointed with pungent oil and served an overflowing cup suggests an elaborate banquet provided by an exceptionally hospitable host.

Generations of interpreters have incorrectly attributed the psalm to David, the shepherd who became Israel’s legendary great hero-king. However satisfying religiously, this is more of a romantic than a realistic interpretation. In the closing verse 6 the picture of the tent melts into that of the temple. While it is not inconceivable that David did serve as a priest-king in some instances, his desire to build a temple in new capital city of Jerusalem went unfulfilled. The biblical record tells of him bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, but it was his son, Solomon, born to Bathsheba, who is credited with the construction of the temple.

Perhaps no scripture is more often read or hymn more frequently sung at funeral services than the metrical version of this psalm. It could well have been one of Jesus’ favourites too. The image of the shepherd had a special place in his teaching as reported in all four Gospels. The intimate relationship of shepherd and sheep had special meaning for Jewish people long before Jesus’ time too. In numerous OT passages speak of Yahweh as the shepherd of Israel. Raising sheep for the annual sacrifice of the Passover played an important part in the nation’s economy. The sacrifice of an unblemished lamb and the sprinkling of its blood on the altar symbolized the exodus from Egypt under Yahweh’s protection and renewal of the Sinai covenant.

Only the religious symbolism of the relationship of sheep and shepherd carried over into the Apostolic Church. The church’s developing theology of the person and work of Christ blended the images of the shepherd and the sacrificial lamb. John 15:11-18 and Hebrews 13:20-21 express this blending most clearly. Today’s Christians do not respond to the sacrificial images. The image of the shepherd caring for the sheep, however, is as strong as ever.

A elderly Scottish farmer and elder of a rural congregation suffered a stroke which robbed him of his voice, his freedom to walk and his ability to feed himself. This forced him to spend the last years of his life confined to a wheelchair in a nursing home. Although he was fully alert to all that went on around him but could only respond by nodding and shaking his head. One day his pastor received word that the elder was dying and went to the nursing home to see him. The elder’s eyes were closed and he seemed unaware of his visitor. As the pastor held the man’s feeble hand, he wondered how to give him some special gift that might bring comfort to his last hours. Quietly he
repeated the 23rd Psalm. Instantly, the man’s eyes opened wide. Tears flowed down his cheeks as his eyes expressed the gratitude his voice could not utter. The pastor offered the Hebrew benediction, “The Lord bless you and keep you ….” and left. Just a few days later, the Shepherd Psalm was sung at the elder’s funeral service.

EPHESIANS 2:11-22. Originally this letter, as was customary in the 1st century, bore no title and no address.  Many scholars believe that Ephesians was written from Ephesus rather than to the Christian community in Ephesus.  In the earliest and best attested manuscripts of the text, 1:l is not included. The letter simply begins: “Paul … to all who are saints and faithful in Jesus Christ.” It is also evident from 1:15 and 3:2 that he is not familiar with the recipients of the letter, but knows of them from others who reported their faith experience to him. They too seem unfamiliar with him. Yet Paul spent three years in Ephesus. It is inconceivable that such a formal document as this could be understood as being addressed to people whom he knew and who undoubtedly knew him so well.

The best solution to “the Ephesian problem” is that the letter came from the hand of a disciple of Paul who was intimately acquainted with him and his teaching, especially as expressed in the Letter to the Colossians. Ephesians and Colossians have a close association, possibly through Tychicus who is named in both in almost identical words (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7). The unknown author used Paul’s name to communicate the gospel of reconciliation in Christ to a Gentile audience in a style and a language that was not essentially Pauline. It could have been a circular letter to primarily Gentile churches reminding them the destiny of all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, and all of creation, to be brought together under the sovereignty of Christ. The church as the Body of Christ, this writer says, has been created for this mission in and to the world.

The letter strove to create a sense of unity among the several classes of converts  in the early church. Gentiles and Jews are most prominent in this attempt to reconcile very significant differences. The crucial element is their common faith in what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did in giving everyone access to God. Vss. 11-12 state the inherent separation of Gentiles from God due to their “uncircumcision.” This represents a typical Jewish view of all who did mot bear the symbol of belonging to Israel’s sacred covenant. Because of that exclusion, moreover, they were “at that time without Christ.” Only Jews could inherit the promised blessedness of the messianic commonwealth.

In a similar manner, many Christians still exclude from God’s favour people of other religious traditions because they do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ, Son of the living God.” The church is only now beginning to realize how fully open and universal is the gift of God’s Spirit to create a new humanity through faith. This has great significance in the pluralist age in which we live. There can be no closed doors in the fellowship of faith. This letter proclaims this message while at the same time making is abundantly clear that such unity can only be through faith in Jesus Christ.

With the vivid metaphor of vs. 20, the author reiterates that while the doors of faith are wide open to everyone, the building to which we are moving in faith from many directions has Jesus Christ as its cornerstone. As so often in depicting theological concepts, the metaphor creates the situation of truth being found not in a conflicting state of either/or but of both/and.

Perhaps even more dramatically, the author makes what Jews might regard as an outrageous statement full of anti-Semitic antipathy. In vs. 15, he declares that Christ “has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself a new humanity.” That goes much farther than and directly contradicts the tradition repeatedly affirmed in Matthew 5:17-48. Could Paul the former Pharisee have said such a thing? Does it not also conflict with Paul’s anguish for his fellow Jews expressed in Romans 9-11? Is it not incumbent on Christians today to enlarge their vision from  the exclusiveness voiced in so many of our credal statements, even though supported by some New Testament passages, to include people of other faith traditions?

MARK 6:30-34, 53-56. No matter where Jesus and his disciples went, they could not escape the multitudes who ran after them. That only gave Jesus more opportunities to teach the people and be compassionate toward those in need. The compassion of Jesus stands out as the most remarkable feature in these two brief summaries of the Galilean ministry.

The passage describes exactly what Peter told Cornelius, the Roman centurion, in Acts 10:38, that. Jesus went about doing good. Mark assumes, however, or rather uses these brief summaries  to demonstrate, what Peter also said, “because God was with him.” This further confirms the “Spirit possession” theme Mark introduced in the baptism pericope (1:10) and has illustrated with the numerous miracles and healing stories up to this point. This would appear to be a conclusion to that theme sequence, however, since 7:1 begins a new section of the narrative emphasizing the developing opposition to Jesus leading toward the cross.

In the first part of this reading (vss. 30-34), Jesus’ compassion for his disciples comes to the fore. We would say that he took them away for a time of debriefing. Their time alone was short, as vs. 33 points out. As soon as they were recognized, the crowds gathered from every direction. As the pericope between the two parts of this reading tells us, the multitude eventually reached 5,000 in number (vs. 44). This must have been a significant proportion of the population within walking distance around the Sea of Galilee at the time. That is quite a flock of sheep for the shepherd to be concerned about (vs. 34).

Mark had two purposes in mind as he composed his narrative: to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” and to define what it meant to be one of Jesus’ disciples. He was telling the story, perhaps as he had heard Peter tell it over and over again in brief anecdotes. If Papias of Hierapolis (ca. 150 CE) was right in attributing Mark with using Peter as his primary source, they lived in dangerous times. It was during or just after the Neronian persecution and the great fire of Rome which Nero blamed on the Christians. It may also have coincided with the Roman-Jewish War (66-70 CE). Mark also wanted his narrative to encourage the congregation in Rome for whom he was writing. Not only were they suffering greatly, so were many of  their Roman neighbours who struggled to survive after being burned out of house and home. Discipleship for that group of Christians, Mark was saying, means doing as Jesus himself had done in having such open and generous compassion on the peasant folk of Galilee.

The implications for the church’s life today are obvious. We can never escape the bonds of compassion inspired by the Spirit who presents us with the opportunity to be Christ-like in caring for the poor. This story taken from Today’s Devotional by Denise Griebler, from Aha!!! July-September 1999, Vol. 8, #4, appeared on www.joinhands.com on July 7, 2000

The Prayer Vigil

In Evanston, Illinois, there were a growing number of homeless people. A Baptist church in a wealthy suburb of Chicago decided to open its doors as a shelter and some Evanston church leaders were considering doing the same.

When the Evanston city council heard about this, it moved to pass a new zoning ordinance forbidding the use of churches as shelters for the homeless. The organizer of one shelter project had no complaint. Rather than opening up a shelter for the homeless, they decided to host an all-night prayer vigil to which all were welcome. Participants in the prayer vigil received pillows and blankets along with bulletins and hymnals.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
Proper 10 Ordinary 15
July 12, 2009

2 SAMUEL 6:1-5, 12b-19. Many celebrations include experiences of both boundless joy mixed with a measure of sadness. Such was the case too when David brought the ark of the covenant, Israel’s foremost religious symbol, to Jerusalem. In a frenzy of jubilation, David danced among the happy throngs that accompanied the ark on its way. But David’s wife, Michal, was ashamed of her husband’s nearly naked display of religious enthusiasm.

PSALM 24. This psalm celebrates two crucial elements of Israel’s religious tradition: the whole creation as the possession of God alone and the temple as the visible symbol of God’s presence within creation.

AMOS 7:7-15. (Alternate) Amos, a humble farmer and outspoken prophet, began his ministry about 740 BC at a time when the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah suffered grave internal and external problems. This passage tells how he confronted Amaziah, the priest of the royal sanctuary at Bethel, with the threatening message that God would punish the people for their apostasy and end the reign of King Jereboam.

PSALM 85:8-13. (Alternate) God’s steadfast love and faithfulness offers hope and rich blessings to God’s people.

EPHESIANS 1:3-14. While the address of this letter cites Paul as its author, many scholars attribute it to someone who knew his other letters and teaching very well, but also summarized and extended his thought further. It has been suggested that this letter began as a prayer of blessing and a sermon to new converts preparing for baptism at Pentecost.

Jesus Christ is the central figure of this passage, as he was for all of Paul’s teaching. It lifts up Christ’s pre-existence, his role in God’s plan of salvation, his continuing presence, and the believer’s response to all this through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

MARK 6:14-29. The execution of John the Baptist was only one of many acts of extreme violence attributed to Herod Antipas, the Roman’s puppet-king of Galilee and Petrea. There would appear to be as much legend as fact in the story of Herod’s rash promise to his paramour’s daughter, Herodias.

The story played such a large part in Mark’s narrative because it reflected the king’s guilt and his fear that Jesus and his disciples would start a rebellion threatening his shaky hold on power. The idea that Jesus was John raised from the dead was popular among the common folk of the time.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

2 SAMUEL 6:1-5, 12b-19. Many religious celebrations include experiences of both boundless joy mixed with a measure of sadness. This may be particularly evident when a large number of people participate and a charismatic leader is present. A form of mob psychology seems to take over. People behave with excessive enthusiasm and not infrequently run amok. Such was the case when David brought the ark of the covenant, Israel’s foremost religious symbol, to Jerusalem.

This was indeed an occasion for jubilation. The ark of the covenant symbolized Israel’s unique relationship with Yahweh because it held the stones on which, according to the sacred tradition, the Law had been given to Moses. It had also become the symbol of national identity and liberation from the Philistines under the skillful leadership of David, now the popular choice as chieftan of all the tribes of Israel.

All was not well, however, within David’s own household. His wife, Saul’s daughter Michal, did not join the celebration. Perhaps she was jealous of her husband having such fun with the throngs of men and women who joined with him in the happy occasion. One expositor suggested that although formally committed to the state religion, she was actually irreligious. There could have been a simpler cause for her disfavour. Vs. 14 notes that David was wearing “a linen ephod.” This was an undergarment and could have been no more than a loincloth scant enough to make Michael angry and ashamed of her husband. Then too, his ecstatic display of religious fervour in a frenzy of jubilation only exacerbated her negative attitude toward him.

There is another possible explanation for Michal’s attitude, despite her earlier love for David. Her father, Saul, had given her in marriage to David as a political ploy to bring about David’s death (1 Sam. 18:20-25). While it is exceedingly difficult to sort out the frequent duplications and contradictions in the narrative of 1 Samuel, Saul himself had not been the unanimous choice as king to lead the confederated tribes against the more powerful Philistines. It is known, however, that the religious practices of the Canaanites existed side by side and contended with Yahwism long after the inauguration of the monarchy. Did the Yahwist faction resist Saul’s selection because he was not as faithful to Yahweh as they would have preferred? Was Saul more politically ambitious and jealous about his title than faithful to the covenant?

The ark of the covenant was not a prominent factor in the religious rites observed during Saul’s reign. He also appears to have been deprived of his kingship for disloyalty to Yahweh by usurping the rights of Samuel’s priesthood (1 Sam. 13:8-15) as in the ancient tradition of a priest-king. Was Michal also ambivalent toward Yahwism as her father may well have been? These may be adventurous speculations and we shall never be able to sift the historical details from the religious fiction of the narratives.

What can we make of this legendary tale that may be spiritual helpful to our time? A few years ago an eminent Methodist scholar reported that he had made a special trip to Toronto to inquire into the ecstatic displays of religious fervour in the Toronto Blessing. What he found was a fairly typical Christian charismatic renewal movement which demonstrates exaggerated forms of ecstatic behaviour, characterized in particular by what is called “holy laughter.” Those involved interpreted this as evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. For some, it may have been an unusual way of finding relief from the stresses of life.

Once a part of the Vineyard Movement attracting thousands of participants every night of the week, the group has been dismissed from that association and has affiliated with the loosely connected Christian Fellowship Churches. The chief emphasis of the Toronto Blessing, now evolved into the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, is on emotional religious experience no matter how manifested. Describing themselves as a family oriented congregation and passionate about worship, they have recently opened three new satellite congregations around the Greater Toronto Area. Opponents regard the movement as heretical because of its scant theological basis and its contacts with similar ecstatic charismatic movements that have occurred outside the mainstream of Christian tradition. (See more here: http://www.tacf.org/)

Having observed the Toronto Blessing in process, the visiting professor asked, “How do we know that we have the Holy Spirit?” There appears to be a similar question of David’s behaviour in this passage. It probably dates from the Deuteronomic redactors of the Davidic cycle of legends in the 6th century BCE. They saw both cause for rejoicing and yet had some serious reservations about his handling of the sacred artifact, the ark of the covenant.

PSALM 24. This psalm celebrates two crucial elements of Israel’s religious tradition: the whole creation as the possession of Yahweh alone and the temple as the visible symbol of God’s presence within creation. Although attributed to David in the superscription, it comes from a much later date as evidenced by the references to the temple (vs. 3). Solomon, not David, was the king who built the temple in Jerusalem. Then too, the cosmology of creation described here is typical of the ancient world-view which saw the earth set in a three tiered universe with heaven above, the place of the dead below and the earth between.

It would appear that the psalm had liturgical origin and was sung in a procession on some festival occasion. Late Jewish sources regard it as a hymn for the New Year festival when Yahweh’s work of creation was commemorated and the sovereignty of Yahweh over all creation celebrated. There is also a strong element of holiness in vv. 3-6. Ritual purity had special meaning for entrance into the temple because the sacred precincts were regarded as the place where Yahweh dwelt.

The antiphonal song of vv. 7-9 again emphasizes the entrance of Yahweh into the holy place. The gates of the temple are personified and responsive to the approaching worshipers represented by the holy people of Yahweh. Yet the identification of Yahweh and the people of Israel is not altogether complete. Hence the question, “Who is the King of glory?” The poetic image used in answering this question (vs. 8) is that of a victorious monarch leading his triumphant army home. One commentator suggested that this may have been the point in the procession where the ark or some other symbol of divine presence moved into the temple.

In Jewish history, the temple was the last stronghold to fall to an invading enemy. Its few remaining stones in the Western Wall still form the centre of Jewish spirituality. In the Scottish Protestant tradition, the antiphonal verses were sung to the tune of St. George’s Edinburgh at the evening service in many churches on Communion Sunday.

AMOS 7:7-15. (Alternate) Amos, a humble farmer and outspoken prophet, began his ministry about 740 BC at a time when the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah suffered grave internal and external problems. This passage tells how he confronted Amaziah, the priest of the royal sanctuary at Bethel, with the threatening message that God would punish the people for their apostasy and end the reign of King Jereboam.

It is a pity that the RCL only uses two passages from Amos and these only from the narrative segment of the book (ch.7-9). Amos deserves more than the sharing of his vision of doom with priest of the royal sanctuary at Bethel. Yet this passage tells us something about this earliest of the great prophets (despite his characterization as one of the twelve “Minor Prophets”).

In his own words, Amos was not a professional prophet or priest, but a farmer (v.14). What is more, he was a Judean from Tekoa, a village about 5 mi. south of Bethlehem, in the Southern Kingdom. By raising his voice against the moral and social corruption of Israel (i.e. the Northern Kingdom), he encountered the opposition of the royal priesthood of that nation. Like most rural people, he was something of a jack-of-all-trades, for in addition to having flocks and a fig orchard, he also knew something about building. A plumb-line, a simple weight on the end of a string, was an important tool necessary for erecting the wall of any building, especially one built of mud brick as were most houses of that time. The metaphor of the plumb-line expressed total condemnation of the moral and spiritual leadership of the nation (vv.7-9).

Due to his impressive sense of Yahweh’s justice and righteousness, Amos foresaw the destruction which awaited Israel (vv.8-9, 17). The king during this period was Jereboam II (788-747 BCE). Assyria had reduced Damascus to poverty and powerlessness, but under a series of weak kings did not threaten the Palestinian states. This allowed Israel to prosper and a rich merchant class to develop, but not to the benefit of the common people like himself. A passion for social justice explains the vehement outrage of Amos’ message. It also makes him a very contemporary voice for our own time of global capitalism run amok in immoral, money-mad enterprise that brought about a destructive recession of terrifying proportions.

PSALM 85. (Alternate) In curious juxtaposition to the dismal prophecy of Amos, this psalm presents a very hopeful attitude. As a lament of the community, it voices sincere humility and pleads for salvation on the basis of Yahweh’s past beneficence. Some unknown historic circumstance lies behind it, but there are no clues to what that event may have been other than that some imminent danger threatened the whole community.

We have no way of knowing when that was, but it seems likely that the psalm is post-exilic. Some scholars believe that it reflects the conditions in Judah similar to that described by Haggai (ca. 520 BCE) when Judah experienced a severe economic depression and a failure of spiritual enthusiasm (cf. Haggai 1:6-11; 2:15-19).

An eschatological element some detect in the closing vv. 8-13 has given the psalm a wider relevance. A prophetic note like that of Second Isaiah sounds through these lines. An earnest desire for peace and fidelity to Yahweh which will yield prosperity and social justice.

The psalmist looks forward to a time of faithfulness and well-being throughout the land in his own time period. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer made this the “proper psalm” for Christmas Day. Since the author had in mind an immediate demonstration of Yahweh’s saving power, it seems most appropriate for that Christian celebration.

EPHESIANS 1:3-14. Scholarly controversy over the authorship of the Letter to the Ephesians may never be settled. While the address of this letter cites Paul as its author, many scholars attribute it to someone of the next generation who knew Paul’s other letters and teaching very well, and on that basis summarized and extended his thought much further. Several possible authors have been proposed, all of them close associates of Paul: Tychicus, Onesimus, and Timothy.

In an appealing thesis dating from the 1960s, John C. Kirby, of McGill University, Montreal, suggested that this letter began as a prayer of blessing and a sermon to new converts preparing for baptism at Pentecost. At some later date, it was transformed into a letter circulated from the Ephesian church rather than written to the Ephesian community. (Ephesians, Baptism and Pentecost. McGill University Press, 1968)

This opening passage, Kirby asserts, has all the marks of a Jewish berakah. Such a prayer of blessing formed a significant part of the Jewish liturgical tradition in which Paul would have frequently participated. This prayer blessed Yahweh for two special divine acts which caused Israel to wonder and worship: creation and deliverance. The Psalms include numerous examples. Psalm 111 contains both of these themes. So also does the opening passage of this “letter.”

Jesus Christ is the central figure of this poetic blessing, as he was for all of Paul’s teaching. It lifts up Christ’s pre-existence, his role in God’s plan of salvation from the beginning, his continuing presence, and the believer’s response to all this through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Few if any passages in the Pauline corpus reach the heights of poetic grandeur as do the words of this opening prayer.

Not only have those who believe received redemption through Christ’s blood and the forgiveness of all trespasses (vs. 8). We also have wisdom and insight into the mystery which Christ reveals (vs. 9). This is the vision of the eschaton in which all history will be brought to a conclusion in Christ (v. 10). That too is our inheritance and destiny in Christ (v. 11) to the end that we may “live for the praise of his glory” (v. 12). The gift of the Holy Spirit is the divine pledge we have that all this is true (vv. 13-14).

Everything that follows in the remainder of the letter depends on this opening liturgy. After this initial awe at what God has done in Christ comes its essential meaning for all who believe. Specific admonitions as to the implications of the awe-full act of God for every Christian’s daily life are clarified in the later sections of the letter which, according to Kirby, were the admonitions of the baptismal sermon.

Two lively metaphors referring to the Holy Spirit stand out in vv. 13 and 14. The “seal of the promised Holy Spirit” has to do with the mark of ownership placed on shipments of goods to prove that it came from a specific owner and had been delivered intact. We still use such means to designate the safe transmission of valuable goods. Thus the Holy Spirit seals us as belonging to God.

The “pledge of our inheritance” (Greek = arrabon) also came from the Hellenist business world. It represented an advance payment which formed part of the purchase price as a guarantee that the remainder would be paid in due time. Paul uses the word here to say that the gift of the Holy Spirit now is God’s guarantee of future blessedness in eternal fellowship with God. It is the promise that someday we shall enter into a full relationship with God. If we need to know what that will be like, we need only look at how the gospels describe Jesus living from day to day and after his death by crucifixion was raised and, in the words of Acts 1:9, ascended to be with God.
MARK 6:14-29. The execution of John the Baptist was only one of many acts of extreme violence attributed to Herod Antipas, the Roman’s puppet-king of Galilee and Petrea. There would appear to be as much legend as fact in the story of Herod’s rash promise to his paramour’s daughter. This tradition may well come from circles closely associated with John himself. Herodias obviously had a grudge against John, but the outcome of the story is not surprising considering the danger John’s movement of repentance had for the profligate Antipas.

We might wonder, however, why Mark makes such an issue of Antipas’ hesitation to execute John. A similar pattern emerged in the narrative of Jesus’ trial before Pilate (Mark 15:6-15). It is more than likely that Mark told the stories this way not so much as to exonerate the Roman authorities for these executions, but to show how they vacillating in the face of forces they could not control. In both instances, political expedience rather than justice prevailed. The Romans were masters of such machinations long before Machiavelli developed his theories that those with political power are not subject to traditional ethical norms, but only needed to use whatever means were necessary to sustain their control.

Yet the story played such a large part in Mark’s narrative because it reflected the puppet king’s guilt and his fear that Jesus and his disciples would start a rebellion once again threatening his shaky hold on power. The idea was popular among the common folk of the time that Jesus was John raised from the dead, and John in turn was Elijah returned from the dead. In fact, this was one of the answers the disciples gave to Jesus when he asked “Who do people say that I am?” (8:27-28).

Walter Wink wrote a helpful article on John the Baptist in the supplementary volume of The Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary (5, 488-9). He made a strong argument that John’s movement was absorbed into the post-Easter church and that Mark consistently portrayed John as Elijah resurrected. By linking the suffering of Elijah, the execution of John and the crucifixion of Jesus, “Mark succeeds in saying that John’s suffering is not meaningless, any more than is that of the Christians in Rome.” Mark thus attempted to encourage his Roman audience at a time of severe persecution without drawing unnecessary attention from the Roman authorities. As a prelude to the passion narrative, the story of John’s imprisonment and execution set before the church the promise of an end to their suffering and humiliation.

Is there not a message in this passage for the church today as it calls for justice in the face of entrenched political and economic power?

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