gregoryjenks

Category: Lectionary

Links to lectionary notes from the Jesus Database site.

  • Epiphany 5A (9 February 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) & Psalm 112:1-9 (10)
    • 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
    • Matthew 5:13-20

    Introduction

    This week’s notes focus especially on the Gospel reading, and suggest a way of reading Matthew that takes seriously his interpretation of Jesus and the implications for those who would be disciples of Christ.

    Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20

    This section of Matthew’s Gospel presents many challenges for Christians who elevate faith to a solitary and exclusive place in the divine economy. When Paul’s letters are read through the traditional lenses refined by theologians in the Augustine/Luther trajectory, it does seem that Matthew (like James) fails the “TC” (Theological Correctness) test. For Matthew, for James, for John (and most likely for Paul as well), salvation was not an outcome achieved by giving assent to a set of propositions but a benefit available to humans because of the faithfulness of Jesus and requiring in return a certain faithfulness on the part of the beneficiaries. As with the ancient covenant faithfulness of Torah observance, this intentional piety was not to secure God’s blessings but to express gratitude for them.

    It is no surprise then to find Matthew representing Jesus as the master Rabbi, calling on his disciples to practice a visible piety that would exceed (rather than replace) the piety of the scribes and Pharisees.

    A review of the different interpretations of discipleship preserved in the Sayings Gospel Q, Thomas, Paul, Mark, John and and Luke would provide some idea of the range of options that were available to Matthew when he came to write his own interpretation of Jesus and discipleship

    From the sources employed, we can see that Matthew has started with Mark and Q, and yet he has created his own interpretation that addressed the question of how to be faithful to Jesus and Torah in the devastating aftermath of the loss of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 CE.

    For Jewish Christians (such as the author of the Gospel of Matthew must be presumed to have been), the loss of Jerusalem and its temple would have been a deep tragedy. The stark failure of both Jewish and Christian apocalyptic hopes would have weighed heavily on Matthew and his community.

    God had not saved the people. Jesus had not appeared in glory as both Paul and Mark had urged people to expect. “This generation” had indeed passed away without seeing the Kingdom come in its power. What was left? What could stand the test of time?

    Matthew must also have known that many Jesus people were finding themselves excluded from the Jewish synagogues. As Jewish communities sought to pick up the pieces the one great symbol left was the Torah, and the synagogue was the place where Torah was celebrated and applied to lived practice. In the absence of nation and temple, the Torah had become the defining hallmark of Jews.

    Where Mark had dismissed traditional forms of Jewish life in confident expectation that Jesus would soon appear to inaugurate a new Kingdom, Matthew took a different path.

    The Gospel of Matthew represents Jesus as something like a new Moses, and represents Christianity as a way of being deeply faithful to Torah. Rather than calling for a choice between Jesus and Torah, Matthew affirms Jesus as the great teacher of Torah for a community that embraced both Jew and Gentile.

    The apocalyptic drama that so captivated Paul and Mark has been toned down. Jesus remains the one to whom all authority is given (Matt 28:19) but this divine authority is expressed through his presence with the community as they teach the Torah of Jesus to all humanity until the end of the age. Matthew and his community see themselves as here for the long haul. They are not expecting an early return of the Messiah.

    Matthew creates a birth legend for Jesus that reflects the Moses Haggadah that was developing in Jewish folklore around that time. In the sermon on the mount Matthew has created an extended teaching block that sets up Jesus as the great teacher of Torah, and carefully affirms that Jesus has come to fulfil the Torah not abolish it. Indeed not even the tiniest scribal markings will be lost from the sacred text! The classic statement of this principle occurs in the programmatic speech that Matthew creates in what we call the Sermon on the Mount:

    Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [Matt 5:17–20]

    In his treatment of Jesus’ parables (see especially chapter 13), Matthew shows an appreciation that the teachings of Jesus are for everyone — not just for the inner circle, as Mark had suggested. Compare the following texts:

    When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that
    “‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
    and may indeed listen, but not understand;
    so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”
    [Mark 4:10–12]

    Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
    “I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
    I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”
    [Matthew 13:34–35]

    The contrast could hardly be more stark. Where Mark sees Jesus as the property of a special clique, Matthew has a universal vision for the relevance of Jesus. His picture of a scribe (i.e., a Torah scholar) who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is someone able to bring out what is new as well as what is old from their treasures.

    One can barely imagine Paul speaking of Heaven’s scribe!

    At the heart of Jesus’ teachings on Torah, as in his disputes with the scribes, is a call for people to embrace the demands of Torah and to practice a personal piety that reflects the character and holiness of God.

    Matthew has co-opted the Sayings Gospel Q into his story of Jesus. Mark’s narrative of the Strong Man has been diluted with a strong dose of Jesus the non-apocalyptic sage. He has come to terms with the destruction of Jerusalem, and seeks a durable relationship with the wider community of the Torah.

    Burton Mack described the significance of Matthew in these terms:

    The remarkable thing about Matthew’s story is that, though completely dependent on Q and Mark for the bulk of his material, it achieved a character for Jesus and a tenor for his teachings that were totally different from either precursor. In Matthew’s mind, Jesus appeared as the very flowering of the wisdom and spirit intrinsic to the Jewish tradition and religion. He stepped forth as a teacher in the tradition of Moses and his Torah, not to set it aside, but to explicate its significance as an ethic of personal piety, a call to holiness at the level of attitude and motivation. In Matthew’s language, Jesus said that one could and should be “pure in heart” (Matt. 5:8).
    [Who Wrote the New Testament, 1995:162f]

    It is therefore no surprise — given his place in the historical development of the Gospel tradition and his setting with a deeply troubled Judaism in the aftermath of 70 CE — that Matthew did not take the path chosen by either the Gospel of John or Luke-Acts. His theological orbit revolved around the Torah, not the Hellenistic concept of logos; and Jesus was the promised Emmanuel born to a maiden, not the divine Son making a passing visit to the world of darkness. The most keenly felt social dynamics were those of exclusion by the synagogue, not persecution by the empire.

    We could perhaps summarize Matthew’s interpretation of Jesus as neither fire insurance nor jail pass nor divine therapist. Matthew’s community did not feel that the end of the world was imminent, they did not fear incarceration by the authorities, nor did they find themselves torn apart by internal schisms.

    The immediate reality for Matthew’s community was provided by Torah as the ancient expression of God’s demands on their lives, and the prophetic wisdom of Jesus as the master teacher of Torah obedience — from the heart. They shared a vision of a community that included Gentiles while also reflecting the holiness of God, but they did not buy into the radical visions of Mark and John or the accommodating pretensions of Luke.

    Matthew’s people lived as disciples of Christ in a world that offered other more exciting visions of faith, as well as less demanding models of faithfulness. His interpretation of Jesus called for radical holiness without breaking the bonds of affection with other Torah-observant Jews.

    As it happened, Matthew’s vision was a minority voice in a church that was opting for Luke’s vision: a modified Paul (see Acts) with a cosmic Christ who is no threat to the status quo. Christianity would soon become a majority Gentile religion with aspirations to be accepted in the Roman world. The major debate would soon become whether to excise the Old Testament from the Christian Bible and eliminate the Jewish legacy within Christianity, not how best to observe Torah!

    Between them the gospels attributed to Matthew and Luke may have defeated Marcion, but Luke’s version of Paul would become the classic account of Christianity. We would become a Gentile Church and Matthew’s story of Jesus would simply become the bridge between the Old Testament and the Church.

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Epiphany 4A (2 February 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Micah 6:1-8 and Psalm 15
    • 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
    • Matthew 5:1-12

    Introduction

    This week the lectionary serves up a rich feast of readings, with several classic texts all being read in the liturgical community on the one day:

    • Micah 6, with its call to get the basics right
    • 1 Corinthians 1, with its celebration of the centrality of the cross to Christian identity and practice
    • Matthew 5:1-12, the beatitudes

    First Reading: What does the Lord require?

    With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6–8 NRSV)

    The prophetic focus on the few things that really matter is part of a trajectory in Jewish religious thought, found also in the Jesus tradition and its rabbinic parallels:

    This tradition has its parallels in rabbinic traditions about Hillel:

    A proselyte approached Hillel with the request Hillel teach him the whole of the Torah while the student stood on one foot. Hillel responded, “What you find hateful do not do to another. This is the whole of the Law. Everything else is commentary. Now go learn that!” (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b-24a)

    Second Reading: The foolishness of God

    In a kind of ironic reversal of the Wisdom tradition, a trajectory especially at home among the elite scribal classes of ancient Judaism, Paul celebrates the “foolishness of God:”

    For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
    Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1:18–31 NRSV)

    Not only does Paul reverse the typical religious valuation of “wisdom” over “folly”—he identifies the counter-cultural wisdom of God with the cross.

    This is one of the earliest Christian texts to assign such religious significance to the crucifixion of Jesus. Coming as it does from the mid-50s of the first century, this passage provides an insight into the ways that the death of Jesus, including specifically the dishonorable circumstances of his death as a victim of imperial violence, was being transformed from a point of shame to a distinctive element of Christian self-understanding. Much later the cross would become the public symbol for Christanity, but here already it is becoming the point of differentiation from Jews and “Greeks.”

    We can see another early expression of this focus on the cross in the Christ Hymn from Philippians 2:

    Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who,
    though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
    but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
    And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death
    —even death on a cross.
    Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
    so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
    and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5–11 NRSV)

    Gospel: Beatitudes

    The Jesus Seminar and the Beatitudes

    None of the beatitudes in Matthew score a red result, unlike the version found in Luke 6. The Seminar considered the sayings addressed to the gentle, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers to be inauthentic. While Samuel Lachs offers some textual emendations that provide for a better fit of these sayings with the core beatitudes, it still seems unlikely that these sayings can be attributed to Jesus.

    For ease of reference, the Seminar’s voting decisions are shown in the color-coded text that follows:

    3 Congratulations to the poor in spirit!
    Heaven’s domain belongs to them.
    4 Congratulations to those who grieve!
    They will be consoled.
    5 Congratulations to the gentle!
    They will inherit the earth.
    6 Congratulations to those who hunger and thirst for justice!
    They will have a feast.
    7 Congratulations to the merciful!
    They will receive mercy.
    8 Congratulations to those with undefiled hearts!
    They will see God.
    9 Congratulations to those who work for peace!
    They will be known as God’s children.
    10 Congratulations to those who have suffered
    persecution for the sake of justice!
    Heaven’s domain belongs to them.
    11 “Congratulations to you when they denounce you
    and persecute you and spread malicious gossip about you
    because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad! In heaven you
    will be more than compensated. Remember, this is how they persecuted
    the prophets who preceded you.
    [Scholars Version]

    For a wider list of beatitudes in ancient Jewish and Christian texts, see the Beatitudes page.

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Epiphany 3A (26 January 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 9:1-4 & Psalm 27:1, 4-9
    • 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
    • Matthew 4:12-23

    First Reading: Galilee of the nations

    The brief oracle from Isaiah 9:1-4 is chosen for this week because of its intertextual link with the passage from Matthew 4. That link is, of course, retrospective with Matthew finding in its ancient words a highly valued biblical “prophecy” that Galilee would be the location for a remarkable messianic event. This positive valuation of Galilee in Matthew stands in contrast with the southern antipathy to Galilee that we find expressed in the Gospel of John:

    When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” (John 7:40–52 NRSV)

    Second Reading: Unity that transcends factions

    Last week the lectionary commenced a series of selections from 1 Corinthians, not necessarily Paul’s first letter to the community but perhaps simply the longer of the two collections of correspondence to Corinth.

    Despite the prominence of the Corinthian congregation in subsequent Christian imagination (due in no small degree to the influence of Paul’s surviving correspondence with this church), surprisingly little is known of the ancient city from archaeology. For a glimpse of what we do have by way of physical remains from this important city of ancient Greece, see the following selected links:

    In this week’s passage Paul is berating the Corinthians for their factionalism (what would he make of 21C Christianity with our entrenched factions and parties?) and appealing for them to appreciate their fundamental unity as devotees of Jesus Christ. The foolishness of a crucified god—the scandal (shock value) of that statement has been blunted for us by the passage of time—is held up as superior to their partisan claims to status relative to one another.

    Gospel: Jesus calls the fishers of Capernaum

    Fishing for Humans

    Meier has an extended discussion of the disciples in the third volume of A Marginal Jew [III,19-285]. One of the elements of discipleship that he considers is the initiative taken by Jesus in calling particular persons to be his followers:

    One striking trait, found in a number of different Gospel sources, is that Jesus seizes the initiative in calling people to follow him. Three clear examples are given in the Marcan tradition: the call of the first four disciples (Peter, Andrew, James, and John) in Mark 1:16-20; the call of Levi the toll collector in 2:14; and the (unsuccessful) call of the rich man in Mark 10:17-22. In each case, Jesus issues a peremptory call to follow him, a call addressed to people who have not taken the initiative of asking to follow him. (p. 50)

    Meier also notes that the promise to become fishers of humans is only made to Andrew and Peter; and is not extended to James and John.

    When he does turn to the question of historicity, Meier asserts that the term “to fish humans” [halieis anthropon] is sufficiently distinctive to be identified as a phrase deriving from Jesus:

    The exact phrase never occurs in the OT, and the metaphor of fishing for human beings (or using a hook to catch them) is relatively rare. When it occurs, it always has a hostile sense of capturing or killing human beings [n. 122 refers to Jer 16:16; Ezek 29:4-5; Amos 4:2; Hab 1:14-17]. The metaphor occurs at times in the Qumran literature, likewise in a negative context of destruction or judgment [n. 123 refers to 1QH 3:26; 5:7-8]. The metaphor of “catching men” is also found with a negative sense in later rabbinic literature. Thus, there is no real parallel to Jesus’ positive, salvific use of the metaphor in the Jewish tradition before or after him. (p. 160)

     

    Capernaum

    The small fishing village of Capernaum seems to have been the center of Jesus’ activity in Galilee.

    John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts (HarperSanFranccisco, 2001) devote several pages to a discussion of Capernaum in the First Century (pp. 81-97).

    The most salient features to note are as follows:

    • POPULATION: around 1,000 persons on 25 acres of land
    • BUILDINGS: none of the Greco-Roman architecture of a significant urban center: no gates, no defensive fortifications, no civic structures (theater, amphitheater, hippodrome), no public bathhouse, no public latrine, no basilica for civic gatherings or commerical activities, no constructed agora (market) with shops and storage facilities
    • STREETS: no sign of planning in layout of streets, no streets appear to have been paved, no channels for running water, sewage disposed on the site, no plaster surfaces, no decorative fresco, no marble of any kind, no ceramic roofs tiles (contra Luke 5:19)
    • INSCRIPTIONS: none from 1C or earlier have been found
    • HOUSES: used local dark basalt, crooked wooden beams, straw, reeds, mud. Poor quality of construction. No evidence of skilled craftsmen. Mostly single storeys and with thatched roofs (as implied in Mark’s version of Jesus healing a paralysed man). Several abutting rooms centered around a courtyard. usually just a single entrance.
    • BOATS: lakeside location supported a fishing industry, but town shows no evidence of wealth. The discovery of a 1C fishing boat in 1986 (during a drought that lowered the water level) confirms the impression of a community struggling to survive but with considerable ingenuity in making the most of limited resources.

    In one of his classic turns of phrase, Crossan describes Capernaum as “not a sought-after spot, but a good place to get away from, with easy access across the Sea of Galilee to any side.” (p. 81)

    The following poem by Gene Stecher reflects on the significance of this site as the center of Jesus’ activity:

    Capernaum, 1000 persons on 25 acres,
    Egypt/India trade route a couple miles off,
    Honorable locals do commerical fishing,
    Dishonorable locals do toll collecting,
    Didn’t take well to Jesus missionaries,
    same as Chorazin and Bethsaida.

    Impressive at assemblies, no scribal mush.
    Words grounded in personal authority,
    Formal teaching,
    Commanded action.
    A rise to fame [a price to pay]!

    Some guy with demons is making a commotion,
    Calling Jesus God’s Holy One.
    He wasn’t disappointed,
    But a huge struggle for the genuine self!

    Dare we be called Holy One,
    confronting both inner and outer demons,
    Rooted in the Ground of personal authority,
    how untried and unknown is this power?
    “Why are you so cowardly?
    You still don’t trust do you?” (Mk 4:40)

    The following articles may be of interest:

    • BiblePlaces – photographs and brief notes on the Capernaum ruins[1]
    • See Capernaum for brief notes on the ancient site of Capernaum.
    • Jesus Seminar – the Seminar voted Red to the proposition that Capernaum was a key center for Jesus’ activities in the Galilee, but the tradition has been developed and preserved in very different ways by each of the evangelists:

    – MARK constructs an artificial “day in the ministry of Jesus” stretching from 1:21 to 1:39
    – MATTHEW simply notes that Capernaum was the main location for Jesus, and then connects that with his theme of fulfilled prophecies.
    – LUKE develops a visit to the Nazareth synagogue in 4:16-30 as the opening scene of Jesus’ public ministry, with Capernaum simply the next stop on his travels.
    – JOHN also records a tradition that has Jesus and his followers staying for a period at Capernaum.

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

    Australia Day

    As January 26 is also Australia Day, some communities may wish to use a Great Thanksgiving Prayer that reflects Australian themes:

     

    Progressive Liturgies

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Epiphany 2A (19 January 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 49:1-7 & Psalm 40:1-11
    • 1Corinthians 1:1-9
    • John 1:29-42

    The Epiphany Cycle

    Over the next few weeks we will complete a longer than usual Epiphany cycle due to the relatively late date for Easter this year. As usual, the readings will mostly come from Isaiah, 1 Corinthians and the gospel of the year (in this case, Matthew).

    During the course of Epiphany each year the lectionary invites us to reflect on a selection of Gospel “snapshots” of Jesus as the revelation of God.

    The Year A lectionary texts for Epiphany are as follows:

    • First Sunday after Epiphany (Baptism of Jesus): Matt 3:13-17
    • Second Sunday after Epiphany (John’s disciples find Jesus): John 1:29-42
    • Third Sunday after Epiphany (Jesus in Galilee): Matt 4:12-23
    • Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (The Beatitudes): Matt 5:1-12
    • Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Light, Salt and Torah): Matt 5:13-20
    • Sixth Sunday after Epiphany (The New Torah): Matt 5:21-37
    • Seventh Sunday after Epiphany (Love of Enemies): Matt 5:38-48
    • Last Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration): Matt 17:1-9

    John’s disciples find Jesus

    The way that the GJohn introduces the disciples into the narrative is quite unlike the more familiar accounts in the Synoptic Gospels.

    Mark 1:16-20 sets the call in Galilee, and makes no mention of any previous affiliation of these persons with John the Baptist:

    As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

    Matthew simply makes minor adjustments to the details when taking over this tradition from Mark:

    As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. [Matt 4:18-22]

    While Luke tells the story very differently, it remains a lakeside encounter in the Galilee:

    Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. [Luke 5:1-11]

    Presumably GJohn has connected the first of Jesus’ disciples with John the Baptist because that reflected something of the spiritual history of those who shaped the Johannine community, or perhaps because John had been posthumously pressed into service as something of a symbol within their tradition. There is no reason to think that GJohn has any access to reliable historical information, since the portrait of JBap in GJohn is entirely subsumed to the figure of Christ.

    John the Baptist in the Gospel of John

    It is interesting to note the way that GJohn represents John the Baptist.

    Barnes Tatum [John the Baptist and Jesus. 1994:75-81] provides a helpful guide to the ten passages in GJohn that refer to John the Baptist.

    He begins, however, by noting that GJohn never uses “the Baptizer” when referring to John. Immediately that alerts us to a different view of John within the Johannine community.

    JBap appears twice in the poetic prologue to the Gospel:

    1. John 1:6-8

    There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
    He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
    He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

    2. John 1:15

    (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said,
    ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)

    A further four references to JBap occur in the first chapter of GJohn:

    3. John 1:19-24

    This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said,
    “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
    “Make straight the way of the Lord,’”
    as the prophet Isaiah said.
    Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

    4. John 1:25-28

    They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

    5. John 1:29-34

    The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

    6. John 1:35-42

    The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

    The remaining references to JBap are as follows:

    7. John 3:22-30

    After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized — John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

    8. John 4:1-4

    Now when Jesus1 learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” — although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized — he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria.

    9. John 5:30-38

    “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

    10. John 10:40-42

    He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

    When considering GJohn’s treatment of JBap in the light of these ten passages, Tatum notes that GJohn (unlike the Synoptics) has chosen not to interpret JBap as the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 –

    See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,
    and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
    The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight —
    indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

    Barnes Tatum continues:

    Therefore, how has John presented JB? With singular focus, John presents JB as a witness testifying to Jesus’ identity as the One from God. Here JB appears quite differently than in Q. JB in Q asks whether or not Jesus is the coming one; and Jesus subsequently praises JB, but declares the least in God’s domain to be greater than he. JB in John has become the first Christian. Only on the basis of the portrayal of JB in John could the later church have made JB into a Christian saint, as the church did. (p. 79, emphasis original)

    Because of this deliberate focus on JBap as a witness to Jesus, all other aspects of the historical activity of JBap are omitted or left understated:

    • JBap does not proclaim a baptism of repentance and the significance of John’s baptism is left unexplained;
    • There is no mention of John’s ascetic lifestyle;
    • John’s arrest is mentioned in passing, but no details of his fate are provided

    Jesus Database

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    Music Suggestions

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  • First Sunday after Epiphany (12 January 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 42:1-9 and Psalm 29
    • Acts 10:34-43
    • Matthew 3:13-17

     

    Introduction

    The first Sunday after the feast of the Epiphany marks the beginning of a series of Sundays in “ordinary time,” with the utilitarian names, Proper 1, Proper 2, etc. This series will take us through to the end of the liturgical year except for the two sets of special “propers” for Lent and Easter. The first of these Sundays in ordinary time is widely observed as the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

    First Reading: Isaiah 42

    As befits the season of Epiphany, with its theme of revelation/manifestion to the Gentiles, the first reading from Isaiah is a classic text for the idea that God’s chosen one (whether an individual or a collective identity) has a mission to the nations.

    Isaiah 42 is the first of the Servant Songs that have played such a powerful role in the self-imagination of both Jewish and Christian religious communities. Growing out of a strong sense of vocation/blessing, these songs develop the theme that those called and chosen will find themselves drawn into a ministry of sharing their knowledge of God with others, and for the sake of others. Rather than being a badge of personal distinction, vocation comes to be understood as a commissioning to be there for others.

    Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
    I have put my spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.
    He will not cry or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;
    a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.
    He will not grow faint or be crushed
    until he has established justice in the earth;
    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.   Thus says God, the LORD,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
    who gives breath to the people upon it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:
    I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
    I have given you as a covenant to the people,
    a light to the nations,” (Isaiah 42:1–6 NRSV)

    These ancient words were easily applied to Jesus, and especially to the tradition of his baptism by John. While often understood in an exclusive and particularistric way, they can also be understood as aligning Jesus with the shared calling of all Jewish people, and the calling shared with all his followers over time. These are essentially words of solidarity. Rather than marking out Jesus as an exception, they can be understood as celebrating Jesus as an exemplar.

    Second reading: Acts 10

    This reading comes from the extended narrative in Acts about the baptism of a Gentile household by Simon Peter. It serves nicely as a bridge between the first reading and the Gospel, as it shares themes with each of them. With Isaiah, this story shares the theme of God’s impartial concern for all humankind, and not exclusively focused on blessings for the Jews. With the Gospel, it shares the theme of Baptism. With both readings it shares the motif of the divine Spirit being poured upon the chosen one(s).

    Indeed, in a poignant rebuttal of the literalists who insisted on ethnic identity or ritual observance as markers of divine acceptance, this story celebrates the idea that what matters is an authentic experience of the Sacred. The ritual can follow, while other criteria for discriminating between persons can be set aside. At the time when Acts was written, a core issue was the boundary between Jews and Gentiles. In our own time, it may be the boundaries we draw based on sexuality or theological orthooxy?

    Gospel: John baptizes Jesus

    The baptism of Jesus by John is a tradition that Matthew shares with the other three NT Gospels, and that fact alone puts this story into a special category. Apart from the death of Jesus by Roman crucifixion, there is few other details of Jesus’ life that enjoys such a high level of historical certainty. It is, of course, most improbable that followers of Jesus would invent a tradition about their leader being a disciple of John, and having been baptized by him, unless that was such a well-known fact that it simply had to be acknowledged—and then managed as best one could. As Crossan (Historical Jesus, 232) observes:

    The first and most important complex is, necessarily, 058 John Baptizes Jesus. It belongs to the primary stratum, has three independent witnesses, and involves nine separate texts. But it also evinces a very large amount of what I term, without any cynicism, theological damage control. The tradition is clearly uneasy with the idea of John baptizing Jesus because that seems to make John superior and Jesus sinful.

    Interestingly, while all the Gospels agree on the tradition that John was baptized by John, they have different stories about the event. The diversity of the stories stands in contrast to the unanimity of the tradition.

    Most likely Matthew has inherited his tradition about the baptism of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. He seems to have no independent traditions (apart from the discourse between Jesus and John to be discussed next), and he makes only the usual Matthean editorial changes to improve the syntax and shorten the account.

    However, Matthew does make one very significant change to the story he inherited from Mark. This is to be observed in the protest from John when Jesus requests baptism, and the reassuring response from Jesus:

    John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
    But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
    Then he consented. (Matthew 3:14–16 NRSV)

    While hardly Matthew’s point, once again Sacrament is subservient to Experience. The rituals will be observed, but only for the sake of piety. What matters most is the authentic experience of God, not the pedigree of the person nor their certificates of liturgical compliance.

    Matthew’s concerns are for his readers, here and at other points where Mark’s less sophisticated account is modified by Matthew. Jesus has no sins that need to be forgiven, and he had no preparation to undertake before the coming of the Chosen One. The reader should not think that John ranks higher than Jesus in the divine scheme of things.

    After 2,000 years of Christian devotion to Jesus, few modern readers will entertain ideas that Jesus may be subservient to John. To the contrary, our challenge may be that we have exalted Jesus beyond his peers and placed him so securely in a class of his own. Can we reclaim the ancient tradition of Jesus being mentored and ritualized by John, and then imagine ways of telling the story afresh, so that the connections between Jesus and other great spiritual teachers are highlighted rather than minimized? Can the Christ who accepted the devotion of pagan astrologers not also be accorded a place among the sages and prophets and mystics of humanity? And what if the communities of his followers used this Sunday’s celebration to affirm both the distinctive charisma of Jesus and our openness to the wisdom of other spiritual communities?

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  • Epiphany of the Lord Jesus (6 January 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    Year A

    • Isaiah 60:1-6 and Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
    • Ephesians 3:1-12
    • Matthew 2:1-12

    Year B

    • Isaiah 60:1-6 and Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
    • Ephesians 3:1-12
    • Matthew 2:1-12

    Year C

    • Isaiah 60:1-6 and Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
    • Ephesians 3:1-12
    • Matthew 2:1-12

     

    Introduction

    The Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord concludes the traditional twelve days of Christmas in the West with a celebration of the universal significance of the Christ Child. In recent lectionaries this festival also introduces a season of varying length between Christmas and Lent. During this season the readings provide an opportunity to explore some of the different ways in which an epiphany (a Greek word for an event or action that reveals the otherwise hidden presence of a god) form part of the Christian faith tradition. Epiphany celebrates the possibility of an encounter with the Sacred beginning with a celebration of the life of Jesus as a divine disclosure.

    Commentary and Critical Notes

    In my forthcoming new book, Jesus Then and Jesus Now: Looking for Jesus, Finding Ourselves (Mosaic Publications, early 2014) I comment as follows on this week’s Gospel episode:

    … the visit of the magi in Matthew’s infancy story … is hardly an event that reveals anything about the attitude shown by the adult Jesus towards people of different faiths. Yet the story cannot be dismissed so readily. It is most likely a legend created by Matthew in light of a visit to Rome by King Tridates of Armenia a few decades before the Gospel was composed. Even so, this story affirms that people far beyond the boundaries of the Jewish community were not only the recipients and beneficiaries of divine revelation, but eagerly responded at no small expense to themselves. Intended to glorify the Christ Child as someone whose life would be a blessing to those who are far off, the tale also opens the windows of the house of faith for fresh breezes to blow from the East. Given the placement of Matthew as the first of the four gospels, this story of a rich interfaith moment at the birth of Jesus provides a canonical framing of the Jesus story that should not be overlooked.

    The following links provide more detailed information on various aspects of this story, including extended citations of the ancient sources:

     

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.