Isaiah 9:1-7 (Episcopal; Lutheran Isa. 9:2-7)

The Righteous Reign of the Coming King (Isa 11.1-9)

9:1 But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

2 The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness-

on them light has shined.

3 You have multiplied the nation,

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with joy at the harvest,

as people exult when dividing plunder.

4 For the yoke of their burden,

and the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor,

you have broken as on the day of Midian.

5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors

and all the garments rolled in blood

shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

6 For a child has been born for us,

a son given to us;

authority rests upon his shoulders;

and he is named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 His authority shall grow continually,

and there shall be endless peace

for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:1-7, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from December 14, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One):

Yesterday’s comments ended by quoting the beginning of today’s promise, and noting the way Matthew relates it to the opening of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee.

            The people who walked in darkness

               have seen a great light;

            those who lived in a land of deep darkness–

               on them light has shined. (Isa. 9:2)

A king is addressed, perhaps Hezekiah or another Judean king (cf. Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay, NOAB):

            You have multiplied the nation,

               you have increased its joy;

            they rejoice before you

               as with joy at the harvest,

               as people exult when dividing plunder. (v. 3)

This king has “broken the yoke of their burden . . . as on the day of Midian” (v. 4), when Israel, under Gideon’s leadership, defeated Midian (Judges 7:15-25). This passage has come to be understood as a reference to the Messianic King:

            For a child has been born for us,

               a son given to us;

            authority rests upon his shoulders;

               and he is named

            Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

               Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

            His authority shall grow continually,

               and there shall be endless peace

            for the throne of David and his kingdom.

               He will establish and uphold it

            with justice and with righteousness

               From this time onward and forevermore. (vv. 6-7)

When George Frederick Handel set this passage to music, he used the language of the Authorized (King James) Version: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder . . .”

Isaiah 11:10-16 (Presbyterian)

Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah

10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

11 On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations,

and will assemble the outcasts of Israel,

and gather the dispersed of Judah

from the four corners of the earth.

13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,

the hostility of Judah shall be cut off;

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,

and Judah shall not be hostile towards Ephraim.

14 But they shall swoop down on the backs of the Philistines in the west,

together they shall plunder the people of the east.

They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites shall obey them.

15 And the LORD will utterly destroy

the tongue of the sea of Egypt;

and will wave his hand over the River

with his scorching wind;

and will split it into seven channels,

and make a way to cross on foot;

16 so there shall be a highway from Assyria

for the remnant that is left of his people,

as there was for Israel

when they came up from the land of Egypt. (Isaiah 11:10-16, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from December 21, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year One):

The prose portion of today's reading (Isa. 11:10-11) describes the glorious reign of "the root of Jesse" (v. 11, cf. v. 1), a Davidic king in "the messianic age" (Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay, NOAB). The Lord will "recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros [Upper Egypt], from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar [Babylonia], and from the coastlands of the sea [the Aegean seacoast and islands]" (v. 11). According to J. J. M. Roberts (HarperCollins Study Bible), "These verses [10-16] need not presuppose the Babylonian exile in 587 B.C.E. During Isaiah's lifetime Israel suffered major deportations in 733-731 and 722-720 B.C.E. According to Sennacherib's Assyrian annals more than 200,000 people were deported from Judah in 701 B.C.E. and others undoubtedly sought refuge in Egypt."

The poetic lines in today's reading (Isa. 11:12-16) describe the gathering of "the outcasts of Israel" and "the dispersed of Judah/from the four corners of the earth (v. 12). Ephraim and Judah put aside their hostility (v. 13) and "swoop down" together on their old enemies, the Philistines, Edom, Moab and the Ammonites (v. 14). The Red Sea ("the tongue of the sea of Egypt") will be destroyed and the Euphrates ("the River") will be split by scorching wind into seven channels, "and make a way to cross on foot" (v. 15), to open the way for a new "Exodus," this time from Assyria (compare the "Exodus" from Babylon, Isa. 48:20-21; 51:10-11)

so there shall be a highway from Assyria

   for the remnant that is left of his people,

as there was for Israel

   when they came up from the land of Egypt. (Isa. 11:16)

Isaiah looks to Israel's past--victories of King David, and earlier, deliverance from Egypt under Moses' leadership "through the sea"--for models that shape his vision of the future, the "new thing" (Isa. 43:19):

I will make a way in the wilderness

   and rivers in the desert.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

for I give water in the wilderness,

   rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

   the people whom I formed for myself

so that they might declare my praise. (Isa. 43:19b, 20b, 21)

2 Peter 1:12-21 (Episcopal and Lutheran)

12 Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, 14 since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Eyewitnesses of Christ’s Glory (Mt 17.5; Mk 9.7; Lk 9.35)

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:12-21, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and adaptation here from December 14, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from November 19, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year Two). Some use is also made of material from an Email message sent December 1, 2003, for ‘December 2, 2003.

Peter, speaking directly, or perhaps through a close follower, reminds his readers of his teaching, “the truth that has come to you” (2 Pet. 1:12), referring to the promises and admonitions of the previous paragraphed (discussed in yesterday’s comments). Anticipating his death (v. 14), he says, “And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things” (v. 15). “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths,” he says, “when we made known to you the power and coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty” (v. 16). He refers briefly, as an eyewitness, to the Transfiguration and the voice from heaven, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36), “For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’” (2 Pet. 1:17). “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven,” he says, “while we were with him on the holy mountain” (v. 18). Through this apostolic witness to the majesty of Christ, prophecy is confirmed (v. 19).

Patrick A. Tiller sums this passage up as “Three Solemn Appeals. The writer makes a solemn appeal to Peter’s final words before his death, the Transfiguration of Jesus, and prophetic scripture to reinforce the reliability of the message” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 2 Pet. 1:12-21). He adds that “The reference to Peter’s death transforms the letter into a kind of testament in which the speaker gives ethical exhortations and warnings about the future based on his own past experience” (Tiller, on vv. 12-15). The message is not “cleverly devised myths” but the report of “eyewitnesses” (v. 16). The emphasis upon prophecy (v. 19) is characterized as public, not private (v. 20), because of its origin as “men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (v. 21). Prophecy is not merely the human voice of the prophet (v. 20), but the voice of God speaking through the prophet who is "moved by the Holy Spirit" (v. 21). So Peter reminds them/us that, “Since prophecy is inspired by the Spirit, its interpretation must be in accord with God’s intention” (Warren A. Quanbeck and Pheme Perkins, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Peter speaks here of the Hebrew Bible and its prophetic message about Christ. But later he includes the writings of Paul (2 Pet. 3:15-16) as writings “which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures” (v. 16, my emphasis). Even though “There are some things in them hard to understand” (v. 16), the writer views Paul’s writings as scripture.

Revelation 20:1-10 (Presbyterian)

The Thousand Years

20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.

Satan’s Doom (Cp Ezek 38-39)

7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. 9 They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:1-10, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from December 20, 2004 (Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year One):

In the reading from Revelation, John sees Satan, “the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan,” bound “for a thousand years” and thrown “into the pit” (Rev. 20:2-3), and the martyrs, “those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God” come to life and reigning “with Christ a thousand years” (v. 4). He calls this “the first resurrection” (v. 5). Satan is then loosed for a final, decisive conflict (vv. 7-10). The victory, similar to Joshua’s victory at Jericho, is won not by the action of people, but rather, “fire came down from heaven and consumed them” (v. 9), that is, Satan and the nations whom he deceives (vv. 7-8). "One must beware of reading more into this passage than is warranted; e.g. nothing is said here about a reign on earth" (B.M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Rev. 20:2). As we look ahead, in Wednesday’s (Presbyterian) reading, we see the Great White Throne Judgment (vv. 11-15) and the New Heaven and New Earth (21:1-8).

Luke 22:54-69 (Episcopal and Lutheran)

Peter Denies Jesus (Mt 25.69-75; Mk 14.66-72; Jn 18.15-18, 25-27)

54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

The Mocking and Beating of Jesus (Mt 26.67-68; Mk 14.65)

63 Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; 64 they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65 They kept heaping many other insults on him.

Jesus before the Council (Mt 26.57-68; Mk 14.61-64; Jn 18.12-14, 19-24)

66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. 67 They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I question you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” (Luke 22:54-69, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and adaptation here from December 14, 2004 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from the comments on Luke 22:52-62 from June 27, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One):

After Jesus rebuked the use of swords by his disciples to defend him from arrest and healed the ear of the high priest’s slave (Lk. 22:50-51), he points out the irony of the secret arrest: “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!" (vv. 52-53). Then Luke turns to the matter of Peter’s denial. For parallel accounts of Peter’s denial, of the Mocking and Beating of Jesus, and of Jesus before the Council in a table based on the sequence in Luke’s Gospel, see the separate file Peter’s Denial.

Luke’s account of Peter’s denials (Lk. 22:54-62) is similar to those of Matthew (26:69-75) and Mark (14:66-72) with minor variations. The others report the denials after the trial before Caiaphas and before Jesus was delivered to Pilate, but Luke reports the denials before the trial before Caiaphas. John’s parallel account is separated into two accounts, a negative response to the woman’s question (Jn. 18:15-18) and two further denials (vv. 25-27) with a hearing before Annas (vv. 19-23), who sent Jesus to Caiaphas (v. 24) sandwiched between. According to Obery M. Hendricks, “Annas, though deposed as high priest by the Romans in 15 CE, was still the leading influence among the religious authorities through his son-in-law Caiaphas . . . and five sons who succeeded him” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jn. 18:13). “Caiaphas was high priest 18-36 CE” (Hendricks on Jn. 11:49).

According to Luke, Jesus “was following at a distance” as Jesus was led away to the high priest’s house” (Lk. 22:54). It was in the courtyard of that house, around the fire, that he was pointed out as one who was “with him” [i.e. with Jesus], first by a “servant-girl” (v. 56), then by another (v. 58), and later by another (v. 59). Matthew and Mark report the accusations of Peter by bystanders in the first person, “You also were with Jesus” (Mk. 14:67; Mt. 26:69), third person, “This man is one of them” (Mk. 14:69; cf. Mt. 26:71), and first person, “Certainly you are one of them” (Mk. 14:70; cf. Mt. 26:73), in that order. Luke reverses this pattern, using third person (Lk. 22:56), first person (v. 58), and third person (v. 59). These differences don’t appear to represent Luke’s editing, but rather minor differences in the reporting of eyewitnesses. Peter denied these accusations in turn and while still completing the third denial, “the cock crowed” (Lk. 22:60), as Jesus had predicted (v. 34). “Jesus’ turning to face Peter is a detail found only in Luke” (Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on v. 61). Eric Franklin says, “The failure of Peter is made less drastic in both Matthew and Luke by the inclusion of only one cock-crow” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 956, on Lk. 22:64-65). The statement that Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (v. 62), “absent from at least one MS. . . . is more likely to be his own [i.e. Luke’s own] conclusion to his dramatic mention of Jesus’ glance (v. 61). It marks the beginning of the Lord’s rescue of Peter and the preparation for his strengthening of the others (vv. 31-2)” Ibid.). Luke apparently assumes that the trial before the Council did not occur until morning (v. 66; cf. Mk. 14:53-56; Mt. 26:57-59). According to Franklin, “This has the result of removing the mockery of Jesus, which took place during the night, from the members of the council and also of lessening the contrast between Peter’s weakness and Jesus’ steadfastness” (Ibid.).

The interchange before Caiaphas and the Council has similar minor differences: “Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’” (Mk. 14:61). “I put you under oath before the loving God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mt. 26:63). In Mark and Matthew, Jesus’ answer alludes to Daniel 7:14 and Psalm 110:1 (Mk. 14:62). Caiaphas immediately calls it blasphemy (Mk. 14:63-64; Mt. 26:65). Luke simplifies the exchange. “They said, ‘If you are the Messiah, tell us.’ He replied, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” All of them asked, ‘Are you, then, the Son of God?’ He said to them, ‘You say that I am’” (Lk. 22:67-70). By eliminating the reference to Daniel 7:14 and the need to explain “blasphemy,” Luke helps the Gentile audience understand the scene.

If Peter could deny the Lord as he did, and later find forgiveness and acceptance, those of us who have also failed at times should take heart. As for the accusation of Jesus–Messiah, Son of Man, Son of God, King of the Jews (as they put it in the inscription on the cross)–though Caiaphas and his supporters choked on it, we believe it. We are grateful for the grace that found ways to restore Peter after his denials, and also for the grace available to restore us when needed. Our failures may not be on the order of Peter’s denials, but we are in as much need of God’s grace as he was.

John 5:30-47 (Presbyterian)

Witnesses to Jesus

30 “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.

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 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. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” (John 5:30-47, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and adaptations from several previous occasions (noted at the end):

After Jesus heals the lame man on the sabbath at the pool in Jerusalem (John 5:1-9), a debate begins with the Jews–the religious authorities-- who “started persecuting [him] because he was doing such things on the sabbath” (v. 16). This debate continues, on and off, in chapters five through eleven. The debate takes the form of brief challenges from the “Jews” followed by extensive reply by Jesus. After Jesus heals the lame man at the pool “by the Sheep Gate” called “Bethzatha” (v. 2) he is challenged by those who “were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but, as the issue quickly moves from healing on the sabbath as such to Jesus’ claim to be doing his Father’s work (v. 17), because he was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God” (Jn. 5:18). Jesus describes his relation to God (vv. 19-29), including “identity of his will and actions with the Father’s” (Donald G. Miller and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on John 5:19-20) and the ability of both to give life (vv. 21-22), which includes eternal life (v. 24) and resurrection (vv. 25, 29). As though challenged in court, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid” (cf. Jn. 8:13), Jesus responds with a series of witnesses (noted by Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John I-XII, Anchor Bible 29, pp. 227-228): John the Baptist (Jn. 5:33-35), Jesus’ miracles (v. 36), the testimony of the Father himself (vv. 37-38), the Scriptures (v. 39). But though “these are the witnesses who come forward for Jesus . . . the sad outcome of the trial (vs. 40) is that ‘the Jews’ are not ready to believe in Jesus” (Brown, p. 228). Brown adds in reference to verses 41-47:

What “the Jews” are rejecting is not one sent from God–they willingly accept self-proclaimed messiahs (vs. 43). They are actually rejecting the giving or dedicating of one’s life to God (“love of God” in 42; seeking the glory of God in 44) which is the implicit demand of Jesus’ message. The failure to accept Jesus is really the preference of self.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The last verses of the discourse (45-47) attack “the Jews” on their most sensitive point. They justify their refusal to believe in Jesus in the name of their loyalty to Moses (ix 29), and yet Moses will condemn them for this failure to believe. In Jewish thought . . . Moses was to intercede before God for Jews; now he will become their prosecutor. (p. 229)

Speaking of several similar encounters of Jesus with others in John’s Gospel, a current textbook says:

On the basis of the witnesses called, every person must pass judgment on Jesus. Each one becomes a judge in a court of law, adjudicating the truthfulness of the testimony borne by the witnesses. But the irony is that in assuming the role of judge and in passing judgment on Jesus, people indirectly pass judgment on themselves. If they deny that Jesus comes from God and makes God known, they reveal their alignment with “the world” rather than with God. . . . The responses of belief and unbelief thus reveal whether a person stands in light or darkness, in the realm of life or the realm of death. . . . Those who do not believe pass the sentence of death on themselves. The tragic irony of the Gospel is that those who seek Jesus’ death unwittingly reject the life that he has offered. (Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson, Introducing the New Testament, p. 194)

They “do not accept” Jesus, but accept “another [who] comes in his own name” (v. 43); they “accept glory from one another [but] do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God” (v. 44). Jesus’ assertions here anticipate his very powerful statement made to the Jews later: “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (Jn. 8:58; cf. Ex. 3:14). (The debate will continue on similar terms through chapters 5, 7-10.) The Jews refuse to accept the testimony of scripture (v. 40), not even that of Moses (vv. 45-47). They “accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God” (v. 44). This reference to God (v. 44) is apparently to the Father, though Jesus’ identity as the divine Son of God is the theme of much of John’s Gospel. His healing on the sabbath, attested in all the Gospels, demonstrates an overriding concern for needy people which takes precedence over sabbath rules. It further demonstrates his concern for the needs of his followers, such as you and me.

The above comments draw upon comments from December 20, 2004 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), which were repeated on January 26, 2006; from February 25, 2005 (Friday of the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year One), which were repeated on August 22, 2006; from August 14, 2005; and from December 11, 2005.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com