Isaiah 12:1-6

Thanksgiving and Praise

12:1 You will say in that day:

I will give thanks to you, O LORD,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

and you comforted me.

2 Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

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Give thanks to the LORD,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12:1-6, NRSV)

This reading brings a significant unit of the Book of Isaiah to a close. The first twelve chapters have introduced major themes that will recur throughout the book, with rebuke for sin and apostasy (e.g., chapters 1, 5) alternating with descriptions of a blessed future time of peace (e.g., 2:2-4) including a new Davidic ruler who will rule with justice (9:7; 11:1-9). This unit, to be followed by a section of oracles against foreign nations (chaps. 13-23), consists of “two short hymns of praise and thanksgiving,” according to Joseph Blenkinsopp, who describes them as “each introduced with you will say in that day” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Isa. 12:1-6).

The first “hymn” begins with thanks to the LORD. “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, / for though you were angry with me, / your anger turned away, / and you comforted me” (Isa. 12:1b, c, d, e). As the hymn continues, the singer says, “Surely God is my salvation (y^eš‘ûāh); I will trust , and not be afraid, / for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; / he has become my salvation (hay^eš‘ûāh)” (v. 2). “With joy,” adds the hymn, “you will draw water from the wells of salvation (hay^eš‘ûāh)” (v. 3). Blenkinsopp points out that these hymns “recapitulate chs. 1-11 by playing on the name Isaiah [y^eša‘^eyāhû] (related to ‘salvation’ , , , ) and the title the Holy One of Israel” (Ibid.). He adds that “The hymns are composed out of a patchwork of phrases from various psalms, e.g., Ps. 12:2b; cf. Ps. 118:14; Ex. 15:2.” Benjamin D. Sommer calls the passage (Isa. 12:1-6) “A song of thanksgiving to be recited in the ideal age.” He adds that “Many of these phrases occur in other songs of thanksgiving, especially those associated with the exodus from Egypt. Cf. v. 2 with Exod. 15:2 and Ps. 118:14; cf. v. 4 with Ps. 105:1 and 148:13” (The Jewish Study Bible, p. 808, on Isa. 12:1-6).

The remainder of the hymn calls upon us to “Give thanks to the LORD, / call on his name; / make known his deeds among the nations; / proclaim that his name is exalted” (v. 4b, c, d, e). Compare Psalm 105:1 (as suggested by Sommer), “O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, / make known his deeds among the people.” This hymn (or song of thanksgiving) calls upon us all to “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; / let this be known in all the earth. / Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, / for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (vv. 5-6).

Revelation 1:1-8

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;

every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;

and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:1-8).

The following comments are repeated here from December 5, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year Two):

Today’s reading has been called the “Prologue” to the Book of Revelation (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., Introduction to Revelation). The book begins by announcing a revelation, a series of visions, that “came from God through Jesus Christ and was communicated to John by an angel (referred to again in 22:16)” (Metzger, on Rev. 1:1-3). Although the book as a whole is considered apocalyptic, “it contains other elements as well, such as the the seven letters in chs. 2 and 3 and the scattered prophetic utterances throughout its pages” (Metzger). The “Prologue” is followed by a salutation “to the seven churches that are in Asia” (v. 4a), which anticipates the separate letters to each (chaps. 2, 3). The term “Asia” here refers to the Roman province of Asia, located in the western portion of Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the capital. God the Father is called “him who is and who was and who is to come” (v. 4b). He also is called “the Alpha and the Omega,” the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (v. 8), a title which is later applied to Christ (cf. Metzger on 22:13). Through all the conflicts to be describe later in the book, it is clear that God is in control and Christ is the victor over all the powers of darkness. Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (1:5). He has “freed us from our sins by his blood” (v. 5), “made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father” (v. 6) and “is coming with the clouds” so that “every eye will see him,” even his enemies “who pierced him” (v. 7).

John 7:37-52

Rivers of Living Water

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heartshall flow rivers of living water.’ “ 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division among the People

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” 43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The Unbelief of Those in Authority

45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law-they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” 52 They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” (7:37-52, NRSV)

The following comments were repeated on February 6, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two) from March 1, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Third Sunday in Lent, Year One), and are repeated again here:

According to the Mishnah (Sukkah M 4:9, 10; trans. Jacob Neusner, 1988), an important part of the celebration for the Festival of Booths (Sukkoth) was the water libation:

4:9 A. The water libation: How so?

B. A golden flask, holding three logs in volume [about 1 liter], did one fill with water from Siloam.

C. [When] they reached the Water Gate, they blow a sustained, a quavering and a sustained blast on the shofar.

D. [The priest] went up on the ramp [at the south] and turned to his left [southwest].

E. There were two silver bowls there.

F. R. Judah says, “They were of plaster, but they had darkened because of the wine.”

G. They were perforated with holes like a narrow snout,

H. one wide, one narrow,

I. so that both of them would be emptied together [one of its wine, flowing slowly, the other of its water, flowing quickly].

J. The one on the west was for water, the one on the east was for wine.

K. [If] he emptied the flask of water into the bowl for wine, and the flask of wine into the bowl for water, he has nonetheless carried out the right.

L. R. Judah says, “A log [of water] would one pour out as the water libation all eight days.”

M. And to the one who pours out the water libation they say, “Lift up your hand [so that we can see the water pouring out]!

N. For one time one [priest] poured out the water on his feet.

O. And all the people stoned him with their citrons [a kind of fruit 3 ½ to 9 inches or larger]

4:10 A. As the rite concerning it [was carried out] on an ordinary day, so was the rite [carried out] on the Sabbath.

B. But on the eve of the Sabbath one would fill with water from Siloam a gold jug, which was not sanctified,

C. and he would leave it in a chamber [in the Temple].

D. [If] it was poured out or left uncovered, one would fill the jug from the laver [in the courtyard].

E. For wine and water which have been left uncovered are invalid for the altar.

Although the Mishnah records the teaching of Rabbis, some from the time of Jesus and before and some later, about the ritual for the Festival of Tabernacles–recorded at a time after the destruction of the Temple, so there was no way to carry out these instructions–Jesus probably observed a ceremony carried out as described in the above quotation. “For seven days water was carried in a golden pitcher from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple as a reminder of the water from the rock in the desert (Num. 20:2-13) and as a symbol of hope for the coming messianic deliverance (Isa. 12:3)” (Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., NOAB, 3rd ed., on Jn. 7:37-39). When Jesus stood and cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (Jn. 7:37-38), he was making a claim to be the fulfillment, the replacement, if you will, of what they were celebrating. John explains for us readers, that “he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (v. 39; cf. 14:26; 16:13). But some who heard him debated whether Jesus was “really the prophet (v. 40) or “the Messiah” (v. 41), who should be descended from David and come from Bethlehem (v. 42). The result was indecisive (v. 43), and some “wanted to arrest him” (v. 44). But when the temple police returned without arresting him and were questioned (v. 45; cf. v. 32), they began to sound like believers. “Never has anyone spoken like this!” (v. 46), they said, which drew an angry response: “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you?” (v. 47). Nicodemus offers a half-hearted defense of Jesus, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” (v. 51). But the Pharisees respond as before to the police: “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee” (v. 52).

For John it is clear that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, sent from heaven and the fulfillment of all of the Jewish hopes, including those celebrated in the ritual of the Festival of Tabernacles. But it is also clear that he meets with mixed results, largely negative responses at this time. Nevertheless, the promise of living water (vv. 37-38; cf. 4:10-15), and the anticipation of the pouring out of the Spirit (cf. 14:26; 16:13; Acts 2:4, 17) show that the seeds of faith have been planted within those who do respond, and that many others, including you and I, will “come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing [we] may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com