Jeremiah 36:1-10

Baruch Reads Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

36:1 In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, "I am prevented from entering the house of the LORD; 6 so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the LORD's house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. 7 It may be that their plea will come before the LORD, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people." 8 And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.

9 In the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house. (Jeremiah 36:1-10, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from October 9, 2005 (the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One):

Jeremiah directs Baruch to write “on a scroll . . . all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him” (Jer. 36:4). He further instructs Baruch to read the dictated words “in the LORD’s house” and “in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns” (v. 6). The purpose is as an incentive to repentance. “It may be,” says the LORD, “that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (v. 3). It was necessary for Baruch to represent Jeremiah and speak for him because, as Jeremiah says, “I am prevented from entering the house of the LORD” (v. 5). These instructions were given “in the fourth year [605 B.C.] of King Jehoiakim” (Jer. 36:1, and carried out during a fast “in the fifth year of King Jehoiakim . . . in the ninth month” (v. 9). The occasion was “a fast proclaimed by Jehoiakim because of Nebuchadrezzar’s advance against Ashkelon (probably in November, 604 BCE)” (Mark E. Biddle, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on vv. 5-10). Biddle says that “efforts to identify some portion of the current book of Jeremiah with Baruch’s scroll have proven especially disappointing,” but he adds that “seals belonging to Baruch and Seraiah [his brother] have been discovered” (Biddle, on vv. 1-4).

Acts 14:8-18

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe

8 In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said in a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And the man sprang up and began to walk. 11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice. 14 When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 "Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; 17 yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good-giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy." 18 Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. (Acts 14:8-18, NRSV)

When Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch of Pisidia on the first missionary journey, Paul preached in the synagogue (Acts 13:26-41). They were urged to continue on the next sabbath (v. 42) but Jews became jealous (v. 45) and their opposition persisted , and continued at the next town, Iconium (Acts 14:1-7). But before Jewish opposition came to Lystra (Acts 14:19-20), in response to the healing miracle (14:8-10), Paul and Barnabas are taken for Greek gods. “Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker” (v. 12). The apostles protest strenuously (vv. 14-15), and their explanation likely serves as an example of how to present the gospel in a polytheistic culture. “We bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” (v. 15). Christopher R. Matthews notes that “Paul (v. 15), like Peter (10:26), rejects worship of himself” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on vv. 15-17).

Luke 7:36-50

A Sinful Woman

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-that she is a sinner." 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "speak." 41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:36-50, NRSV)

The following, from October 12, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 5, Year Two), used comments which were based on previous treatments of this and parallel passages (October 7, 2004, two years earlier on Thursday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 5, Year Two; August 24, 2005, Wednesday of the week of the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One; and July 20, 2006, Thursday of the week of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year Two):

The anointing of Jesus by a woman in the house of a Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), whose name was Simon (vv. 40, 43,44), is similar to the anointing of Jesus by a woman in the house of Simon the leper (Mt. 26:6-13; Mk. 14L:3-9). Though the name Simon is the same, neither Matthew nor Mark refer to the woman as “a sinner” (Lk. 7:37), and in the accounts of Matthew and Mark, no one speaks derogatorily of her as does the Pharisee in Luke: “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him–that she is a sinner” (v. 39). In Luke the emphasis is on the woman’s devotion (Lk. 7:44-46) and on forgiveness of her sins (v. 47), but in Matthew and Mark the emphasis is upon her anointing Jesus for burial (Mt. 26:12; Mk. 14:8). C. M. Tuckett notes that the women who came to anoint Jesus for burial on the first Easter day found the tomb empty (Mk. 16:1-8). “Hence Jesus’ body was never anointed after his death; the woman’s action here therefore anticipates his death by the prior anointing of his body” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 915, on Mk. 14:3-9). Tuckett points to the woman’s true generosity. “The woman uses up a huge amount of oil at least in monetary terms (300 denarii was almost a year’s wages for a laborer). He also suggests that for Mark, the significance of the anointing related to “the idea that Jesus is a king” who “will be mocked as a king, and crucified as a royal pretender. . . . Jesus then is portrayed here as the anointed royal figure who as such, goes to his death” (Ibid.).

In Luke’s story, the woman uses an alabaster jar of anointment to wash Jesus' feet, and, in turn, in spite of Simon's objections, receives forgiveness (Lk. 7:48). Jesus explains with the story of a creditor who had two debtors. "One owed five hundred denarii [500 times the usual day's wage], and the other owed fifty" (v. 41). When the debts were cancelled, Jesus asks, "Which of them will love him more?" (v. 52). "I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love" (v. 48). None of us should follow Simon's example. We cannot condemn the ones whom God has forgiven.

In a similar incident in John’s Gospel (Jn. 12:1-8), it is Mary, the sister of Lazarus who anoints, not Jesus’ head, but his feet (Jn. 12:3). In Matthew the disciples protest the “waste” (Mt. 26:8), thinking of what good could have been done with the money. “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor” (v. 9). In Mark this protest is by “some who were there” (Mk. 14:4). In John’s account, the protest of Mary’s action is by Judas Iscariot, “the one who was about to betray him” (Jn. 12:4), whom John calls “a thief” (v. 6). The incidents in Matthew, Mark and John all anticipate Jesus’ death, but Luke’s anointing incident comes much earlier in Jesus’ ministry, clearly in a different context.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net