Jeremiah 36:11-26

Baruch Reads the Scroll in the Palace

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber; and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi to say to Baruch, "Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come." So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, "Sit down and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm, and said to Baruch, "We certainly must report all these words to the king." 17 Then they questioned Baruch, 'Tell us now, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?" 18 Baruch answered them, "He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll." 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.". (Jeremiah 36:11-19, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from October 10, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One):

Baruch, who read the words in Jeremiah’s scroll in the temple (Jer. 36:10), is asked to read them again for a group of officials gathered in the palace. We are reminded that it was the officials who earlier spoke in Jeremiah’s behalf when he was put on trial, so to speak, for predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (chap. 16, esp. vv. 16-20). On the occasion of Baruch’s reading Jeremiah’s scroll, they are convinced that the king must be told (36:16), but that Baruch and Jeremiah must “Go and hide . . . and let no one know where you are” (v. 19).

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

20 Leaving the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, they went to the court of the king; and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary; and Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24 Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the LORD hid them. (Jeremiah 36:20-26, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from October 10, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One):

So it is the officials who bring the scroll to the attention of the king, Jehoiakim, who burned the scroll in portions as he read them (Jer. 36:23) and ordered the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah (v. 26). Mark E. Biddle suggests that the account in Jeremiah 36:1-32 “mirrors 2 Kings 22, suggesting to some scholars that it functions as a literary device contrasting the reactions of Josiah (who tore his clothing upon hearing the reading of the scroll containing God’s word) with those of Jehoiakim (who tears the scroll, itself, in an act of defiance)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jer. 32). Biddle seas this as a reason to question “the value of ch. 36 as a source for historical reconstruction,” which “is in dispute.” But this response is credible, given the circumstances. We are not told what exactly was written in the scroll, but it had to do with “all the disasters that I [the LORD] intend to do to them” (v. 3a). The LORD intended that “all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (v. 3b). That, clearly, was not Jehoiakim’s response.

1 Corinthians 13:(1-3) 4-13

Love, the Greatest of These

13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:[1-3] 4-13, NRSV)

On April 1, 2006, the following comments were repeated from October 10, 2005 (Monday of the week of the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year One); they are repeated again here:

Paul’s statement that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10) echoes the centrality of love within the Judeo-Christian tradition, from the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) to Jesus’ response to the question about the “greatest commandment” (Mt. 22:34-40 and parallels) and beyond. But in this eloquent praise of love (1 Cor. 13), Paul outdoes himself. It is important to recognize this as God-given love that transcends the “natural loves” to which C. S. Lewis compares it. He discusses romantic love (eros), affection (storgē, which occurs in compounds in the NT, e.g. philostorgoi, “with mutual affection, Rom. 12:10), friendship (philia) and God’s kind of love (agapē).

Paul describes this kind of love: it is patient, kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It is unselfish, not irritable or resentful. One wonders if we can live up to this standard. But within this description of love, it is clear that Paul is making a comparison with the spiritual gifts. In fact, the placement of the this description between the discussion of gifts and church unity in chapter 12 and the comparison of tongues and prophecy in chapter 14 makes it clear that love is the supreme value. Prophecy and understanding, even with faith, are nothing without love (1 Cor. 13:2). What could be better than faith, hope and love? But “the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).

Matthew 10:5-15

The Mission of the Twelve (Mk 6.7-13; Lk 9.1-6)

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. 9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. (Matthew 10:5-15, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from October 10, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One). For comments on Mark’s version of the Mission of the Twelve, see July 28, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One):

The readings from Matthew for this week include Jesus’ commissioning of the Twelve to go through Israel proclaiming “the good news” (Mt. 10:7), curing “the sick,” raising “the dead,” cleansing “the lepers,” and casting “out demons” (v. 8), and related instructions about persecutions they will face–beyond the mission tour in the post-Easter church– and further teachings on discipleship. Taken as a whole, the readings for Monday through Thursday (Mt. 10:5-42 comprise the second major speech in Matthew’s Gospel. (The first is the Sermon on the Mount, chaps. 5-7; the third is a collection of parables (13:1-53), the fourth is further teaching on discipleship (18:1-35), and the last includes the woes against the Pharisees (chap. 23) and the eschatological discourse (chaps. 24-25).

In today’s reading there are specific instructions for the immediate mission, including the purpose as indicated above (vv. 7-8, cf. Mk. 6:7; Lk. 9:2), about the provisions, or rather lack of provisions, for the journey (Mt. 10:9-10; cf. Mk. 6:8-9; Lk. 9:3), and about how to relate to some who will be hospitable (Mt. 10:11-13a; cf. Mk. 6:10; Lk. 9:4 and 10:7 [when Jesus sent out the “seventy,” 10:1]) and those who won’t (Mt. 10:13b-14a; cf. Mk. 6:11a; Lk. 9:5a and 10:6). Today’s reading concludes with reference to judgement upon those who reject the disciples’ mission (Mt. 10:14b-15; cf. Mk. 6:11; Lk. 9:5). Mark’s narrative proceeds immediately to the disciples’ mission. “So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (Mk. 6:12-13; cf. Lk. 9:6). In Matthew’s account, the reader is left to infer that the disciples did as they were instructed: the composite speech (Mt. 10:5-42, above) closes with the words, “Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples . . .” (Mt. 11:1; cf. the other speech closings in 7:28-29; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). Mark and Luke also report the disciples’ return (Mk. 6:30; Lk. 9:10), which Matthew apparently also left to inference. The separate mission of the “seventy” (Lk. 10:1-12) has no parallel as such in Matthew or Mark, though Luke includes instructions that are comparable to the instructions in Matthew 10. Luke’s report of the return of the seventy (Lk. 10:17-20) emphasizes joy and rejoicing, which Jesus focuses on rejoicing “that your names are written in heaven” (Lk. 10:20).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net