2 Kings 25:8-12, 22-26 (Reading from the Daily Office Lectionary of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer)

8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month-which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon-Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the LORD, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon-all the rest of the population. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil.

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

22 He appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left. 23 Now when all the captains of the forces and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials; live in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you." 25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men; they struck down Gedaliah so that he died, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, high and low, and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 52:1-34 (Reading from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship, 1989)

            Destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24.18-25.26; 2 Chr 36.11-20; Jer 39.1-10)

52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the LORD that he expelled them from his presence.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and they laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around. 5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then a breach was made in the city wall; and all the soldiers fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered, deserting him. 9 Then they captured the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also killed all the officers of Judah at Riblah. 11 He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12 In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month-which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon-Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13 He burned the house of the LORD, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14 All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil.

17 The pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ladles, and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service. 19 The captain of the guard took away the small bowls also, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ladles, and the bowls for libation, both those of gold and those of silver. 20 As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing. 21 As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits; it was hollow and its thickness was four fingers. 22 Upon it was a capital of bronze; the height of the capital was five cubits; latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, encircled the top of the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates encircling the latticework numbered one hundred.

24 The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold; 25 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and seven men of the king's council who were found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found inside the city. 26 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them down, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile out of its land.

28 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadrezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he took into exile from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile of the Judeans seven hundred forty-five persons; all the persons were four thousand six hundred.

The following comments are repeated here from October 15, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, 2007):

Sometimes the best commentary on scripture is other scripture. There are four accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem, including the accounts in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and two in Jeremiah (chaps. 39 and 52). For comparing the texts of these accounts, see the separate file on Jerusalem’s Fall.

The authors of 2 Kings, place “a great deal of blame for Judah’s fall on the sins of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:10-15; 23:26-27; 24:3-4), but,” he adds,

this is impossible for the Chronicler, who narrated Manasseh’s repentance (33:12-13 [not mentioned in 2 Kings]). Instead, the references to the gradual rise in divine wrath, the repeated lack of repentance, and the succession of unheeded messengers and prophets (cf. 15:1-8; 21:12-15; 25:15-17) suggest[s] that the Chronicler attributes the exile to a preponderance of unrequited sins during the last generations of Judah’s independence. (Gary Knoppers, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 2 Chron. 36:15-23)

In both cases, the accounts were completed several decades after the events, but Manasseh’s sins would be a part of the accumulation Knoppers sees in 2 Chronicles. Manasseh’s idolatry consisted, at least in part, in an effort to appease Assyria, the dominant superpower of his day. Although he promoted Baalism (2 Kgs. 21:3a), he also “worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them” (v. 3b), which Charles R. Wilson takes to mean that “he followed the astral cult of Assyria” (The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, vol. I, part II [c. 1967], 330). The last kings of Judah were also subject to domination and control of neighboring superpowers. But the prophetic recorders of the history of Judah’s last days do not excuse them on that account. The reforms of Josiah stand out as an exception to the general trend, but it was too little to late. The lesson for us is that our first loyalty is to God and his demands upon us, which must be weighed against the demands of human institutions whether local, national or international.

1 Corinthians 15:12-29

Resurrection of the Dead (Cf. 1 Thess 4.13-18)

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ-whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection," it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? (1 Corinthians 15:12-29, NRSV)

On April 18, 2006 (Tuesday of Easter Week, Year Two), comments were repeated from October 15, 2005 (Saturday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One). The comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Yesterday’s reading listed several appearances of the risen Christ, by which Paul affirms and demonstrates Christ’s resurrection as a fact. Today’s reading bases on that the Christian faith and hope in future resurrection of Christian believers after death. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Cor. 15:20-22). This resurrection is further defined. “But each in his own order (tagma): Christ the first fruits (aparchē), then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (v. 23). According to Richard A. Horsley, “This passage [vv. 23-28] should not be read as an elaborate sequence of final events, since order [tagma] refers not to chronology but rank, with Christ, already resurrected, coming first, followed by the resurrection of those who belong to Christ)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 1 Cor. 15:23-28). The word tagma can mean “order, turn, arrangement,” but often means “that which is ordered–1. of a number of persons who belong together and are therefore arranged together division, group” (BAGD, Greek-English Lexicon, 1979, s.v. tagma). As a military term, it becomes a technical term “for bodies of troops in various numbers,” but it can also refer “without any special military application [to a] class, group.” In consequence, “According to 1 Cor. 15:23f. the gift of life is given to various ones in turn . . . and at various times. One view is that in this connection Paul distinguishes three groups: Christ, who already possesses life, the Christians, who will receive it at his second coming, and the rest of humanity (s. telos 2. [‘rest, remainder’]), when death, as the last of God’s enemies, is destroyed” (Ibid.).

Apparently, the term tagma, while emphasizing groups, implies some sequence or order. Although Christ is “the first fruits” of resurrection, there will be resurrection “at his coming [of] those who belong to Christ” (v. 23). The omission here of reference to the resurrection of nonbelievers should not be taken as a denial of that (cf. Rev. 20:11-15). “Then,” says Paul, “comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24). Paul describes this victory as Christ’s reign, leading to victory over death itself. “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (vv. 25-26). “The very purpose of Christ’s kingdom, or reign,” says Horsley, “in which he had been established in his resurrection, was to destroy every ruler and every authority and power [v. 24], i.e. the Roman imperial rulers and institutions, which indeed claimed to be superhuman in their power, and finally the last enemy, the power of death” (op. cit., on vv. 24-26). According to Ben Witherington III, Paul

says that all merely human rulers will be subjected to Christ (v. 24), so Christ is superior and these lesser rulers are not to be worshipped. The often overlooked social implications of this passage are that Paul is indirectly arguing for some in Corinth to disengage from previous commitments to imperial eschatology. The evidence just cited [about inscriptions related to Roman imperial claims] shows that Roman Corinth was not dominated by the old Greek democratic ideals but by the more hierarchical ideals propagated by the emperor and his officials in the colonies. (Conflict & Community in Corinth, 1994, pp. 305-306, on 1 Cor. 15:1-58, esp. v. 24)

In support of his understanding of Christ’s reign, Paul quotes Psalm 8:6, for “God has put all things in subjection under his feet” (cited in v. 27a). Paul of course excludes God the Father from those put in subjection to Christ. “But when it [the quotation] says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him” (v. 27b). In fact, the Son will in turn be subject to the Father. “When all things are subjected to him [Christ], then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all” (v. 28).

The reading concludes today with a brief paragraph on “baptism on behalf of the dead,” which serves as another argument for the reality of resurrection: “Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” (v. 29). Withering comments here as well:

Verse 29 probably refers to Corinthian Christians who are being baptized for other Christian loved ones who have died without baptism. While Paul does not endorse this magical view of baptism’s efficacy, he also does not see this as a serious enough aberration to debate the point; he simply uses it as part of his ad hominem argument. (Ibid., pp. 305-306)

Matthew 11:7-15

Jesus Praises John the Baptist (Lk 7.24-35)

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,

'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 Let anyone with ears listen! (Matthew 11:7-15, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with editing and supplement here from October 15, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, 2007) and from December 22, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were repeated from December 17, 2004, two years ago (Friday of the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One).

For today’s reading and the continuation Monday (October 22, 2007), the parallel passages from Matthew and Luke are presented in the separate file, Jesus’ Witness Concerning John.

Yesterday’s reading focused on the question sent from prison by messengers to Jesus by John the Baptist, and Jesus’ answer (Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 7.18-23). Upon the departure of the messengers, Jesus addresses the crowds with words of praise for John the Baptist (Mt. 11:7-11) that are practically identical to the parallel in Luke (Lk. 7:24-28). The variation between “Why” (Mt. 11:8, 9 RSV) and “What” (Lk. 7:25, 26 RSV), apparently based on an editorial decision about how to punctuate the Greek text and the transposition of two words in some witnesses, is resolved in the NRSV by using “What” in Matthew 11:8 and 9. (The Greek word, ti, can mean either “what” or “why,” depending on the context.) Matthew’s “Truly” and “kingdom of heaven” (v. 11) are characteristic of his style, whereas Luke omits the former and uses “kingdom of God” (Lk. 7:28), the latter being clearer for his mainly Gentile readership. Both use the promise of a messenger to “prepare your way” (Mt. 11:10; Lk. 7:27; cf. Mal. 3:1; Isa. 40:3) as a reference to the ministry of John the Baptist.

A key verse for Matthew appears elsewhere in Luke: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” ( Mt. 11:12); “The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force” (Lk. 16:16, with an alternative reading in the footnote, “everyone is strongly urged to enter it”).

 “If you are willing to accept it, he [John the Baptist] is Elijah who is to come” (Mt. 11:14). Matthew’s continuation with its reference to the kingdom suffering violence and being taken by force (Mt. 11:12) is comparable to a simpler version in a different context in Luke: “since then [John the Baptist’s time] the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force” (Lk. 16:16). But in this context, only Matthew identifies the one “who is to come” as Elijah (Mt. 11:14; cf. Mk. 9:11; Mt. 17:11).

Krister Stendahl sees a phrase from Matthew 11:12 as “a veritable crux of interpretation” [problematic phrase, interpreted differently by scholars]. He says that verse 12b “reads either: ‘the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence (passive) and men of violence grab it’ or ‘the Kingdom of Heaven manifests itself violently (or: powerfully; reflexive) and keen and daring men take hold of it.’ The latter meaning fits better into Mt.’s context, but the former–taken as a reference to Zealots and others who entertain military dreams of Israel’s deliverance–is more natural from a linguistic point of view . . . In whatever way the intermediate situation be described, the prophetic ministry of John was the last phase and predicted climax before the coming of the Kingdom” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, sec. 684e, p. 784, on Mt. 11:12).

William Barclay calls the saying about the kingdom of heaven suffering “violence,” and that “the violent take it by force” (Mt. 11:12) “a very difficult saying.” He suggests that Matthew and Luke understood the saying in two different ways.

It is likely that we will get the full meaning of this difficult saying by putting together the recollection of Luke and Matthew. What Jesus may well have said is: “Always my Kingdom will suffer violence; always savage men will try to break it up, and snatch it away and destroy it; and therefore only the man who is desperately in earnest, only the man in whom the violence of devotion matches and defeats the violence of persecution will in the end enter into it.” It may well be that this saying of Jesus was originally at one and the same time a warning of violence to come and a challenge to produce a devotion which would be even stronger than the violence. (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, rev. ed., vol. 2, 1975, pp. 7-8).

In that context, Barclay cites James Denney, “The Kingdom of heaven is not for the well meaning but for the desperate. It must be, then, a call for whole-hearted commitment to Jesus and his ways (Ibid.).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net