Haggai 1:1-2:9

The Command to Rebuild the Temple (Ezra 5.1)

1:1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house. 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 4 Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. 9 You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors.

12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, saying, I am with you, says the LORD. 14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

In the second year of King Darius, 2:1 in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4 Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 1:1-2:9, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from October 23, 2005 (the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One):

This reading begins with a date. “In the second year of King Darius in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. The sixth month would be Elul (Neh. 6:15); according to Gregory Mobley, the date by our calendar is “August 29, 520 BCE” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Hag. 1:1). Earlier, there was a beginning of rebuilding the temple, but the rebuilding has been aborted and the temple “lies in ruins” (Hag. 1:4). Apparently, the people are procrastinating. “Thus says the LORD of hosts,” prophesies Haggai: “These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house” (v. 2). But a word of the LORD counters this claim. “Then the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (vv. 3-4). As the oracle continues, the people are reminded of their poor conditions. “Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes” (vv. 5-6). According to Mobley, “The poor conditions in Judah were evidence of the people’s disobedience to the covenant (Lev. 26), and are presented here in the form of futility curses (cf. Deut. 28:30-41)” (on vv. 5-6).

“Consider how you have fared,” says the LORD (v. 7), repeating the earlier formula (v. 5). He calls for the work on the temple to resume. “Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD” (v. 8). The people’s futile actions are further described. “You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away” (v. 9a). “Why?” asks the LORD. “Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses” (v. 9b). This neglect of the job of rebuilding the temple is cited as the reason for their poor conditions. “ Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors” (vv. 10-11).

Haggai’s preaching–presenting “the word of the LORD”– takes effect. “Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the LORD” (v. 12). Haggai, called here “the messenger (mal’ak) of the LORD,” reminds the people of the LORD’s presence with them as he speaks “to the people with the LORD’s message (mal’^akûth), saying, I am with you, says the LORD” (v. 13). And we are told that the work on the temple resumes as “ the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God” (v. 14). The date for this new beginning is given: “the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month” (v. 15), that is, “September 21, 520 BCE (Mobley, on v. 15).

About a month later, “In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month (Tishri, the month-name, not found in the Hebrew Bible), on the twenty-first day of the month, that is “October 17:520 BCE” (Mobley, on Hag. 2:1). Mobley adds, “This date, the twenty-first day of the seventh month, would place the oracle during the festival of booths (Lev. 23:33-36, 39-42),, which would make the reference to the Exodus (2:5) all the more appropriate” (Ibid.). The LORD directs Haggai to encourage the people. He is to ask about people who saw the first temple. “Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?” (Hag. 2:2-3). This calls attention to the meagre beginning, and the desolation left by the Babylonian army. But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the others are to take courage. “Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear” (vv. 4-5). According to W. Sibley Towner, “Haggai compares the spirit of God in the midst of the community of his day to the manifestation of God’s presence in the pillars of cloud and fire during the exodus from Egypt (Ex. 13:20-21)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Hag. 2:4-5). “Once again,” says the LORD, “in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land” (v. 6). “By using the style of war oracles (take courage; I am with you; do not fear; cf. Deut. 31:7; Josh. 1:9), the prophet rhetorically casts the building drive as nothing short of heroic” (Mobley, on vv. 4-6). And the oracle predicts that the wealth of the nations will be gathered to the Jerusalem, giving it a greater splendor than that of Solomon’s temple. “The treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts” (v. 7). “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts” (v. 8). “The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts” (v. 9).

According to Ehud Ben Zvi,

The divine message reported here does not deal with the construction of the Temple per se, but with the question of whether the new Temple is an appropriate Temple for the LORD. The underlying issue is the plain incongruity between the expected glory of the house of a king who is sovereign over all and the absolute lack of splendor of a relatively small temple of a minor, poor province (cf. Ezra 3:12-13). Can this temple be appropriate? May they expect such a temple to be pleasing to the LORD, even if it has not received the type of legitimating sign seen at the completion of the first Temple (1 Kings 8:10-12)? Would the LORD be with them in such a case? (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1246, on Hag. 1:15b-2:9)

Later, as we know, Herod the Great went to great lengths in repairing and refurbishing the temple of his time, bringing it to a splendor which, in material terms, in fact exceeded that of Solomon’s temple. But in his day there were those who questioned the legitimacy of the Jerusalem temple–better, the legitimacy of its leadership–for example, the Essenes of Qumran, and Jesus. But Ben Zvi sees the potential for legitimacy in Haggai’s oracles. As to the questions he raises, that is, questions in the minds of Judeans in the time of Haggai, he says,

The report [i.e., still Hag. 1:15b-2:9] serves to allay these concerns of both the people described in the book and, above all, the readers for whom the book was written, since the incongruity characterized their days too. Further, according to the book, it was the lord who answered these questions and legitimized the readership’s Temple. Still the text recognizes the incongruity and maintains that in the future it will be rectified. (Ibid.)

Of the statement that the wealth of the nations will be gathered to the Jerusalem (Hag. 2:7-8), Ben Zvi says, “Here the text assumes common, ancient Near Eastern concepts, namely that the wealth of a dominion should flow to the house of the ruler of the dominion, and that the manifestation of the glory of a king relates to the wealth flowing to him from the different nations and places under his dominion” (Ibid.). He quotes “the Rabbis,” who see in the words, “silver is Mine and gold is Mine” (v. 8 NJPS), teaching that gaining silver or gold is not an appropriate goal for mortals. Instead they stressed that Torah and good deeds are such goals. See m[ishnah] ’Avot 6.9)” (on v. 8).

or Jeremiah 44:15-30 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

15 Then all the men who were aware that their wives had been making offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you. ¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. We used to have plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no misfortune. ¹⁸ But from the time we stopped making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything and have perished by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹ And the women said, “Indeed we will go on making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her; do you think that we made cakes for her, marked with her image, and poured out libations to her without our husbands’ being involved?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who were giving him this answer: ²¹ “As for the offerings that you made in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? ²² The Lord could no longer bear the sight of your evil doings, the abominations that you committed; therefore your land became a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is to this day. ²³ It is because you burned offerings, and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his decrees, that this disaster has befallen you, as is still evident today.”

²⁴ Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who are in the land of Egypt, ²⁵ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have accomplished in deeds what you declared in words, saying, ‘We are determined to perform the vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to her.’ By all means, keep your vows and make your libations! ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: Lo, I swear by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no longer be pronounced on the lips of any of the people of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ ²⁷ I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good; all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall perish by the sword and by famine, until not one is left. ²⁸ And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have come to the land of Egypt to settle, shall know whose words will stand, mine or theirs! ²⁹ This shall be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I am going to punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words against you will surely be carried out: ³⁰ Thus says the Lord, I am going to give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, those who seek his life, just as I gave King Zedekiah of Judah into the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.” (Jeremiah 44:15-30, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from October 23, 2005 (the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One):

For the Jews who fled to Egypt and took Jeremiah with them, the situation remains very bad. They will reject Jeremiah’s advice. The men who are “aware that their wives [have] been making offerings to other gods, and all the women [standing] by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt,” give their answer to Jeremiah (Jer. 44:15). “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord,” they say, “we are not going to listen to you. Instead, we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. We used to have plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no misfortune” (vv. 16-17). They try to “explain” further: “ But from the time we stopped making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything and have perished by the sword and by famine” (v. 18). The women also have their say, claiming the approval of their actions by their husbands. “Indeed we will go on making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her; do you think that we made cakes for her, marked with her image, and poured out libations to her without our husbands’ being involved?” (v. 19).

Jeremiah, amazed that they do not take into account the disaster that overtook their homeland as the Babylonians attacked, is quick to point out the folly of their explanation. “As for the offerings that you made in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind?” (v. 21). The LORD not only remembered, but also passed judgment and inflicted punishment on them for these idolatrous practices. “The Lord could no longer bear the sight of your evil doings, the abominations that you committed; therefore your land became a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is to this day,” says Jeremiah (v. 22). And he blames the disaster directly on thes idolatrous practices. “It is because you burned offerings, and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his decrees, that this disaster has befallen you, as is still evident today” (v. 23). And Jeremiah, still speaking for the LORD, pronounces judgment on them all, including the women (v. 24). But first he reminds them of their intentions, with more than a little sarcasm. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have accomplished in deeds what you declared in words, saying, ‘We are determined to perform the vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to her.’ By all means, keep your vows and make your libations!” (v. 25). In essence, the LORD rejects these people from being his people. “ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: Lo, I swear by my great name, says the Lord, that my name shall no longer be pronounced on the lips of any of the people of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord God lives’ ” (v. 26). Instead, the LORD is “going to watch over them for harm and not for good; all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall perish by the sword and by famine, until not one is left” (v. 27). Furthermore, “those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have come to the land of Egypt to settle, shall know whose words will stand, mine or theirs!” (v. 28). The proof, that is, the “sign” (v. 29) will be the LORD’s giving Pharaoh Hophra “into the hands of his enemies . . . just as I gave King Zedekiah of Judah into the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon” (v. 30). According to Mark E. Biddle, “Pharaoh Hophra (Apries, 589-570, [Jer.] 37:5) was assassinated by Ahmosis II (Amasis, 570-526 BCE), a former court official, co-regent for three years, and founder of the Twenty-seventh (Libyan) Dynasty” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jer. 44:29-30).

Acts 18:24-19:7

Apollos and the Baptism of John

24 Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus. (Acts 18:24-28, NRSV)

Paul and Baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus

19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism." 4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied- 7 altogether there were about twelve of them. (Acts 19:1-7, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with editing and adaptation from October 23, 2005 (the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One), from the relevant portion of comments on Acts 18:12-28 and 19:1-10 from August 7 and 8, 2007 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 3, Year One). On the recent August dates, comments were combined and adapted from earlier comments on those passages.

Paul has made a brief stop in Ephesus, where, when requested by Jews to stay longer, he declines but promises to return “if God wills” (Acts 18:19-20). Luke follows this account with a brief report of Paul’s journey to Caesarea, Jerusalem, and Antioch of Syria (v. 22)–the end of his Second Missionary Journey and the beginning of his Third–followed by travel “from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples” (v. 23).

In the meantime, “a Jew named Apollos” comes to Ephesus. Luke describes him as”a native of Alexandria,” and “an eloquent man (anēr logios), well-versed in the scriptures [who] had been instructed in the Way of the Lord” (vv. 24-25a). Ben Witherington III says that the phrase anēr logios, “literally ‘a man of words,’ is used by Philo to refer to a man well-trained in rhetoric (Post. 53, 162; De Leg. Alleg. 142, 310; Mut. 220; Cher. 116)” (Conflict & Community in Corinth; A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1994, p. 130, on 1 Cor. 3:1-23). Luke says that, in Ephesus, “he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25b). When Apollos begins “to speak boldly in the synagogue” (v. 26a) Priscilla and Aquila take notice. They apparently valued his ability as a preacher, but felt that he needed doctrinal instruction. So, together, “they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately” (v. 26b). Matthews says, “Although he taught accurately, he had not received Christian baptism” (on v. 25), but some understand this to refer to a deeper life experience (cf. 19:2-3). According to Adam Clarke, “Aquila and Priscilla were acquainted with the whole doctrine of the Gospel: the doctrine of Christ dying for our sins, and rising again for our justification; and in this they instructed Apollos; and this was more accurate information that what he had received, through the medium of John’s ministry” (Clarke’s Commentary, vol. V, p. 839 on Acts 18:25). When Paul first met them, Aquila was mentioned first (Acts 18:2), but Priscilla is mentioned first here (18:26; cf. v. 18; Rom. 16:3), perhaps not in “chivalry” but because she took the lead in the instruction of Apollos. This instruction may have helped him be well received in Corinth (v. 27; 19:1, cf. references to him by Paul in 1 Cor., chaps. 1-4).

Apollos wishes “to cross over to Achaia,” and “the believers encouraged him and wrote the disciples to welcome him” (v. 27a). And Luke tells us that, “On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus” (vv. 27a, 28). In his later letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to Apollos’ ministry there (1 Cor. 3:1-9, 21-23; cf. 1:12). Apparently, some at Corinth thought that Apollos’ preaching was better (i.e. more eloquent?) than that of Paul, who tells the Corinthians, “My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

At this point, Luke tells us that “While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples” (Acts 19:1). According to Acts, this reading brings us to Paul’s first extended stay in Ephesus, which would continue for at least two years (v. 10).

Paul’s first issue at Ephesus was apparently some correction of work done by Apollos. Even though Apollos has preached in Ephesus, and has been instructed by Priscilla and Aquila, when Paul arrives in Ephesus, he is told, “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). This was in response to his question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” (v. 2). These “disciples” (v. 1) were apparently only baptized “into John’s baptism” (v. 3). Paul tells these believers, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus” (v. 4). They respond immediately and are “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (v. 5). When Paul lays his hands on this group of “about twelve” (v. 7), they experience their own Pentecost, for “the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (v. 6; cf. 2:4; 10:44-46, as interpreted by 11:15 and 15:8-9).

Paul’s question for them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” (v. 2a, NRSV), has been variously translated. The Greek text, translated very literally, is “Having believed (pisteusantes), did you receive (elabete) the Holy Spirit?” The Greek word translated “having believed” (pisteusantes) is an aorist tense participle, and the main verb, “did you receive” (elabete) is in the aorist–or simple past–tense. The usual rule is that an aorist tense participle refers to action prior to the action of the main verb, which would support the translation in the King James Version, and those who see Paul as referring here to a second work of grace, baptism with the Holy Spirit, as subsequent to initial conversion with its “baptism of repentance.” A literal translation, “Having believed (pisteusantes, aorist participle), did you receive the Holy Spirit?” is expressed by the Authorized Version as “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye became believers?” (AV/KJV). The New International Version puts the former understanding in the text and the latter in a footnote: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when [note a: ‘after’ NIV] you believed?” (NIV, TNIV). In some sense, all Christian believers have the Holy Spirit: “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:9). But some Christians understand the baptism with the Holy Spirit to be a deeper life experience subsequent to initial Christian conversion. For them, the translation, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit after you believed?” (NIV note, TNIV note, cf. AV/KJV text) would better describe their understanding.

So understanding this text to refer to an experience of deeper spiritual life, or a second work of grace for the believer has merit, but there are other considerations. Sometimes the aorist participle and the aorist main verb are not clearly different in time. A notable example is the common expression, “answered and said,” as in Matthew 4:4, “But he [Jesus] answered and said” (KJV, for “But he having answered [aorist participle], said,” in a literal translation of the Greek; “But he answered,” NRSV). A recent book on Greek grammar does not really decide between the two options for translating here. “The aorist participle, for example, usually denotes antecedent time to that of the controlling verb. But if the main verb is also aorist [as it is in Acts 19:2], this participle may indicate contemporaneous time” (Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics, 1995, p. 614). In a footnote, Wallace adds, “From my cursory examination of the data, the aorist participle is more frequently contemporaneous in the epistles than in narrative literature” (p. 614, n. 2). For us, the important question is not so much when and how, or how many, were your Christian experiences “back then,” but are you living in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18b) now?

So the NRSV translation of Acts 19:2, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” doesn’t rule out a sequence such as, “Having believed, did you then subsequently receive the Holy Spirit?” but neither does it clearly indicate such a sequence. John Wesley’s comments are worth quoting:

Have ye received the Holy Ghost? - The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, as well as his sanctifying graces? We have not so much as heard - Whether there be any such gifts. (Wesley on Acts 19:2, http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/acts.htm#Chapter+XIX, accessed again Aug. 7, 2007)

Into what were ye baptized - Into what dispensation? To the sealing of what doctrine? Into John's baptism - We were baptized by John and believe what he taught. (Wesley on v. 3)

John baptized - That is, the whole baptism and preaching of John pointed at Christ. After this John is mentioned no more in the New Testament. Here he gives way to Christ altogether. (Wesley on v. 4)

And hearing this, they were baptized - By some other. Paul only laid his hands upon them. They were baptized - They were baptized twice; but not with the same baptism. John did not administer that baptism which Christ afterward commanded, that is, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Wesley on v. 5)

Wesley apparently understands this not as a reference to two works of grace within the normal Christian way of conversion, but a full realization of that to which John could still only anticipate in the future. Someone once told me that Billy Graham was once speaking to an interdenominational group of ministers with differing views on such matters. He said, “One thing is clear, and we can all agree on that, the Bible says, ‘Be filled with the Spirit.’” The key question is not, What have you experienced in the past? but How is it with you now? Is your heart right? Are you finding ways to put your faith to work?

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Mt 22.34-40; Mk 12.28-34)

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:25-37, NRSV)

On May 24, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), comments were combined with revision, adaptation and supplement from October 21, 2004 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), May 12, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), from October 23, 2005 (the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One), and from October 26, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two). The combined comments are repeated here:

On the Context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan

During Jesus’ final ministry in Jerusalem, Mark describes a series of seven episodes, mostly debates or parables, which Matthew includes in Mark’s order, but with a couple additions. Luke includes six of these in Mark’s order, but he moves the question about the Great Commandment and Jesus’ response to a different context, where it serves to introduce the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This arrangement is outlined in the following table

You may be asking, What does this table have to do with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Bear with me a little, and let me explain. A close reading of the passages listed in the above table will, of course, discover interesting differences as well as similarities in the presentations of Jesus’ teaching by the three evangelists (Matthew, Mark and Luke). In the section on the Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees, for example, Mark has four verses (3 ½ really) as compared to thirty-six verses in Matthew (Mt. 23:1-36; cf. Mk. 12:37b-40). Luke has much of the same material that Matthew presents, but in a simpler style, without ringing the changes, so to speak, on the repetition of “hypocrites.” And Luke presents it in a different context (chap. 11, not chap. 20).

Biblical scholars don’t all agree on the best way to explain the similarities and differences among the Gospels such as those illustrated by the above table. A few would not try, but simply ascribe the differences to independent sources and/or accounts. But it makes sense to me to see it this way for the passages in the above table: Matthew has used Mark as a source and maintained the sequence of Mark’s seven episodes, but has added two parables, the Two Sons and the Wicked Husbandmen, which Luke includes elsewhere in other contexts. Luke has maintained Mark’s sequence for six of these episodes, but he has broken Mark’s sequence for one; for reasons of his own he has transposed the discussion of the Great Commandment to the context where he presents the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:25-37). In Luke this comes near the beginning of his (“Travel Narrative,” Lk. 9:51-18:14, in effect an extended narrative of Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem within which Luke includes much of Jesus’ teaching). This teaching on the Great Commandment come in answer to a Lawyer’s question (Lk. 10:25), and when the lawyer follows with another question, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29), Jesus responds with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I note that this comes not long after the account found only in Luke of rejection of Jesus by a Samaritan village (Lk. 9:52-56), and the Mission of the Seventy (Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20).

For the question and answer regarding The Great Commandment, which in Luke is the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, see the following table:

Jesus identifies the “Great” or “First Commandment” with the Jewish “Shema” (Deut. 6:4-9) which emphasizes love of God (Mt. 22:36-37; Mk. 12:29-30; Lk. 12:27a) in response to the question, but adds on his own the “Second,” which he quotes from Leviticus 19:18, which in its Old Testament context refers to love of one’s fellow countryman, another Israelite:

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:17-18, NRSV)

Jesus limits his quotation to the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39; Mk. 12:31), abbreviated in Luke to “and your neighbor as yourself” (Lk. 10:27b). This might, but does not necessarily, include Samaritans or other Gentiles. In a sense, of course, love within the Christian community is–or ought to be–special. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). In the Old Testament context, later in Leviticus, chapter 19, love of neighbor is expanded to include “the alien who resides with you”:

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:34, NRSV)

On the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Perhaps Luke’s relating this teaching to the Parable of the Good Samaritan reveals his strong interest in the mission to the Gentiles and the world at large, the progress of which he describes in detail in the Book of Acts. While he can report the hostility of a Samaritan village (Lk. 9:52-56), he can also present a Samaritan as a role model in this parable. And he reports the early church’s mission to Samaria (Acts 8:4-25). It’s a reminder that we too should expand our horizons and love those of different races, cultures, and even different religious perspectives. “Go and do likewise,” that is, show mercy.

In Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus answers the question about the greatest commandment (Lk. 10:25-28; cf. Mt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-31) including “and your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), the questioner (a lawyer) follows with “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds by telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A number of excuses might be offered (and perhaps have been offered) for the behavior of the priest (Lk. 10:31) and the Levite (v. 32) who “passed by on the other side.” The victim might be dead, and to touch him would render them ritually impure, unfit to enter the Temple, which was perhaps their destination. They may have been running late, or they may have considered it inconvenient to stop and help the victim. (Were they concentrating on their prayers?) We might spend time emphasizing the fact that it was a despised foreigner, a Samaritan [an early day Palestinian?], who “was moved with pity” (v. 34) and addressed the victim’s needs. But the simple point of the parable is the need–and the call–to find answers to needy human conditions wherever we find them, genocide, starvation, disease, state-sponsored terrorism, homeless people, and so forth. (May 12, 2005)

Michael Gourgues, (Dominican College, Ottawa, Canada) suggests that “Priests, Levites, and all the people” became a common way to refer to Jewish “religious society in its diversity (“The Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan Revisited: A Critical Note on Luke 10:31-35, The Journal of Biblical Literature, 117/4 (1998), 710). He finds the substitution of a Samaritan for “all the [Jewish] people” in this phrase remarkable.

Had Jesus addressed the question existed in the mind of the lawyer, Luke’s narrative would have introduced the variant on the side of the victim and not on the side of the passers-by. Love of neighbor. as it was then understood, was to be exercised toward priests, Levites. and true members of Israel, which thus excluded Samaritans. A representative of one of those categories should have taken the role of the neighbor in distress by the wayside. The narrative turns the problem on its head and situates the neighbor not among those who must be loved but among those who are to love. The reversal. already imp1ied by the parable, is made explicit by Jesus’ closing question. “Who is my neighbor?’” the lawyer had asked (10:29). “Who proved himself a neighbor?’ now asks Jesus (10:36).

So why a priest and a Levite? Perhaps the simplest explanation is sociological in nature. The two characters whom the example story of the Good Samaritan first puts on the scene belong to the first two categories of the social hierarchy that dominated post-exilic Judaism. “The priests, the Levites, and all the people of Israel.” According to this traditional tripartite division, one would expect the narrative to bring on stage next a lay Israelite. And so it is totally unexpected to see a ‘Samaritan–a representative of one of the groups that all agreed to exclude from the category of neighbor–come on the scene and provide the answer to the question “Who is my neighbor?” (10:29).

Paradox of paradoxes, it is the Samaritan who, by means of a reversal of roles, becomes the very model of neighborly love. (Gourgues, 713)

Jeanne Stevenson Moessner (Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia) offers perspectives on the Parable of the Good Samaritan from a woman’s perspective (Journal for Preachers, 19.01, pp. 21-25):

In our customary way of reading the Good Samaritan text, women have not acknowledged a crucial aspect to the passage, an aspect so significant that it shatters previous interpretations. The Samaritan finished the journey. The Samaritan finished the journey while meeting the need of a wounded and marginal person. “The Samaritan does not give everything away; in this enigmatic parable, he did not injure, hurt, or neglect the self. He loved himself, and he loved his neighbor.” This balance in the care of self/care of other is a difficult balance for many. It is often women who have excelled in the care of the other. To be able to care for another (others) and to be able to finish one’s journey in life is a message to be proclaimed from the pulpit. (Moessner, 22).

Moessner adds other perspectives, for example:

In application and extension of the “inn” in ministry, the inn may be a support group, a battered women’s shelter, a halfway house, a hospital, a rape crisis center, therapy, a pastoral counseling center, a specialized support group such as Bosom Buddies or Resolve or AA. The inn may be the church. . . . In an exegetical attempt to understand the inn in Luke 10, commentators do agree that the inn was a temporary lodging place, a place where a journeying person found room for the night. This night can surely include the “night of the soul,” a place of struggle and despair. Preaching the Good Samaritan from a feminist perspective brings to the pulpit an awareness of a sense of teamwork and community in ministry and healing. At a minimum, from the sermon itself, a pastor can describe the inn and give directions. (Moessner, 23).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net