Isaiah 65:17-25

¹⁷ For I am about to create new heavens

and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered

or come to mind.

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,

and its people as a delight.

¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem,

and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,

or the cry of distress.

²⁰ No more shall there be in it

an infant that lives but a few days,

or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²² They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

²³ They shall not labor in vain,

or bear children for calamity;

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—

and their descendants as well.

²⁴ Before they call I will answer,

while they are yet speaking I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,

the lion shall eat straw like the ox;

but the serpent—its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain,

      says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:17-25, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated with editing and supplement here from November 19, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year One), when comments were adapted from an email message sent November 21, 2003.

A Look Ahead

Saturday's reading from Isaiah promises God's creation of "new heavens/and a new earth" (Isa. 65:17) at a time when, for him, many things seemed wrong `with the present earth. In recent readings, John too sees "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev. 21:1), which includes a magnificent vision of "the holy city, the new Jerusalem" (v. 2). John continues Isaiah's hope and vision, but again in a time of trouble, oppression and personal exile (Rev. 1:9). Sunday's reading turns to an earlier vision of Isaiah, when he sees Israel, Egypt and Assyria, traditional enemies, worshiping the LORD together (Isa. 19:19-25). But in Monday's reading, the prophet Joel sees judgment on the nations in "the valley of Jehoshaphat" (Joel 3:2, 12), especially "the nations who were cruel toward Israel" (Richard A. Henshaw, revised by Marvin A. Sweeny, HarperCollins Study Bible, 2<sup>nd</sup> ed., on Joel 3:1-8). We don't know the location of the valley of Jehoshaphat, but `Jehoshaphat means "The Lord judges." This valley "was undoubtedly chosen in this prophecy for its symbolic meaning" (Ibid., on Joel 3:2).

Isaiah envisions “new heavens and a new earth” which God will create (Isa. 65:17; cf. Rev. 21:1). He will create “Jerusalem as a joy,/and its people as a delight” (Isa. 65:18; cf. Rev. 21:1-22:5). “No more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,/or the cry of distress” (Isa. 65:19; cf. Rom. 21:4). Premature death will not be a factor in this new earth, for “ No more shall there be in it / an infant that lives but a few days, / or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; / for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, /and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.” (v. 20). People will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labors, for “they shall build houses and inhabit them; / they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. /they shall not build and another inhabit; / they shall not plant and another eat” (vv. 21, 22a, b). The longevity of people is compared to that of trees, “for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (v. 22c, d). These characteristics of the new earth appear to have reversed the effects of Babylonian exile, as well as the devastations brought upon Israel by others such as the Assyrians. In particular, “they shall not labor in vain, / for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD–and their descendants as well” (v. 23). There will be no break-down in communication or fellowship between God and his people, for “Before they call I will answer,/while they are yet speaking I will hear” (Isa. 65:24). The reading from Isaiah concludes by repeating in 65:25 an abridged version of 11:6-9 “to complete the picture of the new Jerusalem: a return to the first creation, a peaceful kingdom in which no creatures, human or animal, kill for food (Gen. 1:29-30; cf. 9:1-7)” (Joseph Blenkinsopp, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Isa. 65:25).

Nehemiah 7:73b-8:3, 5-18 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For the text and comments of this reading see the text and comments of Wednesday, November 14, 2007, ten days ago.

Revelation 22:14-21

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”

And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”

And let everyone who is thirsty come.

Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen. (Revelation 22:14-21, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 19, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year One), when comments were adapted from an email message sent November 21, 2003, for the weekend.

Today's reading concludes a series of readings from the Book of Revelation. It begins with the last of seven beatitudes in the book, and, as noted yesterday, together with the beatitudes of 1:3 and 22:7, it mark’s an inclusio–“bookends,” you might say–that encloses the content of the book. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates” (22:14). Entrance is given to those who are faithful, but there will be no clandestine entrance. “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (v. 15). There is a clear and distinct separation–based on God’s judgment, and made by God–a final separation of the sheep from the goats (Mt. 25:33, cf. vv. 31-46). C. S. Lewis puts it well in an often quoted statement from The Screwtape Letters (1943), “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way’.”

Jesus himself signs off on the revelations of this book. “It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (v. 16). And, attributed to the [Holy] Spirit (cf. Jn 15:26; 16:8-11), and the bride, that is, the church (cf. Jn.15:27; Eph. 5:25-27, 29, 32), is an invitation is extended to any who will respond:

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”

And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”

And let everyone who is thirsty come.

Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. (Rev. 22:17, NRSV)

Compare Jesus’ invitation as he spoke to those in the temple for the Feast of Tabernacles:

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. 6:37b-38, NRSV)

I cannot overlook the word “anyone” in these invitations (which I have put in bold face print above). For “anyone who wishes,” the Authorized Version (KJV) has “whosoever will” (Rev. 22:17 AV/KJV). It’s an open invitation to everyone.

For good measure, John stress the importance of heeding the admonitions and warnings of his book without changing them. “ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (vv. 18:19; cf. the blessing on “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,” 1:3). Again, the witness of Christ is quoted. “The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (v. 20). And a final benediction closes the book. “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen” (v. 21)

Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:12-22, NRSV)

Compare Luke 17:4:

And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive. (Lk. 17:4, NRSV)

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart." (Matthew 18:23-35, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of November 5, 2006 (the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), and of November 19, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year One), when comments were adapted from an email message sent November 21, 2003. For recent comments on the parallel verse in Luke 17:4, see the Archive for November 21, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year Two).

On Forgiveness

When Peter asks how often to forgive “another member of the church” (Mt. 18:21), the Lord’s answer is short and to the point: “Seventy-seven times” (v. 22), a multiple (11 x 7) of Peter’s suggested “seven times” (v. 21). The emphasis is placed on forgiveness as “the guiding principle in church relations and resolving conflict” (J. Andrew Overman, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Mt. 18:21). Similar numbers appear in Genesis 4:24 (cf. Ibid.), but in that context vengeance, not forgiveness, is the subject.

Whereas God avenged the death of Abel, Lamech takes vengeance into his own hands; he exacts death only for an injury; he appropriates God’s own measures and intensifies the level of retribution, so much so that only a blood feud could ensue (see Matt. 18:21-22 for Jesus’ reversal of Lamech’s boast). The song shows how Cain’s violence had been intensified through the generations. Progress in sin and its effects matches the progress in civilization. (Terence E. Fretheim, on Gen. 4:17-26 in The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 1, 1994, p. 375).

Luke works the saying about forgiveness into a context on the peril of causing “one of these little ones to stumble” (Lk. 17:2, cf. vv. 1-4). In its own way, Luke’s “multiple” of seven, “seven times a day” (v. 4) also intensifies the emphasis on forgiveness. In Matthew, Jesus illustrates his teaching about forgiveness (Mt. 18:21-22) with the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (not reported in the other Gospels), which comes to a point in the king's rebuke: "You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt [10,000 talents, v. 24] because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?" (vv. 32-33). Because a single talent was worth more than fifteen years' wages of a laborer, ten thousand talents is “an unimaginable amount” (Dennis C. Duling, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mt. 18:24). At these rates, the larger debt was 150,000 years’ wages!

In reference to Peter’s question in Matthew, William Barclay says,

Peter thought that he was being very generous. . . . [He] was not without warrant for this suggestion. It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times. Rabbi Jose ben Hanina said, ‘He who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times.’ Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, ‘If a man commits an offence once, they forgive him; if he commits an offence a time, they forgive him; if he commits an offence a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive.’ The Biblical proof that this was correct was taken from Amos. In the opening chapters of Amos, there is a series of condemnations on the various nations for three transgressions and for four (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). From this it was deduced that God’s forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth. It was not to be thought that a man could be more gracious than God, so forgiveness was limited to three times. (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, The Daily Study Bible Series, rev. ed., 1975, vol. 2, p. 135 on Mt. 18:21-35).

Barclay suggests that Peter thought he was being more than generous, “for he takes the Rabbinic three times, multiplies it by two [and] for good measure adds one, and suggests, with eager self-satisfaction, that it will be enough if he forgives seven times” (Ibid.). Jesus responds with a multiple of seven: “seventy-seven times” (v. 22; or seventy times seven NRSV note). Whether that amounts to seventy-seven (77) or seventy times seven (490), it’s a very large number for this context. Luke presents a version of this saying (Lk. 17:3) which was compared with the instruction on dealing with “another member of the church [who] sins against you” (Mt. 18:15, cf. vv. 15-20) yesterday: “And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive” (Lk. 17:4). Compare the previous verse, “Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive” (v. 3). Luke’s version of Jesus’ response, “seven times a day” (Lk 17:4), has no cut-off point. Seven times a day for how long? It wouldn’t take long to exceed four hundred ninety (490) times. In both Gospels, Jesus essentially says, forgiveness should be unlimited when there is repentance. “In other words, there is no reckonable limit to forgiveness” (Barclay, p. 135, on Mt. 18:21-35).

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

The point of Jesus’ exchange with Peter about how many times one should forgive another church member is illustrated by a story, the Parable of the Unforgiving Slave (Mt. 18:23-35, not reported in the other Gospels). A king "wished to settle accounts with his slaves" (v. 23). The debt of the first slave is reckoned as “ten thousand talents” (10,000 times 15 years of wages for a laborer; “a talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer,” NRSV text note I on Mt. 18:24). When the slave “could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made” (v. 25). But the slave “fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt” (vv. 26-27).

But the parable continues, for “that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe’ ” (v. 28). The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer” (NRSV text note j on v. 28), so the debt of “a hundred denarii” amounted to one hundred days’ wages (as opposed to the amount of 15 years’ wages owed by the first slave). The second slave’s plea for mercy, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you” (v. 29) echoes the first slave’s plea (v. 26). But the first slave “refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt” (v. 30). When fellow slaves inform the king of “all that had taken place” (v. 31), the first slave is summoned; and the king says to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” (vv. 32-33). With that, the parable comes to the point. “And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt” (v. 34).

But when the slave refused to show similar mercy to another for a debt of "a hundred denarii" (100 days' wages; “The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer,” NRSV text note j on v. 28), the king revoked his original forgiveness and "handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt" (v. 34). The parable comes to a point in the king's rebuke: "You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt [10,000 talents, v. 24] because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?" (vv. 32-33). When we are forgiven, are we not to pass it on? I guess one ought to be more than ready to forgive!

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net