Job 3:1-26

Job Curses the Day He Was Born

3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:

3 “Let the day perish in which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man-child is conceived.’

4 Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

or light shine on it.

5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let clouds settle upon it;

let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6 That night-let thick darkness seize it!

let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

let it not come into the number of the months.

7 Yes, let that night be barren;

let no joyful cry be heard in it.

8 Let those curse it who curse the Sea,

those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.

9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;

let it hope for light, but have none;

may it not see the eyelids of the morning–

10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,

and hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not die at birth,

come forth from the womb and expire?

12 Why were there knees to receive me,

or breasts for me to suck?

13 Now I would be lying down and quiet;

I would be asleep; then I would be at rest

14 with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuild ruins for themselves,

15 or with princes who have gold,

who fill their houses with silver.

16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,

like an infant that never sees the light?

17 There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at rest.

18 There the prisoners are at ease together;

they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

19 The small and the great are there,

and the slaves are free from their masters.

20 “Why is light given to one in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul,

21 who long for death, but it does not come,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

22 who rejoice exceedingly,

and are glad when they find the grave?

23 Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,

whom God has fenced in?

24 For my sighing comes like my bread,

and my groanings are poured out like water.

25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,

and what I dread befalls me.

26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest; but trouble comes.” (Job 3:1-26, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from August 26, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two):

Given the estimate of Job’s righteousness presented in chapters one and two, from the mouth of God, no less (Job 1:8; 2:3), and his patient piety (1:21-22; 2:10), we are amazed at the apparent difference presented in chapter 3. As commentaries note, he does not curse God, but he curses his birthday (3:3-10; cf. LeAnn Snow Flesher, The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, 2002, p. 278 on Job 3). “Let the day perish when I was born,” says Job (Job 3:3a). Let it be a day of darkness, he adds (vv. 4-6), stricken from the calendar (v. 6). The night of his birth is to be “barren,” with “no joyful cry” (v. 7). Those skilled in cursing, “who curse the Sea . . . who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan,” are called upon to curse this day (v. 8). Leong Seow explains these lines as referring to “professional diviners, experts in rendering effective curses” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Job 3:8). According to Mayer Gruber, “Leviathan is a mythical sea-monster who played a role in the mythology of Ugarit (in modern Syria), and was known in the Bible as well as in creation stories (e.g. Isa. 27:1; Ps. 74:14), though he does not appear in the canonical story at the beginning of Genesis (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p, 1508 on Job 3:8). Let my birthday be a dark day, says Job, “Let the stars of its dawn be dark,” hoping for light but having none” (v. 9). Why this curse upon the day of his birth? “because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, / and hide trouble from my eyes” (v. 10). It is as though Job wishes he had never been born, for he says as much in verse 11. Following the “curse proper” (vv. 3-10, cf. the ref. to Flesher, above), we are presented with “a long lament” (vv. 11-26, Seow on 3:1-26). Flesher points to “Two additional sections [vv. 11-19, 20-26], each introduced by the interrogative complaint ‘Why?’” and adds:

This complaint is a common form, often found in the lament psalms, that suggests the current distress is incomprehensible to the speaker. . . . Since lament is an acceptable form of expression in the Old Testament, Job still has not sinned with his lips. Although Job has used many words to explicate his pain and suffering, he has not cursed God. (loc. cit.).

The lament asks why he was cared for as a newborn baby (v. 12), why he was not stillborn (vv. 11, 16) and thus buried with the dead (vv. 13-15, 17-19). “He views death as a release from suffering. Life, on the other hand, brings with it suffering and misery” (Gruber, op. cit., on vv. 11-23). Death brings an end of troubling even for the wicked, and rest for the weary (v. 17). In death “the prisoners are at ease together” freed from “the voice [demands] of the taskmaster” (v. 18). In death are “the small and the great”; and there “the slaves are free from their master” (v. 19).

Job’s lament continues, asking why “one in misery,” “the bitter in soul” [i.e. Job himself], is given light and life (v. 20). He longs for death, digs for it “more than for hidden treasures,” “but it does not come” (v. 21). God has fenced him in (v. 23). Seow sees in the words “fenced in, an ironic reprise of 1:10” (on v. 23). Job’s lot is sighing and groanings (v. 24). What Job fears, even dreads, is what happens to him (v. 25); he has no ease, quiet or rest; “but trouble comes” (v. 26).

Acts 9:10-19a

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. (Acts 9:10-19a, NRSV)

On July 7, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from August 26, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 2, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One); they are repeated again:

Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9) is reported in yesterday’s reading. Although his intention was to bring “any who belonged to the Way [i.e. any Christian believers] . . . bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2), his encounter with the “light from heaven” (v. 3) and the voice of the Lord (vv. 4-6) change all of that. In comment on Acts 9:9, John Wesley describes Paul’s conversion experience:

And he was three days - An important season! So long he seems to have been in the pangs of the new birth. Without sight - By scales growing over his eyes, to intimate to him the blindness of the state he had been in, to impress him with a deeper sense of the almighty power of Christ, and to turn his thoughts inward, while he was less capable of conversing with outward objects. This was likewise a manifest token to others, of what had happened to him in his journey, and ought to have humbled and convinced those bigoted Jews, to whom he had been sent from the sanhedrin. (Explanatory Notes on the New Testament , on the Internet at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/acts.htm#Chapter+IX, accessed again Aug. 21, 2008).

In today’s reading, we meet Ananias, a Christian believer living in Damascus about whom we otherwise know very little. But we expect that the Lord will take (and has taken) due notice of his service, not only to Saul on this occasion, but to the entire Christian world through his response to the Lord’s call and his ministry to Saul. When the Lord addresses Ananias, his response is immediate. “Here I am, Lord” (v. 10). Ananias is directed to go “to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul,” who, says the Lord, “at this moment . . . is praying” (v. 11). Saul has been prepared for Ananias visit, for, says the Lord, “he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight” (v. 12). As one might expect, Ananias hesitates. “Lord,” he says, “I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name” (vv. 13-14).

But the Lord reassures Ananias. “Go,” he says, “for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel” (v. 15). On this verse, Wesley says, “He is a chosen vessel to bear my name - That is, to testify of me. It is undeniable, that some men are unconditionally chosen or elected, to do some works for God” (ibid.). So Ananias follows the Lord’s instructions. When he comes to the house where Saul is staying he lays “his hands on Saul, and [says], “"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 17). As a result, says Luke “immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength” (vv. 18-19). For Wesley, the three days of blindness are the time when Saul was “in the pangs of the new birth” (ibid.).

Loveday Alexander compares this account of Ananias visit to Saul with Peter’s visit to Cornelius (Acts, chapter 10): “Saul’s story (like Cornelius’ . . .) is in fact the story of two visions, each confirming the other” (Loveday Alexander, The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 1039, on Acts 9:10-19a, citing C. K. Barrett).

John 6:41-51

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:41-51, NRSV)

On March 22, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments were combined with revision and adaptation from January 2, 2005 (the Second Sunday after Christmas, Year One), from March 10, 2005, (Thursday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One), from January 31, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), from August 26, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), and from January 2, 2007 (Tuesday in the Week of the First Sunday after Christmas, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here:

Most of John, chapter six, is devoted to a discussion of Jesus with Jews of Galilee following–and in some sense based upon–the Feeding of the Five Thousand (Jn. 6:1-15; cf. Mt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:32-44; Lk. 9:10-17). This miracle, as is frequently pointed out, is the only miracle reported in each of the four Gospels (unless one counts the resurrection of Jesus). It is followed in three Gospels by the report of Jesus Walking on the Sea (Mt. 14:22-27; Mk. 6:45-51; Jn. 6:16-21). Luke omits most of the following material from Mark through the report of Healing a Blind Man at Bethsaida (Mk. 8:22-26), as he moves toward the Journey to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51-18:14) and the preparation in Jesus’ Passion Predictions (Lk. 9:22; 43b-45; 18:31-34 and parallel passages).

Jesus’ discussion of the bread of life continues in John, chapter six. The Pharisees (“Jews”) object that he is an ordinary human being. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (v. 42). After responding to their complaint (v. 43) and reiterating his claim to represent the Father and that he will “raise up on the last day” those who come to him (v. 44), he alludes to support in the prophets, for those who will learn (v. 45; cf. Isa. 54:13). But Jesus is clear about his identity. He is sent by God (v. 43), and “everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me” (v. 45). Furthermore, “Whoever believes [in me] has eternal life” (v. 45). They should have “heard and learned God’s voice in their scriptures” so they “would have recognized its accents in him who alone has direct communion with God” (Donald G. Miller and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Jn. 6:44-45). “Not that anyone has seen the Father,” says Jesus, “except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father” (v 46; cf. 1:18).

Jesus also reiterates the claim that only he, who has come from God, has seen God (v. 46), and the promise that “whoever believes has eternal life” (v. 47). So he returns to the theme. “I am the bread of life” (v. 48, cf. v. 35). Brown calls this repetition, verses 48-40, “an inclusion” (The Gospel According to John I-XII, Anchor Bible, 29, 1966, p. 277, on vv. 44-50). Earlier, it was the people who brought up Moses and the manna (v. 31), but now Jesus makes the comparison. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died” (v. 49). “This,” he says, still referring to his own “identity” as the bread of life, “is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (v. 50, cf. vv, 53-57). The theme, “I am the bread of life,” is now expressed as, “ I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (v. 51a). With all of this repetition, you would think that we would get the point, wouldn’t we? But there’s more. “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever” (v. 51b). It is through Christ, says John, that one can be related to God the Father and have eternal life (cf. 3:16, and various other passages in John’s Gospel). Due to the identification of Jesus as “the bread of life” (v. 41), affirmations here amount to saying “I [the bread of life] will raise that person [i.e. the one drawn by the Father] up on the last day” (v. 44), “whoever believes [in me, the bread of life] has eternal life” (v. 47), and “one may eat of it [i.e., the bread from heaven = Jesus] and not die” (v. 50). The words, “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v. 51) anticipate later references to eating Jesus’ “flesh” (e.g. vv. 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, cf. 57). Raymond E. Brown sees the Eucharist as “the exclusive theme” of verses 51-58, whereas it was only secondary in verses 35-50 (op cit, p. 284).

The first indication [that the Eucharist is in mind] is the stress on eating (feeding on) Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This cannot possibly be a metaphor for accepting his revelation. . . . The second indication of the Eucharist is the formula found in vs. 51: “The bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” If we consider that John does not report the Lord’s words over the bread and the cup at the Last Supper, it is possible that we have preserved in vi 51 the Johannine form of the words of institution. In particular, it resembles the Lucan form of institution: “This is my body which is given for you.” (Ibid., 284-285)

On the other hand, John Wesley, for example, has a different understanding. Of verse 51 (and the larger context); he says,

If any eat of this bread--That is, believe in me: he shall live for ever--In other words, he that believeth to the end shall be saved. My flesh which I will give you--This whole discourse concerning his flesh and blood refers directly to his passion, and but remotely, if at all, to the Lord's Supper ( my emphasis by underlining) (http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/john.htm#Chapter+VI, accessed again Aug. 21, 2008; you may have to copy and paste the URL).

Compare these words from John Calvin, in comment on verse 53:

The ancients fell into a gross error by supposing that little children were deprived of eternal life, if they did not dispense to them the eucharist, that is, the Lord’s Supper; for this discourse does not relate to the Lord’s Supper, but to the uninterrupted communication of the flesh of Christ, which we obtain apart from the use of the Lord’s Supper. Nor were the Bohemians in the right, when they adduced this passage to prove that all without exception ought to be admitted to the use of the cup. (John Calvin, Commentary on . . . John. Trans., William Pringle; vol. I, 1847, p. 265)

The Friends (Quakers) have usually agreed with Robert Barclay:

The communion of the body and blood of Christ is inward and spiritual, which is the participation of his flesh and blood, by which the inward man is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom Christ dwells, of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his disciples was a figure, which they even used in the Church for a time, who had received the Substance, for the sake of the weak: even as abstaining from things strangled, and from blood, the washing one another's feet, and the anointing of the sick with oil, all which are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former; yet seeing they are but shadows of better things, they cease in such as have obtained the Substance. (“The Thirteenth Proposition,” An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, 1676 [in Latin], English translation by himself [1678]; online edition at http://www.qhpress.org/texts/barclay/apology/prop13.html (accessed again Aug. 21, 2008).

The Friends have chosen to emphasize the inner spiritual reality, that our spiritual lives depend on Christ from start to finish. Eating his flesh and drinking his blood must be symbolic ways of referring to Christ as the source of our spiritual nourishment. In that much, at least, we agree, by and large, with the whole Christian tradition. (At least, it seems to be so, in my opinion.) It is through Christ, says John, that one can be related to God the Father and have eternal life (cf. 3:16, and various other passages in John’s Gospel).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net