Job 29:1; 30:1-2, 16-31

Job Finishes His Defense

29:1 Job again took up his discourse and said: (Job 29:1, NRSV)

30:1 “But now they make sport of me,

those who are younger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to set with the dogs of my flock.

2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands?

All their vigor is gone. (Job 30:1-2, NRSV)

16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;

days of affliction have taken hold of me.

17 The night racks my bones,

and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

18 With violence he seizes my garment;

he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.

19 He has cast me into the mire,

and I have become like dust and ashes.

20 I cry to you and you do not answer me;

I stand, and you merely look at me.

21 You have turned cruel to me;

with the might of your hand you persecute me.

22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,

and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

23 I know that you will bring me to death,

and to the house appointed for all living.

24 “Surely one does not turn against the needy,

when in disaster they cry for help.

25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 But when I looked for good, evil came;

and when I waited for light, darkness came.

27 My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still;

days of affliction come to meet me.

28 I go about in sunless gloom;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

29 I am a brother of jackals,

and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin turns black and falls from me,

and my bones burn with heat.

31 My lyre is turned to mourning,

and my pipe to the voice of those who weep. (Job 30:16-31, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from September 13, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two):

In yesterday’s reading, Job looked back on his happy days and privileged position in society before the time of his suffering. Today, in sharp contrast, he describes his present misery. People mock him. “But now they make sport of me,” he says, “those who are younger than I, / whose fathers I would have disdained / to set with the dogs of my flock” (Job 30:1). Mayer Gruber explains: “Those with less wisdom than Job now think they are wiser and no longer respect him. Job feels like an outcast; he has lost his position in society because of his suffering” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1542, on Job 30:2). In a similar vein, Leong Seow draws a contrast with Job’s words in 24:1-12, where Job describes the plight of the poor and needy who are oppressed by the wicked (NOAB, 3^rd ed. on Job 30:1-10). “Even the outcasts of society now scorn Job,” says Seow. “What could I gain from the strength if their hands? / All their vigor is gone” (v. 2). After describing their misery further (vv. 3-8), this “senseless, disreputable brood” who “have been whipped out of the land” (v. 8), nevertheless are able to mock Job in song (v. 9), keeping aloof and not hesitating “to spit at the sight of me,” says Job (v. 10).

After further complaint about this “rabble” (v. 12), Job redirects his complaint against God. He describes “days of affliction,” and “the night [which] racks my bones . . . the pain that gnaws me [and] takes no rest” (vv. 16b,17). “With violence he seizes my garment; / he grasps me by the collar of my tunic” (v. 18). “He has cast me into the mire,” says Job, “and I have become like dust and ashes” (v. 19). According to Seow, “dust and ashes [are] here an image of humiliation, elsewhere an image of self-deprecating humility (Gen. 18:27). See Job 42:6” (ibid., on v. 19). Then addressing God directly, Job says, “I cry to you and you do not answer me; / I stand, and you merely look at me” (v. 20). He says God is “cruel,” persecuting him (v. 21), making him ride the wind, as it were, and tossing him about “in the roar of the storm” (v. 22). He knows that God will bring him “to death,” that is, “to the house appointed for all living” (v. 23).

Job feels that his past kindness to the need has not brought him the same kind of help in his own time of need. “Surely one does not turn against the needy, / when in disaster they cry for help,” he says (v. 24). “Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?” he asks. “Was not my soul grieved for the poor?” (v. 25). But there was no reciprocal kindness for him. “But when I looked for good, evil came; / and when I waited for light, darkness came” (v. 26). So he continues to lament his “days of affliction” (v. 27a) and “sunless gloom” (v. 28a), as a companion, says Seow, of “Jackals and ostriches [which] are creatures that inhabit desolate places (cf. Isa. 34:13; 35:7; Jer. 9:11; 10:22; Ps. 44:19)” (ibid., on v. 29). His skin “turns black and falls from me,” he says, “and my bones burn with heat” (v. 30). His musical instruments, lyre and pipe, do not make merry, but rather, mourn and weep (v. 31).

Acts 14:19-28

19 But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

The Return to Antioch in Syria

21 After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. 22 There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. 27 When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there with the disciples for some time. (Acts 14:19-28, NRSV)

On July 25, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), comments were repeated from September 13, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two), when they were repeated from July 20, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year One). The comments are repeated here again with editing and supplement:

In yesterday’s reading we learned that Paul and Barnabas met with considerable success in the city of Iconium (Acts 14:1), but due to trouble stirred up by “unbelieving Jews” (v. 2), they “fled to Lystra and Derbe . . . and there they continued proclaiming the good news” (vv. 6, 7). In Lystra, the healing of a man who “had been crippled from birth” (vv. 8-10) gave them an unwanted reputation as gods, Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as “Hermes, because he was the chief speaker” (vv. 11-12). When “the priest of Zeus” was preparing to offer sacrifice in their honor, Paul and Barnabas quickly put a stop to such idolatry and make it the occasion for presenting “the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the see and all that is in them” (v. 15, cf. vv. 14-15). But the celebration, the crowd’s attempted sacrifice (v. 18) was quickly halted, as we see in the beginning of today’s lesson.

Luke tells us that “the Jews came there [i.e., to Lystra] from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds (v. 19a). Beyond merely stopping the sacrifice celebration, they “stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (v. 19b). “The fickleness of the crowd comes to light,” says Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “when it moves to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas one moment and then attempts to stone Paul in the next” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 14:18-19). This is apparently the “stoning” included in Paul’s catalogue of hardships endured for the sake of the gospel (2 Cor. 11:25). He might have been left for dead, but, as Luke informs us, “when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city” (v. 20a). According to Christopher R. Matthews, this was “perhaps a miraculous recovery” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Acts 14:20). Timothy was probably among those disciples, for he joins Paul and Silas when Paul returns to Lystra on the Second Missionary Journey (Acts. 16:1-3). The persecution by Jews–stoning– may have been a factor in Paul’s decision to have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3).

“The next day,” says Luke, “he [i.e., Paul] went on with Barnabas to Derbe” (v. 20b). The mission in Derbe is reported briefly, with no specific reference to persecution. “After they had proclaimed the good news to that city,” says Luke, “and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch” (v. 21). We note that in retracing their steps, they return to the scenes of hostility and persecution. But “there,” apparently, along the way among their new converts, “they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God’ ” (v. 22). “And after they had appointed elders for them in each church,” says Luke, “with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe” (v. 23). The reference to appointing “elders for them in each church,” is the first reference to Christian “elders” in Acts other than the reference to the “elders” at Jerusalem, to whom Barnabas and Saul took famine relief (Acts 11:30). In all likelihood, the Christians carried over this form of leadership from Judaism. (There are references to “elders” of the Jews in Jerusalem, Acts 4:5, 8, 23; 5:21; 6:12). “In Acts,” says Matthews, “Paul’s churches are ruled by elders (cf. 20:17). Their presence may reflect conditions in Luke’s day read back into the earlier period . . . The word is not used in Paul’s letters (but see 1 Timothy and Titus)” (ibid., on v. 23). This comment reflects a somewhat critical view. Gaventa is less definite on this point. “Elders,” she says, “originally the title of important Jewish leaders (see Lk. 7:3; 9:22), also figure in the Jerusalem church (see e.g. 11:30; 15:1-6) and in the churches of the Pauline circle (1 Tim. 5:17; Tit. 1:5), although they are not mentioned in the undisputed Pauline letters” (op. cit., on v. 23). As the apostles continue to retrace their steps, “they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia” (v. 24; cf. 13:13). Pisidia and Pamphylia are names of regions, like Laconia (14:6). “When they had spoken the word in Perga,” says Luke, “they went down to Attalia” (v. 25). “Perga,” says Matthews, “is inland 13 km (8 mi) from Attalia (14:;25), main seaport of Pamphilia, a small province south of the Taurus mountains between Cilicia and Lycia” (op. cit., on 13:13). From this seaport they return to headquarters at Antioch, bypassing Cyprus, their first stop on the missionary journey. “From their [i.e., from Attalia], they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed” (v. 26).

For the First Missionary Journey, it is clear that the apostles were commissioned and sent out from Antioch of Syria (Acts 13:1-3), and they returned to Antioch (14:26-28), which is Paul’s home base, so to speak. The Second Missionary Journey, after the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:1-29), begins from Antioch as well (15:35-36), so it is assumed that the brief reference to “spending some time” at Antioch (Acts 18:22-23) marks the end of the Second Missionary Journey and the beginning of the Third. The Fourth is Paul’s voyage to Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:1-28:16).

On this occasion, “when they arrived [at Antioch of Syria], they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles” (16:27). And, given some of their hardships, including the stoning at Lystra, time for recuperation at Antioch was surely welcome. “And they stayed there with the disciples for some time” (v. 28).

John 11:1-16

The Death of Lazarus

11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:1-16, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 13, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two):

The following comments are repeated here from February 18, 2006 (Saturday of the week of the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two):

Today’s reading brings us to the seventh of Jesus’ signs as presented in John’s Gospel–miracles that point to his identity as the divine Son of God–signs that are central to John’s purpose in writing (Jn. 20:30-31). The first two signs are enumerated: water to wine (2:1-11), “the first of his signs” (v. 11), and healing the royal official’s son (4:46-54), “the second sign that Jesus did” (v. 54). The remaining signs are (3) healing the lame man on the sabbath (at the pool called Bethzatha (5:1-18), (4) feeding the five thousand (6:1-15), (5) walking on the sea (6:16-21), (6) healing the man born blind (9:1-41), and the raising of Lazarus (11:1-44). It is worth noting that while only 16% of John’s Gospel is about events and sayings of Jesus in Galilee, four of these signs take place there. It is also significant that while each of the signs performed in or near Jerusalem, healing the lame man and the blind man, the raising of Lazarus, provoked swift, significant opposition, there was none of that in Galilee, or at least none in John’s narrative. The discussion of the bread of life after the feeding of the five thousand led some to see Jesus’ teaching as “difficult (Jn. 6:60), and caused many disciples to turn back (v. 66), but the most the opponents, the “Jews” (John’s term for Jewish leaders), do is “complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven’” (v. 41). Some of them, right after the feeding of the five thousand and the walking on the sea, were brazen enough to ask, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” (v. 30).

In the present reading, we are told that “a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha” (Jn. 11:1). John’s description of Mary anticipates his account of her anointing Jesus with perfume and wiping his feet with her hair (12:1-9), which was still to come in John’s story line, because “Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead” (12:1), but in the past with reference to John’s memory of these occasions and his telling the stories in his Gospel. “Mary,” he says, “was the one who anointed (hJ ajleivyasa, hē aleipsasa, aorist [past tense] participle) the Lord with perfume and wiped ( ejkmavxasa, ekmaksasa, another aorist [past tense] participle, paired with the previous one) his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill” (11:2). In being told that “the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill’ ” (v. 3), we are informed for a third time (in the space of three verses) that Jesus is ill–ill indeed! we might say.

Jesus, however, seems insensitive at first. He appears to ignore the implicit call for help. As earlier, when he told his brothers, who urged him to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (7:3-4), Jesus waits for the opportune time. “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it,” he says (11:4; cf. “My time has not yet come,” 7:6). And Jesus delays going to see Lazarus and his sisters though he “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (v. 5), staying “two days longer in the place where he was” (v. 6).

Later, at Lazarus’ tomb, he would weep (v. 35). But he would be reminded by both sisters, Martha, and later Mary, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vv. 21, 32). When Jesus decides to go to Judea again (v. 7), he is cautioned by the disciples. “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” (v. 8). Jesus responds with confidence. “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them” (vv. 9-10). Jesus is saying that “his life would end when God willed; his enemies could not shorten it” (Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jn. 11:9). He admits that “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” “a frequent euphemism for death” (Ibid., on v. 11, cf. v. 13), but adds, “but I am going there to awaken him” (v. 11). When the disciples misunderstand (v. 12), Jesus explains without the metaphor. “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (vv. 14b, 15). Thomas, who–like the others–apparently misunderstands, expresses his misgivings. “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16). The danger, of course, was all too real, from the human point of view.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net