Job 16:16-22; 17:1, 13-16

16 My face is red with weeping,

and deep darkness is on my eyelids,

17 though there is no violence in my hands,

and my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;

let my outcry find no resting place.

19 Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven,

and he that vouches for me is on high.

20 My friends scorn me;

my eye pours out tears to God,

21 that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,

as one does for a neighbor.

22 For when a few years have come,

I shall go the way from which I shall not return. (Job 16:16-22, NRSV)

Job Prays for Relief

17:1 My spirit is broken, my days are extinct,

the grave is ready for me. (Job 17:1, NRSV)

13 If I look for Sheol as my house,

if I spread my couch in darkness,

14 if I say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

15 where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?

Shall we descend together into the dust?” (Job 17:13-16, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 7, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two):

The Daily Office readings pass over the second speech of Eliphaz (Job, chap. 15) to parts of Job’s response. This time, Eliphaz is less diplomatic. “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge, and fill themselves with the east wind [i.e. the hot wind from the desert]?” (Job 15:2; cf. the beginnings of Bildad, 8:2, and Zophar, 11:2). Eliphaz introduces new themes, but uses the same message. “The wicked [including Job] writhe in pain all their days,” he says, “through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless” (15:20). Mayer Gruber refers to 15:20-35 as “one of the longest descriptions by one of Job’s friends of the fate of the wicked; it is developed,” he says, “with great detail and certainty” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1525 on Job 15:20-35).

In response, Job rebukes his friends as “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2), to whom he could talk as they do if the situation were reversed (v. 4). He is “familiar with the tradition,” says Leong Seow, and “he could offer the same tokens of consolation to them if he were in their place and they in his” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Job 16:1-5). Job continues to address the friends but to speak about God in the third person as the one attacking him. “He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; / he has gnashed his teeth at me; / my adversary sharpens his eyes against me” (16:9). Seow notes that “descriptions of divine violence occur in psalms of lament (e.g. Ps. 38:1-8), but the intensity of Job’s account is unusual (cf. Lam. 3:1-20)” (ibid., on vv. 9-17).

Job concludes this account of God’s attacks, “he rushes at me like a warrior” (v. 14b), with the complaint, “My face is red with weeping, / and deep darkness is on my eyelids” (v. 16), and the claim of innocence, “though there is no violence in my hands, / and my prayer is pure” (v. 17). His plea that the earth not “cover” his blood (v. 18a) reminds us of the LORD’s words to Cain, “Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Gruber explains,

Job does not want his suffering to be forgotten or unrequited. The idea behind the phrase is the belief that the blood of the innocent cries out from the ground, as in the case of Abel (Gen. 4:10; see also Ezek. 24:7-8). In a ritual context, Lev. 17:13 states that if an animal or bird is hunted down, its blood must be poured out and covered with earth in order for it to be permitted as food. More recently, the verse has become associated with the Holocaust; it appears, for example, in an inscription in Warsaw marking the site where Jews were transported to Treblinka. (op. cit., p. 1526 on Job 16:18)

In spite of his sufferings, his losses, and strong feelings, Job now expresses a certain hope:

Even now, in fact, my witness (yd9f2, ‘ēdî) is in heaven,

and he that vouches for me [my advocate NIV; TNIV] is on high.

My friends scorn me [My intercessor is my friend NIV; TNIV];

My eye pours out tears to God,

that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,

As one does for a neighbor. (Job 16:19-21 NRSV)

O my advocates (yc1yl9m4, m^elîtsay), my fellows (yf!r2 , rē‘āy),

Before God my eyes shed tears; (Job 16:20 NJPS1985,1999)

on behalf of a man [a human being TNIV] he pleads with God

As a man [one] pleads for his friend. (Job 16:21 NIV)

Let Him arbitrate between a man and God

As between a man and his fellow (Uhf2r2, rē‘ēhû). (Job 16:21 NJPS1985,1999)

In these verses Robert L. Alden finds “four terms describing the one Job hoped would come to his defense: ‘witness,’ ‘advocate,’ ‘intercessor,’ and ‘friend’” (Job, The New American Commentary, vol. 11, 1993, pp. 186-187 on Job 16:19 [and 20]). His text is the NIV which differs significantly from the NRSV (as indicated above). The word translated as “advocate” (NIV), “he that vouches for me” (NRSV), occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible (or only here “in all undisputed texts”) as indicate by the symbol † (William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 4^th impression 1978, s.v.dh2W!, śāhēd). Since it is in parallelism with yd9f2 (‘ēdî ), “advocate” is perhaps a good translation. Holladay defines Cyl9m2, mēlîts (hiph. participle of Cyl, l-y-ts) as “spokesman (Isa. 43:27; Job 33:23; 2 Chron. 32:31) or “interpreter” (of foreign language Gen. 42:22), and, though not including Job 16:20, uses the dagger (†) to indicate that all undisputed instances are included (Holladay, s.v. Cyl, l-y-ts). So, whether there are four terms more or less synonymous with “witness,” or not, Job clearly seems to expect some support in his case against God. Alden provides something of a Christian interpretation:

All these terms can and do apply to human beings elsewhere in the Old Testament, but the prepositional phrases ‘in heaven’ and ‘on high’ push the interpreter to think in terms of a divine redeemer. From a New Testament perspective it is a simple matter to identify this person, but for Job he was unknown and undefined. The content of Job’s faith was rudimentary. The glass through which he looked was even darker than ours (1 Cor. 13:12). In Gen. 31:50 God is called a ‘witness’ (cf. Rom. 1:9; 1 Thess. 2:5). ‘Advocate’ translates the hapax śāhēd [i.e. once-occurring word, dh2W!, as noted above], which is known from Aramaic and appears in Gen. 31:47, incorporated into the Aramaic name of Galeed, ‘Jegar Sahadutha.’ (op. cit., p. 187 on Job 16:19)

At this point, Alden defers to John Hartley: “As Hartley explains, the best candidate for this witness / advocate within Job’s limited knowledge was God himself: ‘Job appeals to God’s holy integrity in stating his earnest hope that God will testify to the truth of his claims of innocence, even though such testimony will seem to contradict God’s own actions’” (John Hartley, Job, NICOT, 1988, p. 246, cited by Alden, p. 187, n. 36).

In any case, Job expects death soon (16:22; 17:1). The reading passes over further complaints by Job (17:2-12) and concludes with further thoughts of death. If he goes to Sheol, to darkness, he says (v. 13), to the Pit, that is, with its “worm” (v. 14), where then is his hope? And who will see his hope? (v. 15). There is graphic imagery here, as noted by James L. Crenshaw:

The description of Sheol as a house gains force when one realizes that ossuaries were shaped like houses. The other images are readily comprehensible; in death one appears to be sleeping, and the lifeless body is soon inhabited by worms. Job’s fertile imagination portrays him as an intimate of the personified underworld and its denizens, personified worms. In such circumstances, he laments, hope has vanished. Hence the rhetorical question in v. 15 with its repetition of the word ‘hope’. The obvious answer to the questions in v. 16 is ‘no’. Hope will not accompany Job into Sheol, the land from which no one returns. (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, pp. 341-342 on Job 16:1-17:16)

Acts 13:1-12

Barnabas and Saul Commissioned

13:1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now listen-the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. (Acts 13:1-12, NRSV)

On June 15, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 15, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from July 19, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One), when comment were repeated from June 18, 2006 (the Sunday closest to June 15, Year Two), when they were combined and revised from June 13, 2004 (the Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year Two) in an email sent June 10, 2004 for June 11-13, 2004, and from July 14, 2005 (Thursday of the week of the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The combined and edited comments are repeated here:

This reading presents the beginning of Paul’s missionary journeys reported in the Book of Acts. Our information about Paul’s earlier activity, in the decade following his conversion, is sketchy. “Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas” (Gal. 1:18). “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia” (Gal. 1:21), which might have included Tarsus (his home town) and / or Antioch. Then there was the “famine relief” visit to Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-29). But during this period Paul must have been gaining experience in Christian ministry, and, from the human point of view, proving himself in preparation for the divine appointment which emerges from the time of worship, prayer and fasting in the church at Antioch. The Christian community at Antioch, a multi-cultural group–including “Simeon who was called Niger” Acts 13:1), suggesting “that he was an African” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. “Simeon”)–while “worshiping the Lord and fasting,” were directed by the Holy Spirit to “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (v. 2), which they did. “Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (v. 3). Christopher R. Matthews notes that, “as is usual in Acts, the Holy Spirit initiates new developments” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on v. 2). We note that Luke emphasizes the leading of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry also, for example, Lk. 4:1 (cf. Mk 1:12; Mt. 4:1); Lk. 4:14 (no ref. to “Holy Spirit” in Mk. 1:14a or Mt. 4:12); Lk. 4:18 (no parallel context); Lk. 10:21a, “At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said . . .” (cf. “At that same time Jesus said . . .”, Mt. 11:25).

Luke tells us that Barnabas and Saul, “being sent out by the Holy Spirit . . . went down to Seleucia” (Acts 13:4a), “Seleucia Pieria,” that is, “Antioch’s seaport, about 20 km (12 mi) west at the mouth of the Orontes River” (ibid., on v. 4), “and from there they sailed to Cyprus” (v. 4b). Upon sailing to Cyprus, they arrived at Salamis (v. 5a), an “important port and former capital city at the eastern end of Cyprus” (ibid., on v. 5). Upon arriving, “they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews” (v. 5b); so the first reported ministry of Barnabas (a native of Cyprus, Acts 4:36) and Saul takes place in Barnabas’ homeland, the Island of Cyprus. At this time, “they had John also to assist them” (v. 5c), John Mark, that is (12:12). The next reported ministry, “when they had gone through the whole island,” takes place at Paphos (13:6a), the “capital of Cyprus, located in the extreme west” (ibid., on v. 6). At this point Barnabas and Saul encounter the first reported opposition, as “they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus” (v. 6b). They have come to preach about Jesus Christ, and, ironically, this false prophet’s name means “son of Jesus [or Joshua]” (ibid.). This person “was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus,” whom Luke describes as “an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God” (v. 7). A “proconsul” was a provincial governor appointed by the Roman senate, often an honorary appointment for a term of a year (cf. “Gallio . . . proconsul of Achaia,” 18:12). According to Richard P. Seller, “Major provinces without armies, such as Achaea, [were] supervised by senatorial proconsuls chosen in the Senate. Judea from 6 CE was one of those lesser provinces administered by equestrians (initially army officers called prefects, then imperial agents with the title of procurator)” (Richard P. Seller, “Roman Empire,” in Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D Coogan, edd., The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993, p. 659). The Roman empire controlled troubled areas like Judea with military governors, prefects (e.g. Pilate, A.D. 26-36), or, after the death of Herod Agrippa I, procurators (e.g. Cuspius Fadus, A.D. 44-45 or 46). As Josephus reports, on the death Agrippa,

He left issue by his wife Cypros, three daughters–Bernice, Mariamme, and Drusilla–and one son, Agrippa. As the last was a minor [17 years old], Claudius again reduced the kingdoms [i.e., the Jewish kingdoms] to a province and sent as procurators, first Cuspius Fadus, and then Tiberius Alexander, who by abstaining from all interference with the customs of the country kept the nation at peace. (War, II, 220 or 2.11.6, trans. H. “St. J. Thackeray, Loeb Classical Library, Josephus II, 1927, reprint 1989, pp. 408-409; cf. the translation by William Whiston, on the Wesley Center Online, http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/josephus/war-2.htm, accessed again September 3, 2008)

Matthews calls “Sergius Paulus, another Roman official favorable to Christianity” (op. cit., on 13:7). Elsewhere, he says, in reference to Cornelius, that “Luke may want to show that Roman citizenship was compatible with Christianity” (on 10:1, with ref. to 13:7; 16:37-38; 18:14-15; 22:25-29; 23:27-30; 25:8).

Luke tells us that Elymas, the magician interfered: he “opposed them [Barnabas and Saul] and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith” (13:8). At this point Saul takes the initiative–henceforth referred to by his Greek name, “Paul” (vv. 13, 16, 42, 43, etc.)–and rebukes the magician. “But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?’ ” (vv. 9-10). According to Paul, this Elymas/Bar-Jesus reverses the message of John the Baptist, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mk. 1:2b, citing Is. 40:3; cf. Mt. 3:3; Lk. 3:4). Paul rebukes the magician: “And now listen,” he says, “the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun” (v. 11a). The rebuke has quick results: “Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand” (v. 11b). Matthews says, “Compare Peter’s rebuke of Simon (8:20-24). But there is a positive result: “When the proconsul saw what had happened,” says Luke, “he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord” (v. 12)

Luke thus tells us how Paul and Barnabas met with significant success in the first territory visited on the first missionary journey. Tomorrow’s reading, the continuation in Acts, moves to the mainland of Asia Minor, “to Perga in Pamphylia” (v. 13).

John 9:1-17

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

9:1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” (John 9:1-17, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of March 26, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from February 13, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when comments were repeated from March 14, 2005, (Monday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One). They are also based on comments on John 9:1-12, 35-38 from January 4, 2008 (with references after Christmas for that date):

Jesus heals the man who was “blind from birth” (Jn. 9:1) after the discussion which followed Jesus proclamation, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (8:12)–related to the candle-lighting ceremony of the Festival of Tabernacles, of which it was said, “there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem which was not lit up” (Mishnah, Sukkah, as cited on March 2, 2005)–and before the Festival of Dedication (Jn. 10:22) which celebrated the rededication of the temple in 164 B.C. (1 Macc. 4:36-51; 2 Macc. 10:1-9), in which the relighting of the lamps on the lampstand was important (1 Macc. 4:50)–and to this day candles are lit for each night of the eight-day celebration. 2 Maccabees notes a connection between the Festival of Booths and the Festival of Dedication (Hanukkah, celebrating the rededication of the temple):

They celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the festival of booths, remembering how not long before, during the festival of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals. (2 Macc. 10:6, NRSV)

So there is a kind of irony in John’s arrangement, sandwiching the account of the healing of the blind man (chap. 9) between the Festival of Booths (chap. 7) with its light ceremony (cf. chap. 8) and the Festival of Dedication (chap. 10) with a similar emphasis on lights. The man who was blind from birth had lived in darkness all his life, but Jesus “opened his eyes” (Jn. 9:13; cf. vv. 8, 21, 26, 30). The Pharisees, however, who refused to believe in Jesus, were left in spiritual blindness (vv. 39-41).

While Jesus and the disciples are walking in Jerusalem, they see “a man blind from birth (Jn. 9:1), which leads to a question from the disciples. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (v. 2). Jesus replies, ““Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him” (v. 3). They assume, but Jesus rejects, the explanation that the blindness is punishment for sin. For many then, according to Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., “Suffering was attributed to sin, either of the parents (Ex. 20:5) or of the man before birth (Gen. Rab. [an ancient Rabbinical interpretation of Genesis] 63: [39c] on Gen. 25:22; Wis. 8:19-20). Jesus denies this explanation and shifts attention from cause to purpose; this is an opportunity for God to act” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jn. 9:1-3). Jesus adds, “We must work the works (ergazesthai ta erga) of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (vv. 4-5). Jesus frequently refers to his mission as the one sent from God, or to aspects of it such as the miracle-signs, as “the works (erga) that the Father has given me to complete, the very works (erga) that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (5:36; cf. 4:34; 5:17, 20; 7:1, 21; 10:25, 32, 33, 37, 38; 14:10, 22, 12, 13; 15:24; 17:4).

The healing is reported by John. “When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see” (vv. 6:7). A lapse of time, not stated, is perhaps implied. The healing produces some uncertainty mixed with wonder among the neighbors. They ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” (v. 8). To their uncertainty–“Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him’”–he keeps insisting, “I am the man” (v. 9). But their questions persist as well. “But they kept asking (elegon, imperfect tense implying continued or repeated action) him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’” (v. 10) So the healed blind man describes the process, crediting “the man called Jesus” (v. 11), and the crowd asks “Where is he?” to which the man replies, “I do not know” (v. 12).

 So these people, whom Hendricks calls “neighbors and friends” (Ibid., on vv. 13-14)–given the consequences we might question the term “friends”–brought the man “to the Pharisees” (v. 13), by whom he is interrogated further. John anticipates their concern by saying, “Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes” (v. 14). According to Hendricks, “The Pharisees considered making mud to be work, a violation of sabbath laws; cf. 5:9-18" (Ibid.).

So the Pharisees’ question the healed blind man asking “how he had received his sight,” to which he answers, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see” (v. 15). This response leads to some division among the questioners: “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided” (v. 16). The Pharisees persist in their questions. “So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet’” (v. 17).

In the continuation, passed over for this reading (as noted above), the reactions of various persons to Jesus’ healing of the blind man are reported. For example, these questioners, whom Hendricks calls “neighbors and friends” (Ibid., on vv. 13-14)–given the consequences we might question the term “friends”–brought the man “to the Pharisees” (v. 13), by whom he is interrogated further. John anticipates their concern by saying, “Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes” (v. 14). According to Hendricks, “The Pharisees considered making mud to be work, a violation of sabbath laws; cf. 5:9-18” (Ibid.). The “Jews did not believe” (v. 18a) and interrogated the blind man’s parents (vv. 18b-23); then returned to interrogate the blind man himself further (vv. 24-33) before excommunicating him from the synagogue, literally “drove him out” (v. 34).

But today’s reading concludes, not with emphasis on the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness (vv. 39-41, cf the paragraph heading used above), but rather with emphasis upon Jesus final conversation with the blind, in which he clarifies and confirms the man’s faith. After the man is “driven out,” Jesus finds him and asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (v. 35). The man answers, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him” (v. 36). Jesus identifies himself to the man. “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he” (v. 37). The man responds with faith and worship. “He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshiped him” (v. 38). We should assume that this narrative reflects what really happened on that occasion, but it’s fair to assume that John, the “beloved disciple’s” way of telling the story reflects a need to encourage persons within his later Christian community who were shunned by their former Jewish connections after they joined the Christian community. Hendricks seems to see an indication of conflict between different groups here. “The haughty elitism of the religious authorities erupts again (cf. 7:49). Drove him out, seems to reflect the author’s concern–or experience–that those in positions of religious control in his own setting might force Christian believers from community fellowship. But Jesus acts to reassure and encourage the healed blind man. We are reminded of what he later tells the disciples at the Last Supper. “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (Jn. 16:33).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net