Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 4:20-5:7

20 Watch for the opportune time, and beware of evil,

and do not be ashamed to be yourself.

21 For there is a shame that leads to sin,

and there is a shame that is glory and favor.

22 Do not show partiality, to your own harm,

or deference, to your downfall.

23 Do not refrain from speaking at the proper moment,

and do not hide your wisdom.

24 For wisdom becomes known through speech,

and education through the words of the tongue.

25 Never speak against the truth,

but be ashamed of your ignorance.

26 Do not be ashamed to confess your sins,

and do not try to stop the current of a river.

27 Do not subject yourself to a fool,

or show partiality to a ruler.

28 Fight to the death for truth,

and the Lord God will fight for you.

29 Do not be reckless in your speech,

or sluggish and remiss in your deeds.

30 Do not be like a lion in your home,

or suspicious of your servants.

31 Do not let your hand be stretched out to receive

and closed when it is time to give.

Precepts for Everyday Living

5:1 Do not rely on your wealth,

or say, “I have enough.”

2 Do not follow your inclination and strength

in pursuing the desires of your heart.

3 Do not say, “Who can have power over me?”

for the Lord will surely punish you.

4 Do not say, “I sinned, yet what has happened to me?”

for the Lord is slow to anger.

5 Do not be so confident of forgiveness

that you add sin to sin.

6 Do not say, “His mercy is great,

he will forgive the multitude of my sins,”

for both mercy and wrath are with him,

and his anger will rest on sinners.

7 Do not delay to turn back to the Lord,

and do not postpone it from day to day;

for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you,

and at the time of punishment you will perish. (Ecclesiasticus 4:20-5:7, NRSV)

On October 23, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), some comments were repeated with revision and supplement from October 18, 2004, (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two). The revised comments are repeated here with some further editing and supplement.

The reading from Ecclesiasticus is a series of instructions about speech and everyday living. Ben Sira begins with common sense, “Watch for the opportune time, and beware of evil” (Ecclus. 4:20a). As noted last Friday (Oct. 17, 2008), Burton L. Mack, revised by Benjamin G. Wright III, comments on the “opportune time”: “The right moment (Greek kairos [kairovV]) is a concept distinctive to Sirach” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Ecclus. 1:23, with ref. to 4:20). Mack and Wright add that “Watching for the opportune time refers to knowing when to speak, what to say on a specific occasion, and when to keep silent. See 1:23; 4:23; 20:7” (ibid., on 4:20). In the present context Ben Sira continues with a line that may be considered uncommon sense, “and do not be ashamed to be yourself” (v. 20b). Compare this line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “This above all: to thine ownself be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man.” “For there is a shame that leads to sin,” says Ben Sira, “and there is a shame that is glory and favor” (v. 21).

On this distinction between “appropriate and inappropriate shame,” Harold C. Washington compares later advice from Ben Sira (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Ecclus. 4:21):

One may lose his life through shame,

or lose it because of human respect

[so it is with the envious who give under compulsion (some mss.)]

Another out of shame makes promises to a friend,

and so makes an enemy for nothing. (Ecclus. 20:22-23, NRSV)

Washington also in relation to 4:21 refers to 41:14-42:8, which he calls “a poem on shame, true and false” (ibid., on 4:21 and 41:14-42:8).

Some themes in the present reading have echoes in the New Testament Book of James, though the context differs somewhat. “Do not show partiality, to your own harm, / or deference, to your downfall” (Ecclus. 4:22; cf. Jas. 2:1-7). The advice here about proper speech includes advice to speak when it’s appropriate. “Do not refrain from speaking at the proper moment, / and do not hide your wisdom” (v. 23, cf. v. 24), but not when it’s inappropriate, “Never speak against the truth, / but be ashamed of your ignorance” (v. 25). Compare later advice, “Do not be reckless in your speech, / or sluggish and remiss in your deeds” (Ecclus. 4:29; cf. Jas. 3:1-12 on controlling the tongue, and Jas. 1:22-23 on being “doers of the word”). Failure to confess one’s sins is compared to trying “to stop the current of a river” (v. 26). Washington explains, “It is as futile to hide one’s sins from God as to try to stop a river from flowing” (ibid., on v. 26). “Do not subject yourself to a fool,” says Ben Sira, “or show partiality (lavbhV provswpon, labēs prosōpon)

 to a ruler” (v. 27). The Epistle of James echoes the phrase “show partiality” with a compound word. “My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism (proswpolhmyivaV, prosōpolēmpsiais) really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?” (Jas. 2:1). Ben Sira’s phrase is literally “Do not receive face”; the compound word used by James is literally “face-receiving” or “receiving of face.” (Others have also noted echoes of Hebrew wisdom literature in James.)

Ben Sira advises strong defense of truth. “Fight to the death for truth, / and the Lord God (kuvrioV oJ qeovV, kyrios ho theos) will fight for you” (v. 28). Presumably, this is not about trivial truisms pedantically defended; as someone said, you have to choose the hills where you will make a stand. Other precepts represent enlightened common sense living or piety. “Do not be reckless in your speech,” says Ben Sira, “or sluggish and remiss in your deeds” (v. 29). Mack and Wright say, “Speech and deeds [are] the two modes of human behavior that must correspond in a person of integrity” (op. cit., on v. 29). “Do not be like a lion in your home,” says Ben Sira, “or suspicious of your servants” (v. 30). Washington explains the reference to “a lion” as “wild, restless, destructive” (op. cit., on v. 30). One should not be quick to receive but slow to give (v. 31).

Mack and Wright describe the next section as “a twenty-two line poetic arrangement of warnings on the ruinous consequences of mistaken presumptions, wrong speech, and shameful behavior” (op. cit., on 5:1-6:4). Washington calls the portion of chapter 5 included in today’s reading “Against Presumption” (op. cit., on 5:1-8). “Do not rely on your wealth,” says Ben Sira, “or say, ‘I have enough’” (5:1, cf. v. 8). The advice to “not follow your inclination and strength / in pursuing the desires of your heart” (v. 2) suggests prudence. One should not brashly assume that he can do whatever he pleases. “Do not say, ‘Who can have power over me?’ / for the Lord will surely punish you” (v. 3). One should not assume that he can sin without consequences. “Do not say, ‘I have sinned, yet what has happened to me? / for the Lord is slow to anger’ ” (v. 4). One thus presumes too quickly that he has evaded the punishment. Mack and Wright say that “slow to anger [is] a reference to Ex. 34:6, a verse basic to a commonly held understanding of the relationship between the Lord’s wrath and mercy” (op. cit., on v. 4). “Do not be so confident of forgiveness,” says Ben Sira, “that you add sin to sin” (v. 5). The Lord can act in mercy or wrath, so one should not presume: “Do not say, ‘His mercy is great, / he will forgive the multitude of my sins,’ / for both mercy and wrath are with him, / and his anger will rest on sinners” (v. 6). To the thought that “the Lord is a God of bot mercy and wrath,” Washington compares 16:11-12 (op. cit., on v. 6). The lesson: Repentance should not be postponed. “Do not delay to turn back to the Lord, / and do not postpone it from day to day; / for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you, / and at the time of punishment you will perish” (v. 7). Mack and Wright explain the words “the time of punishment [as] any experience of ruin, shame, or destruction as a moment of divine retribution; see 16:5-23” (op. cit., on v. 7).

Micah 2:1-13 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions–see the comments for Wednesday, October 8, 2008, twelve days ago.)

Revelation 7:1-8

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

                  5.    From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

6. from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

7. from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

8. from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed. (Revelation 7:1-8, NRSV)

The following comments are based, with some revision and supplement on comments from November 2 and 3, 2007 (Friday and Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One), and from October 23, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two). Those comments were based on earlier comments, as noted there.

On Saturday of last week, the weekday Epistle readings concluded a series from the Acts of the Apostles. Today, the reading from Revelation 7:1-8 begins a series of weekday readings from Revelation that will continue for three and a half weeks, through chapter 19. We begin today with an “interlude between the sixth and seventh seals” (Jean Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Rev. 7:1-17; cf. Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Rev. 7:1-17). The scroll with seven seals was introduced (5:1) in the midst of the vision of the heavenly throne room (chaps. 4 and 5) where the Lamb took the scroll (5:7) and was declared “worthy to take the scroll / and to open its seals (v. 9b, c). The first six scrolls were opened and their effects described in chapter 6, which brings us to today’s reading.

“After this,” says John, “I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree” (7:1). “The four winds,” says Ruiz, “are destructive forces to be unleashed by God (Jer. 49:36). They correspond to the four horsemen in 6:1-8 (see Zech. 6:5)” (on 7:1). “I saw another angel,” says John, “ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea” (v. 2). This angel was saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads” (v. 3). According to David E. Aune, “Those with a seal on their foreheads (see Ezek. 9:4-6; Psalms of Solomon 15:6-9) are divinely protected from the plagues, as the Israelites were in Egypt (Ex. 8:22; 9:4-7, 26; 10:23). “Seals,” says Ruiz, “were used to signify ownership or authorship” (on v. 3). John hears “the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel” (v. 4). The number given here does not limit the number of the redeemed, but “symbolizes completeness; not one of the redeemed is missing” (Metzger, on 7:4). “The symbolic number 144,000, which is the square of 12 multiplied by 1000, has been interpreted variously,” says Ruiz, “as a reference to the faithful remnant of Israel; the church; the martyrs; the remnant of Christians who survive the eschatological turmoil; all the redeemed (14:1, 3)” (on v. 4).

. In the list of tribes which follows (vv. 5-8), Ruiz notes the reference to “every tribe” but the omission of Dan and Ephraim. Since Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons (Gen., chap. 48), perhaps “Joseph” (Rev. 7:8b) stands for Ephraim. Thus, only Dan would be omitted of those sons blessed in Genesis, chapter 49). Since the 144,000 appear in chapter 14 with the Lamb as those “who have been redeemed from the earth” (14:3), we are told that, in both chapters, the number is “a symbolic expression for the whole number of the faithful” (Metzger, on Rev. 14:1-5), not some kind of inner circle of the elect. The book ends with Jesus’ invitation: “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). God is in the business of including all who do not resist him, not arbitrarily excluding people. As C. S. Lewis once said (in The Great Divorce), “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’” (cf. The Freeman Institute, Quotable Quotes, an Internet web site: http://www.freemaninstitute.com/quotes.htm, accessed again Nov.2, 2007).

Luke 9:51-62

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus (Mt 8.18-22)

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:51-62, NRSV)

On May 21, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), comments were repeated from October 23, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), when comments were combined, revised and supplemented from October 18, 2004, (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), and from May 9, 2005 (Monday of the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One). They are repeated again here with some editing and supplemented:

After about nine chapters in Luke’s Gospel (out of 24), Luke tells us that “when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:51). But Luke’s long section called the “Travel Journey,” from 9:51 to 18:14, assuming that he rejoins Mark’s narrative with the account of the Rich Ruler (Lk. 18:18-30; cf. Mk. 10:17-31; Mt. 19:16-30), or to Luke 19:27, when Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem (19:28), contains much of Jesus’ teaching material: the Good Samaritan (10:29-37), the Lord’s Prayer (11:1-4), the Rich Fool (12:16-21), parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Boy (i.e. the Prodigal Son, chap. 15), and many other teachings. The report of the decision to go to Jerusalem has parallels in Mark and Matthew, but, relatively speaking, much later in the course of their narratives (Lk. 9:51; cf. Mk. 10:1; Mt. 19:1).

So Jesus “sent messengers ahead of him” on the way to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:52). Jesus may have intended a mission in Samaria, not merely to pass through, for, “on their way they [i.e., Jesus’ messengers] entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but the did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem” (vv. 52b, 53). According to Marion Lloyd Soards, “the Samaritans did not help pilgrims going to keep a feast at what they regarded as the wrong sanctuary (cf. Jn. 4:20)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 9:52-53). According to David L. Tiede, revised by Christopher R. Matthews, “the Samaritans here reject Jesus’ mission, though elsewhere in Luke-Acts they are positively portrayed (see 10:30-37; 17:11-19; Acts 1:8; 8:5-25)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Lk. 9:52). But here, Jesus’ intention to go to Jerusalem, as noted above by Luke, was a factor. The disciples, “James and John,” recommend retaliation. “When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ ” (v. 54). Their suggestion, according to Soards, “incorporates wordings parallel to 2 Kings 1:10-12 [where] Elijah had called down fire from heaven on hostile troops (see 2 Kings 1:9-16)” (op. cit., on v. 54). But Jesus clearly rebukes this misuse of the scriptural text, for “he turned and rebuked them” (v. 55). “Then,” says Luke, “they went on to another village” (v. 56), presumably another Samaritan village; in any case, no hostility or opposition is reported at that village.

The section on Following Jesus in which some would-be followers offer excuses has a parallel in Matthew, as in the following table:

The respective introductions reflect the different contexts. In Luke, Jesus is just getting under way on the extended journey to Jerusalem, and they are leaving the Samaritan village (Lk. 9:57, cf. v. 56). Matthew’s version, found in a section of miracles parallel to Mark, follows the summary of healings in the evening at the home of Peter (Mt. 8:16-17; Mk. 1:32-34; Lk. 4:40-41). The first offer to become a follower comes from “someone” (Lk. 9:57), identified as “a scribe” (Mt. 8:19). Jesus’ response emphasizes the “costs” of discipleship. “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Lk. 9:58; Mt. 8:20).

In Luke, Jesus addresses the second person, “Follow me” (Lk. 9:59a), whose response is “Lord, first let me go and bury my father” (v. 59b). In Matthew, the words, “Follow me,” are apparently assumed, and the person’s response is the same (Mt. 8:21a). Matthew’s version of this incident closes with Jesus’ brief remark, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Mt. 8:22), which is similar to that of Luke, but Luke emphasizes the mission: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:60). Marion Lloyd Soards says, “From the statement that follows (v. 60), the man’s father was almost certainly not yet dead; rather, the man used this responsibility to procrastinate complete commitment to discipleship” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 9:59). Soards adds, “Let the dead bury their own dead, suggests that the spiritually dead should be left to bury the physically dead” (ibid., on v. 60). One should not take this as a denigration of those to whom care for the elderly falls, but rather an indication of the supreme importance of Jesus’ mission.

Luke, but not Matthew, tells of a third would-be follower who says, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home” (v. 61). To him, Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Elwyn E. Tilden has described the “dead” (v. 60) as “the spiritually dead, who are not alive to the greater demands of the kingdom of God” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Mt. 8:22). Another speculated that the one who said, “first let me go and bury my father,” meant “let me go and help my father farm; then, when he dies, I’ll come and follow you.” Not that farming is a bad thing to do, for one called to such work. Jesus was not instructing that we break the commandment to honor parents. But he was putting a priority on proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

For Luke especially, Jesus’ response to these would-be followers underscores the seriousness of his turn toward Jerusalem. According to Eric Franklin,

Discipleship now meant journeying with the Son of Man who had nowhere to lay his head. His call required a response that cut across the law’s demand for care of parents. If it refers to more than fulfilling long-term obligations and is to be taken literally, then it demanded the neglect of what was regarded as the most solemn of all obligations. Luke sees that on which Jesus was now engaged as the climactic point of God’s redeeming activity, which, in the benefits it brings, overrides all other acts of piety and natural ties. Less stark, the final call contrasts the present time with that of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 19:20). (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 941, on Lk. 9:51-62)

On his return from Mt. Horeb, Elijah fulfills the LORD’s direction to “anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place (1 Kgs. 19:16). Elijah finds Elisha plowing with twelve oxen and throws his mantle over him (v. 19). But Elisha is permitted, at his request, to return home (v. 20), and after a meal on slaughtered oxen, he returns to become Elijah’s servant (v. 21). Franklin suggests that Jesus’ call is more urgent than Elijah’s.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net