Isaiah 44:9-20

The Absurdity of Idol Worship

9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. 10 Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? 11 Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.

12 The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!” 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”

18 They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?” (Isaiah 44:9-20, NRSV)

On January 16, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments were repeated with some revision from January 18, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One); the revised comments are repeated here with some editing and supplement.

As one may notice, today’s reading is sandwiched between the two parts of yesterday’s reading. If “besides me [the LORD] there is no god’ (Isa. 44:66), then idolatry in all of its forms is absolute folly. Isaiah’s satirical debunking of idolatry mocks the idol-maker who carves a god from the same tree he uses for fuel, and then prostrates himself (UHT!w4y09v1, w^eyishtachu) before it in prayer. The idol-maker

plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!" The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships (UHT!w4y09v1, w^eyishtachu) it, he prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god!" (Isa. 44:14b-17 NRSV)

The prophet has fun pointing out obvious absurdities. “They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand” (v. 18). A rhetorical question sharpens the contrast between the pagan idols and the God of Israel: “Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?” (v. 10). Earlier verses have described the LORD as incomparable: “I am the first and I am the last;/besides me there is no god” (v. 6). “Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,/let them declare and set it forth before me” (v. 7a, b). The LORD’s challenge becomes specific. “Who has announced from of old the things to come?/Let them tell us what is yet to be” (v. 7c, d). Earlier (41:21) the pagan nations were challenged to prove the validity of their gods by telling “what is to happen” (Isa. 41:22). Now the LORD challenges the pagan gods to do the same, and again the test of a true prophet (Deut. 18:20-22) is applied. We may want to write the issue of idolatry off as old hat, but we moderns are just as prone to put something in the created world in God’s place as were the ancients. The idol-maker uses part of the wood to bake his “bread” (v. 19). Do we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11)? Or do we try to put some other form of assurance of daily bread in God’s place?

Ephesians 4:17-32

The Old Life and the New

17 Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. 19 They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 That is not the way you learned Christ! 21 For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Rules for the New Life

25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:17-32, NRSV)

On January 3, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, references for January 3, Year Two), comments were repeated from January 16, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when comments were revised with adaptation from comments from January 18, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany) that were used again on January 3, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, Year Two). The revised comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

Paul addresses his Gentile converts to Christianity, with a reminder that profound changes are expected in their living. “Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord,” he says (Eph. 4:17a). This follows what Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean calls an “appeal for unity amid diversity” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 4:1-16), and introduces what she calls an “appeal for a changed lifestyle” (ibid., on 4:17-5:21, with comparison of Col. 3:5-17). “You must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds,” says Paul (4:17b), remarkably, since he is addressing mainly Gentile converts. J. Paul Sampley says, “Ironically in a letter addressed to Gentiles, the Gentiles denotes a rejected way of living” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Eph 4:17). Of course, though many Gentiles probably lived as he implies, the real contrast is between the way one lives before and after salvation through Christ. F. F. Bruce defines it as “the pagan way of life,” which he adds, “must now be abandoned” (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT, 1984, p. 355, on Eph. 4:17). “They,” says Paul (i.e. the “Gentiles”–read “unconverted”) “are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart” (v. 18). He adds that “they have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (v. 19) Maclean sees this as “excessive and inappropriate sexual behavior” (op. cit., on v. 19). As Paul tells his readers, “That is not the way you learned Christ!” (v. 20).

Paul assumes that his readers have been taught better ways, assumes, perhaps, because, as a general letter to several congregations, he likely does not have personal acquaintance with them all. “For surely (ei[ ge, ei ge) you have heard about him [i.e., about Christ],” says Paul, “and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus” (v. 21). The combination ei[ ge (ei ge), means “if indeed, inasmuch as” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. eij, ei, meaning (6) (b) ). Bruce translates this verse as follows: “for I take it that you heard of him and were taught in him the way of truth as it is in Jesus” (op. cit., p. 354), and comments:

If Paul were writing to his own converts, he would not say, ‘I take it that you heard of Christ and were taught in him . . .’–any more than he would say that he assumed they had heard of his own special apostolic commission (Eph 3:2). He does not express doubt about the instruction they have received; he takes it for granted that they have learned something of the Christian way of life.” (ibid., p. 357, on v. 21)

Paul’s readers “were taught to put away [their] former way of life, [their] old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts” (v. 22). They, and we, are “to be renewed in the spirit of [our] minds” and be “clothe[d] . . . with the new self” (vv. 23, 24a). Sampley says, “Metaphors of teaching and learning are interlaced with references to putting garments off and on for baptism” (op. cit., on vv. 20-24). “To learn Christ (v. 20),” he adds, “means not only to learn about him (v. 21) but also to put away the old way of life (v. 22; see also Rom. 6:6) and to be clothed with the new self (v. 24; se3e also Gal 3:27; Col. 3:10)” (ibid.). People are to “clothe [themselves] with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (v. 24).

Among other things this life “in true righteousness and holiness” has no place for falsehood. “So then,” says Paul, “putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another” (v. 25, citing Zech. 8:16; cf. Col. 3:8-9 and the call for “speaking the truth in love,” Eph. 4:15). The readers (and we) are warned: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil” (vv. 26-27). According to Bruce,

Our Lord himself warned his disciples that ‘everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment’ (Matt. 5:22). . . . How is it possible to ‘be angry without sinning’ (as the readers are directed in words drawn from Ps. 4:4 [LXX]? There is no doubt a proper place for righteous indignation; but there is a subtle temptation to regard my anger as righteous indignation and other people’s anger as sheer bad temper. Here it is suggested that anger can be prevented from degenerating into sin if a strict time limit is placed on it: ‘do not let the sun set on your anger.’ Let the reconciliation be effected before nightfall, if possible. If that is not possible–if the person with whom one is angry is n9ot accessible, or refuses to be reconciled–then at least the heart should be unburdened of its animosity by the committal of the matter to God. (op. cit., p. 361, on v. 26)

The life “in true righteousness and holiness” (v. 24b) thievery. “Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy” (v. 28). Nor does evil speaking fit in the Christian way of life. “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear” (v. 29). Paul reminds us that such sinful ways don’t belong in the Christian way of life. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” he says, “with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption” (v. 30). “Wrongful conduct,” says Sampley, “risks alienation from the Holy Spirit by which readers were set apart for God (see 1:13-14)” (op. cit., on v. 30).

Paul summarizes these negative admonitions. “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (vv. 31-32). All kinds of unworthy speech (v. 31) are set in contrast to what Bruce calls “a kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving spirit” (op. cit., on v. 32). According to Bruce,

There is a strong resemblance between this verse [i.e., v. 31] and 1 Pet. 2:1–‘put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander’–although the only term strictly common to the two passages is ‘malice.’‘ Similarly there is a strong resemblance between the positive exhortation of v. 32 and 1 Pet. 3:8–‘have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart, and a humble mind’–although, again, there is only one term (‘tenderhearted’) in common. (ibid., p. 364, on v. 31)

Bruce compares v. 32 to a passage in Colossians.

The converse to the unlovely attitudes of v. 32 is now recommended: a kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving spirit. All these graces, with others closely related, the readers of Col. 3:12-13 are urged to ‘put on. ‘As the Lord forgave you,’ says Paul to the Colossians, ‘so do you also forgive.’. . . It is in Christ that God has given his peo0ple their ‘redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of their sins’ (Eph. 1:7), just as it is in Christ that God was ‘reconciling the world to himself’ (2 Cor. 5:19). (ibid., pp. 364-365, on v. 32)

Mark 3:19b-35

Jesus and Beelzebul (Mt 12.22-32; Lk 11.14-23)

Then he went home; 20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”– 30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The True Kindred of Jesus (Mt 12.46-50; Lk 8.19-21)

31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:19b-35, NRSV)

On August 3, 2008 (the Sunday closest to August 3, Year Two), when the reading was Mark 3:20-30, comments were repeated from February 19, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), when comments on Mark 3:19b-35 were repeated from July 21, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One), when they were repeated from January 16, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One); on the latter date, they were combined with revision and supplement from January 18, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments which were repeated on March 14, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), and on July 16, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here with some adaptation.

Parallel passages to this reading in Mark are presented in a separate file, Jesus and Beelzebul. For recent comments on Matthew 12:22-32, see the Archive for October 26, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year One). For recent comments on Luke 11:14-23, see the Archive for May 26, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), or, for comments on Luke 11:14-26, the comments of October 27, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two).

One index of the sudden burst of activity at the beginning of Jesus ministry–in Mark’s account–may be the concern of his family (Mk. 3:21). “His family (perhaps his mother and his brothers, v. 31) were concerned both for his safety, amidst the intense emotions rising round him, and his sanity” (Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Mk. 3:21). But “the Pharisees attribute his acts to demonic power.” Tilden and Metzger add that Beelzebul, a pagan god [cf. 2 Kgs. 1:2] is “identified here with Satan” (on v. 22).

Events are happening swiftly in Mark, chapter 3, for two groups of leaders, the Pharisees and Herodians, have conspired to destroy Jesus (Mk.3:6), Jesus is thronged and plied with multiple requests for healing (vv. 7-8), he withdraws in a boat (vv. 9-13), he goes “up the mountain” and appoints the twelve apostles (vv. 13-19a). Even when he went home (v. 19b), “the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat (v. 20). Is it any wonder that his family was concerned? Or that they sought to restrain him (v. 21)? The words “people were saying” (v. 21) are ambiguous. The word “people” (NRSV) translates the impersonal third person plural verb ending of “were saying” ( e[legon, elegon); others translate as “they were saying” (KJV, NIV, NASB), which seems to mean that Jesus’ own family were saying, “He has gone out of his mind” (v. 21). We know that “not even his brothers believed in him” (Jn. 7:5), but to take the word “they” as a reference to Jesus’ family (including Mary?) who were saying “He has gone out of his mind” seems incredibly harsh! Of course, “the scribes who came down from Jerusalem” went much further in saying, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons” (v. 22). It is they whom Jesus implies have blasphemed the Holy Spirit (v. 28).

Jesus, says Mark, “called them”–presumably the scribes just mentioned–“to him and spoke to them in parables” (v. 23a). His response fits their challenge, and in the following chapter Jesus will explain that “parables “ are “for those outside” (4:11). Richard A. Horsley defines “parables” here as “extended metaphors or analogies; cf. 4:2, 33” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mk. 3:23). “How can Satan cast out Satan?” asks Jesus (v. 23b). “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (v. 24). And with the analogy changed from “kingdom” to “household,” he adds, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (v. 25). The “kingdom” or “household” implied by the scribes accusation would be that of Satan. And Jesus drives the point home. “And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come” (v. 26). The analogy of the household returns. “But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered” (v. 27). C. Clifton Black, revised by Adela Yarbro Collins, compares Isaiah 49:24-25 (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mk. 3:27): “Can the prey be taken from the mighty, / or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? / But thus says the LORD: / Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, / and the prey of the tyrant be rescued; / for I will contend with those who contend with you, / and I will save your children” (Is. 49:24-25, NRSV).

“Truly I tell you,” says Jesus, “people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mk. 3:28-29). This comment is applied by Mark to the scribes addressed here by Jesus, explaining, “for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit’ ” (v. 30). According to Black and Collins, “To link the Holy Spirit (see 1:8, 10, 12) or the Spirit’s agent (3:30; Lk. 11:20) with demons is to be guilty of an eternal sin (cf. 1 Jn. 5:16)” (ibid., on v. 29). The brief reference here to what has been called the “unpardonable sin” (vv. 28-30) raises a serious issue–blaspheming the Holy Spirit, the agent of grace (cf. Rom. 8:9-11)–but I should think that anyone who is at all concerned about it has surely not crossed that line!

The visit of Jesus’ family, that is, his flesh and blood relatives, provides an opportunity for him to redefine the family of God. Jesus’ “mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him” (v. 31). When the crowd informs Jesus of their presence, he asks, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (v. 33). And he answers his own question. “And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (vv. 34-35). According to Horsley, this is “not necessarily an attack on his [i.e., Jesus’] family (but see v. 21), but rather an indication that within the Jesus-movement and its communities, those who do the will of God are Jesus’ and each others’ brother and sister and mother” (op. cit., on vv. 31-35). As we have suggested (above), verse 21 is not necessarily an attack on Jesus’ family. In any event, I see no reason at all to see any disrespect for Mary or for Jesus’ brothers in this remark (vv. 33-35), but as we are reminded by R. McL. Wilson (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, sec. 699 f, p. 803, on Mk. 3:31-35), “The point . . . lies in the saying in vv. 34-35, that the ties of common obedience to God take precedence over those of kinship. As on the mission field today, this must have had a very real relevance for members of the early Church.” So when Jesus redefines his “family,” its not a matter of disrespecting Mary (cf. Jn. 19:26-27), but the new definition includes us as part of Jesus’ family!

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net