Isaiah 44:24-45:7

24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,

who formed you in the womb:

I am the LORD, who made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens,

who by myself spread out the earth;

25 who frustrates the omens of liars,

and makes fools of diviners;

who turns back the wise,

and makes their knowledge foolish;

26 who confirms the word of his servant,

and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;

who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”

and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,

and I will raise up their ruins”;

27 who says to the deep, “Be dry-

I will dry up your rivers”;

28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,

and he shall carry out all my purpose”;

and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”

and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45:1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped

to subdue nations before him

and strip kings of their robes,

to open doors before him-

and the gates shall not be closed:

2 I will go before you

and level the mountains,

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness

and riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that it is I, the LORD,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name,

I surname you, though you do not know me.

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;

besides me there is no god.

I arm you, though you do not know me,

6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is no one besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

7 I form light and create darkness,

I make weal and create woe;

I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 44:24-45:7, NRSV)

On January 17, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from January 19, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One); they are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Today’s reading continues the voice of the LORD through the prophet. “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, / who formed you in the womb: / I am the LORD, who made all things (lKo hW@fo, ‘ōśeh kōl ), who alone stretched out the heavens, / who by myself spread out the earth” (Isa. 44:24). The sentence merely begins with this emphasis on God’s creation of all things. According to John Oswalt, verses 24-28 comprise “a single sentence consisting of a succession of participles that define ‘I am the LORD’ in 44:24” (Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary, 2003, p. 511, on Isa. 44:24-28). The relative pronoun “who” is used with each participle in English, but the participles stand by themselves in Hebrew. In the text above, continued in the following, the English translations of these participles are put in bold face print to demonstrate the continuity: “I am the LORD” (v. 24c) “who frustrates the omens of liars, / and makes fools of diviners; / who turns back the wise, and makes their knowledge foolish; / who confirms the word of his servant, / and fulfills the prediction of his messengers; / who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ / and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt, / and I will raise up their ruins’; / who says to the deep, ‘Be dry–I will dry up your rivers’; / who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out all my purpose’; / and who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt,’ / and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid’ ” (vv. 25-28). None of these participles is combined in Hebrew with a relative pronoun (rw@x3, ’ ^a šer) as in English, but beginning with “who says” (v. 26c), the next three include the Hebrew definite article (-h!, - 0h1, hā-, ha[dagesg]), as in “who says (rm2xoh!, hā’ōmēr) of Jerusalem” (v. 26c). The participles, one after another build to the climax about rebuilding Jerusalem and Judah as Cyrus, “my shepherd,” says the LORD (v. 28a), “shall carry out all my purpose (v. 28b).

We might call this stanza a kind of peroration (Isa. 44:24-28) “summarizing the preceding poems, and coming to a climax in God’s designating Cyrus to be his shepherd (term for king, Jer. 23:4)” (Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Isa. 44:25-28). Oswalt continues:

Here God identifies himself and demonstrates his lordship by what he does. He is the Creator, who “made” everything, stretching out “the heavens” and spreading out “the earth.” He is the Lord of history (44:25-26a), revealing what he is doing to “his servants” the prophets and making “fools” of those who try to predict the future by means of magical continuities. He is the Redeemer (44:26b-28), who is able to rebuild the ruined “Jerusalem” and its surrounding towns. Because he is the Creator and the Lord of history and the Redeemer, he is even able to use a pagan emperor to accomplish his purposes. (ibid., pp. 511-512, on Isa. 44:24-28).

In the new chapter the LORD gives a charge “to his anointed [Messiah], to Cyrus”: “Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, / whose right hand I have grasped / to subdue nations before him / and strip kings of their robes, / to open doors before him–and the gates shall not be closed” (45:1). As noted above, Cyrus has already been called “my shepherd” who “shall carry out all my purpose (44:28). As Moses once promised Israel, “The LORD will fight for you” (Ex. 14:14; cf. Deut. 20:4), the LORD now says to Cyrus: “I will go before you / and level the mountains, / I will break in pieces the doors of bronze / and cut through the bars of iron” (Isa. 45:2). The LORD will give Cyrus assistance, and reveal his own (God’s) identity. “I will give you the treasures of darkness / and riches hidden in secret places, / so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, / the God of Israel, who call you by your name” (v. 3). Ironically, God knows Cyrus’s name, but Cyrus does not yet know God’s name. “For the sake of my servant Jacob, / and Israel my chosen, / I call you by your name, / I surname you, though you do not know me” (v. 4). Oswalt notes:

Even if Cyrus has never heard of Yahweh of Israel, Yahweh knows about Cyrus even before he is born. It is neither the Persian Ahura-mazda nor the Babylonian Marduk who rules the world of time and space, but Yahweh. (ibid., p. 512, on Isa. 45:1-8)

If God knew Cyrus’s name, though Cyrus was not aware of it, we may rest assured that God knows our names too. The Lord’s promise to the church at Sardis, and to us, is “If you conquer . . . I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels” (Rev. 3:5).

The LORD will take action through Cyrus, who does not know him, to redeem Israel. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; / besides me there is no god. / I arm you, though you do not know me” (v. 5). The LORD will take this action so that all people will know him, “so that they may know, from the rising of the sun / and from the west, that there is no one besides me; / I am the LORD, and there is no other” (v. 6). “I form light and create darkness,” says the LORD, “I make weal and create woe; / I the LORD do all these things” (v. 7). God has revealed himself and his identity, as the one who loves and will redeem Israel, and as the one who, by creating and sustaining the world, has demonstrated his unique ability to do it. According to Benjamin D. Sommer, “God did not give Cyrus these great victories for Cyrus’s sake. Rather, the purpose of Cyrus’s rise to power is twofold: to liberate Israel, and thus to spread the fame of the one true God of Israel throughout the world” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Isa. 45:4-8). He adds that verse 7 “is quoted at the beginning of the morning service (immediately after the Barekhu or call to prayer), where the word woe (or ‘evil’) is replaced with the euphemism, ‘everything’ ” (ibid., on v. 7).

Ephesians 5:1-14

5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them. 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light- 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Sleeper, awake!

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:1-14, NRSV)

On May 9, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), comments were based on those of January 17 and 18, 2007 (Wednesday and Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), and those on Ephesians 5:1-10 of January 4, 2008 (Friday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, refs. for Jan. 4, Year Two). Those comments were based on earlier comments, as noted there. The comments of May 9, 2008 are repeated here:

Paul’s ethical admonitions continue. Ephesians 5:1-2 is printed as the conclusion of the paragraph 4:25-5:2 (NRSV, TNIV, cf. the UBS Greek New Testament, 4^th rev. ed., 1993). Paul addresses his readers advising them (and us) to imitate “God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1), being “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (4:32). We are to “live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (5:2).

Paul lists sins that are forbidden: fornication, impurity, greed (v. 3), and “obscene, silly, and vulgar talk.” Instead of vulgar talk there should be “thanksgiving” (v. 4). According to Victor Paul Furnish, “The vices listed in vs. 4 (cf. Col. 3:8) were also condemned by non-Christian moralists in the ancient world, but the alternative, instead let there be thanksgiving [Furnish’s emphasis, highlighting words quoted], is specifically Christian and conforms to a view of the new life as one lived in the continuous praise of God (cf. E.g. 1:6, 12)” (The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, 1971, p. 842, on Eph. 5:3-14).

Those excluded from “the kingdom of Christ and of God” include the “fornicator,” the “impure person,” and “one who is greedy (that is, an idolater)” (v. 5). Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean says, “Sexual sins are the primary focus in these verses” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 5:3-5).

The readers are warned against being deceived: Let no one deceive you with empty words,” says Paul, “for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient” (v. 6). “Wrath of God,” says J. Paul Sampley, is “a reference to God’s final judgment. See Rom. 1:18 (where God’s wrath is also understood as present); Col. 3:6; Rev. 19:15” HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Eph. 5:6). The readers should not “be associated with them [i.e., the deceivers just mentioned]” (v. 7), because “once you were darkness but now in the Lord you are light” (v. 8a). According to Maclean, “Darkness/light [is] apocalyptic imagery for the domains of the hostile spiritual powers and of God and Christ” (op. cit., on v. 8). According to Sampley, “Children of light [is] a metaphor not found in Israel’s scriptures, but common in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the NT. See Mt. 5:16; Lk. 16:8; Jn. 12:36; 1 Thess. 5:5” (op. cit., on v. 8). Paul explains: “Live as children of light–for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (vv. 8b, 9). We are to “try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord, [and] take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (vv. 10-11). Paul is appalled at what the children of darkness do in the darkness. “For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly” (v. 12). Light, if not the cure, at least exposes the deeds of darkness, for “everything exposed by the light becomes visible. Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake! / Rise from the dead, / and Christ will shine on you’ ” (v. 14). Sampley says, “the source of this quotation is uncertain. It may be a fragment of a Christian hymn; see also Isa. 26:19” (op. cit., on v. 14). Maclean says it is “perhaps a fragment of a baptismal hymn” (op. cit., on v. 14).

Mark 4:1-20

The Parable of the Sower (Mt 13.1-23; Lk 8.4-15)

4:1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

The Purpose of the Parables (Mt 13.10-17; Lk 8.9-10)

10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that

‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,

and may indeed listen, but not understand;

so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ “

The Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:1-20, NRSV)

On February 20, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), comments were repeated from July 23, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were repeated from January 17, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when they were combined with some revision and supplement from January 19, 2005, two years ago (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments which were used again on March 15, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), and from July 18, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One); the combined comments are repeated again here:

The Parable of the Sower appears in each of the first three Gospels (Mt. 13:1-9; Mk. 4:1-9; Lk. 8:4-8), and apart from Luke’s trimming of a few details, the conditions of the seed which fell on the rock, for example (Mk. 4:5-6; Mt. 13:5-6; cf. Lk. 8:6), and his limiting the results of the seed in good soil to “a hundredfold,” omitting “thirty and sixty” (Mk. 4:8; Mt. 13:8; Lk. 8:8), these versions of the parable are very similar. Comparison of the three versions of the Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:18-23; Mk. 4:13-20; Lk. 8:11-15) yields similar results as well, though we may note certain emphases of Luke. The “word” which is sown (Mk. 4:14), or the “word of the kingdom” (Mt. 13:19), becomes the “word of God” in Luke (8:11). In Mark Satan (the ‘birds’) “immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them” (Mk. 4:15). In Matthew “the evil one comes and; snatches away what is sown in the heart” (Mt. 13:19), and the word “heart” places some emphasis on the spiritual application implicit in Mark, but Luke stresses it: “then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (Lk. 8:12). He also elaborates with his description of the seed that fell among thorns: “As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life and their fruit does not mature” (Lk. 8:14; cf. Mk. 4:19; Mt. 13:22).

A version of the Parable of the Sower is presented in the Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus said: Behold, the sower went out, he filled his hand, he sowed (the seed). Some (seeds) (+ men) fell on the road. The birds came (and) gathered them up. Others fell on the rock (petra) and did not send a root down into the earth, and did not send an ear up to heaven. And others fell among thorns. They choked the seed, and the worm ate it (lit. them). And others fell upon the good earth; and it brought forth good fruit (karpos) up to heaven. It bore sixty-fold and one hundred and twenty-fold. (Gospel of Thomas 9, trans., Bruce M. Metzger, in K. Aland, ed. Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum, 10^th ed., 1978, p. 518)

In this Gospel of Thomas version, the seed which “fell on the rock and did not send a root down into the earth” reminds us of the seed which “fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil” (Mk. 4:5; cf. Mt. 13:5), but the following statement in the Gospel of Thomas that “it did not send an ear up to heaven” is not found in the Synoptic Gospels. There are scholars who would argue that the version of the Parable of the Sower found in the Gospel of Thomas comes from earlier in “the oral tradition” than the version found in the canonical Gospels. Since the Gospel of Thomas lacks the interpretation of the parable given in the canonical Gospels (Mt. 13:18-23; Mk. 4:13-20; Lk. 8:11-15), these scholars would likely consider it a later addition based on the experience of the early church. But it makes at least as much sense to suppose that the interpretation given by Jesus, in which he anticipates a mixed response to his own message and that of his disciples, does not fit the Gnostic theology represented by parts, at least, of the Gospel of Thomas. The expression, to “send an ear up to heaven” (not found in the translation by Thomas O. Lambdin, The Nag Hammadi Library in English. Marvin W. Meyer, Managing Editor [James M. Robinson, Director, the Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity], p. 119), and the expression “it brought forth good fruit up to heaven,” probably point to what Lambdin calls the “basic religious experience “ of the Gnostics, that is, “not only the recognition of one’s divine identity, but more specifically, the recognition of one’s origin (the light) and destiny (repose)” (p. 117, in the Introduction to the Gospel of Thomas). Lambdin adds that, for the true Gnostic, “In order to return to one’s origin, the disciple is to become separate from the world by ‘stripping off’ the fleshly garment and ‘passing by’ the present corruptible existence; then the disciple can experience the new world, the kingdom of light, peace, and life.” We might say that the true Gnostic does not put his ear to the ground, so to speak, but put it to the heavens. When we compare the versions of Mark and of “Thomas,” one has either added or eliminated Jesus’ interpretation of the parable, but the reverse (either way) would be true for the “send an ear up to heaven” expression. I believe that the Gospel of Thomas version is a later, altered version of the canonical Gospels’ version.

In the canonical Gospels, sandwiched between Jesus’ Parable of the Sower and his interpretation of it, is a section on Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question (Mt:13:10-17; Mk. 4:10-12; Lk. 8:9-10). Mark says, “When he was a alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables” (Mk. 4:10). According to Luke, the question was about “what this parable meant” (Lk. 8:9), but Matthew clearly relates the question to Jesus’ purpose in using parables. “Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’” (Mt. 13:10). Jesus’ answer varies more, as demonstrated by the following table:

The beginning of Jesus’ response is similar in the three Gospels, “To you has been given the secret [‘to know the secrets’ Mt. 13:11] of the kingdom of God [‘of heaven’ Mt.], but for those outside, everything comes in parables” (Mk. 4:11).

In Mark, Jesus responds by saying, “To you has been given the secret (musthvrion, mystērion) of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables” (Mk. 4:11). Luke reports Jesus’ response in a similar way, with “secrets” (plural, musthvria, mystēria) for “secret,” and “others” for “those outside” (Lk. 8:10a). In Matthew, the response has “secrets” (plural, musthvria, mystēria), Matthew’s characteristic “kingdom of heaven” for Mark’s “kingdom of God,” and “them” for “those outside” (Mt. 13:11). So far, Matthew’s form of the response is essentially the same as the others; but at this point he introduces explanatory material that Mark and Luke associate with the saying about the lamp (Mk. 4:21-25; Lk. 8:16-18; cf. Mt. 5:15; 10:26; 7:2; 13:12). “For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Mt. 13:12; cf. Mk. 4:25; Lk. 8:18b). Mark and Luke introduce Jesus statement about the purpose of parables with the conjunction i{na (hina), which in Mark is translated “in order that,” expressing purpose (Mk. 4:12; cf. Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. i{na, hina, meaning no 1, “marker to denote purpose, aim, or goal, in order that, that”), but in Luke is translated “so that” (Lk. 8:10; cf. BDAG, s.v. i{na, hina, meaning no. 3, “marker serving as substitute for the inf. of result, so that”). In Mark and Luke the meaning appears to be that Jesus uses parables for the purpose (or result, which amounts to the same thing), that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not (mhvpote, mēpote, “marker of negated purpose, that . . . not,” BDAG, s.v. mhvpote, mēpote) turn again and be forgiven” (Mk. 4:12). While both cite Isaiah 6:9-10 briefly, freely, in Septuagint form and reversing the two phrases, Matthew quotes the entire passage at length (Isa. 6:9-10) in Septuagint form (omitting only aujtw:n, autōn, ‘their’ Isa. 6:10 LXX, 1^st occurrence). Matthew omits the introductory i{na (hina, “in order that”) of Mark, which is not part of the Septuagint text, but includes mhvpote (mēpote, “that . . . not”; Isa. 6:10 LXX, cf. NP@, pen, “lest, so that . . . not,” William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. NP@, pen). But for Matthew, the “reason” is “the reason ( dia; tou:to, dia touto) I speak to them in parables,” which is because “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand” (Mt. 13:13). In Matthew, Jesus points to the failure to understand as a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, and he supports this with another “fulfillment prophecy” (vv. 14-15, citing Isa. 6:9-10 in full; see below). For Matthew’s version, what seems to be the reason for speaking in parables, the inevitable failure to understand, appears to be the intended result of speaking in parables in Mark’s version.

Why, we ask, would Jesus have the purpose of not being understood? It has been suggested that the Greek conjunction of purpose, i{na (hina), translates an Aramaic conjunction, de- with a different shade of meaning. Matthew Black saw that as a problem and suggested that it arose in translation from Aramaic, de- translated as i{na (hina). Luke’s version is similar, but abbreviated, and though retaining “in order that” ( i{na, hina), omits the line, “so that they may not turn again and be forgiven” (Mk. 4:12). Luke shortens the two previous lines as well. But I believe the key is in the quotation, an “adaptation” (Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Mk. 4:12) of Isaiah 6:9-10, as cited in Mark 4:12. The conjunction, i{na (hina), is not a part of the quotation, but rather, introduces it, and so may not carry the full force of the meaning “in order that.” As noted above, it can have a weaker sense, pointing not to the purpose, but to the result. Matthew’s way of introducing his “formula quotations” is first seen in Matthew 1:22. “All this took place (i{na (hina) to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet” (Mt. 1:22). In the explanation of Jesus’ speaking in parables, Matthew uses a shorter form of his quotation formula, “With them [those who don’t understand] indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says” (Mt. 13:14). It is remarkable that God’s warning to Isaiah that the people will not respond to his message, adding that he is to continue “until cities lie waste . . . and the land is utterly desolate” (Isa. 6:11), is frequently cited in the New Testament to explain failure to respond to Jesus, or to Paul. (Cf. citations of Isa. 6:9b-10 in Mt. 3:10-15; Mk. 4:12; Lk 8: 10; Jn. 12:39-41; Acts 28:26-27.) “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (Mk. 4:9). Matthew uses the quotation to explain the failure of the Jews to understand and believe–which is the tenor of the original Isaiah context–as does John (Jn. 12:40) and Luke in Acts (Acts 28:26-27). In other words, the failure to understand and believe is not Jesus’ purpose in telling parables, but rather it describes the failure of many to respond. That is probably the intended meaning in Mark and Luke as well, obscured by their brevity and with something lost in translation from Aramaic.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net