Isaiah 45:5-17

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.

8 Shower, O heavens, from above,

and let the skies rain down righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,

and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;

I the LORD have created it.

9 Woe to you who strive with your Maker,

earthen vessels with the potter!

Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?

or “Your work has no handles”?

10 Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you begetting?”

or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”

11 Thus says the LORD,

the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

Will you question me about my children,

or command me concerning the work of my hands?

12 I made the earth,

and created humankind upon it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,

and I commanded all their host.

13 I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,

and I will make all his paths straight;

he shall build my city

and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,

says the LORD of hosts.

14 Thus says the LORD:

The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,

and the Sabeans, tall of stature,

shall come over to you and be yours,

they shall follow you;

they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.

They will make supplication to you, saying,

“God is with you alone, and there is no other;

there is no god besides him.”

15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.

16 All of them are put to shame and confounded,

the makers of idols go in confusion together.

17 But Israel is saved by the LORD

with everlasting salvation;

you shall not be put to shame or confounded

to all eternity. (Isaiah 45:5-17, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of January 18, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from January 20, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), and on comments on Isaiah 45:14-19 from January 9, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of Epiphany Sunday, ref. for Jan. 9, Year Two), when comments on Isaiah 45:14-19 were repeated with some adaptation from January 18 and 19, 2007 (Thursday and Friday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One) when comments were repeated from January 20 and 20, 2005 (Thursday and Friday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One).

In the continuation of “the Cyrus oracle” (Joseph Blenkinsopp, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Isa. 44:24-45:8), Isaiah speaks again in the name of the LORD, who stresses his uniqueness and power. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; / besides me there is no god. / I arm you, though you do not know me, / 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” (Isa. 45:5-6). When the LORD says, “I form light and create darkness” (v. 7a), he refers to his power to create and control the world, but perhaps the light and darkness are also metaphors for human “weal and woe,” which he also controls (v. 7b). His creation of the processes of nature that bring rain, when he says, “Shower, O heavens, from above, / and let the skies rain down righteousness” is more than mere climate control, for the result is “righteousness” (v. 8a, b). He opens the earth “that salvation may spring up, / and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also,” says the LORD, who “created it” (v. 8c, d, e). According to Blenkinsopp, “the Cyrus oracle is rounded off with a short and joyful psalm in anticipation of imminent salvation” (on v. 8). Benjamin D. Sommer says, “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, p. 875, on Isa. 45:4-8).

Warnings are given in the form of “woes” (yOh (hôy) . . .). “Woe to you who strive with your Maker, / earthen vessels with the potter! / Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making’? / or ‘Your work has no handles’? / Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ / or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’” (vv. 9-10). These woes are “directed against those questioning the propriety of Cyrus’s messiahship” (Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay, NOAB, 2^nd. ed., 1994, on Isa. 45:9-10). The LORD asks, “Will you question me about my children, / or command me concerning the work of my hands?” (v. 11). He points out that he “made the earth, / and created humankind upon it”; “it was my hands, “ he says, “that stretched out the heavens, and,” he adds, “I commanded all their host” (v. 12). For the one who has done that, it is not a serious challenge to use a foreign ruler to rescue Israel. “I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,” says the LORD, “and I will make all his paths straight; / he shall build my city / and set my exiles free, / not for price or reward, / says the LORD of hosts” (v. 13). Following this description of Cyrus’s mission, a reversal of fortunes for Israel is described. “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, / and the Sabeans, tall of stature, / shall come over to you and be yours, / they shall follow you; / they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. / They will make supplication to you, saying, / ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other; / there is no god besides him’” (v. 14). According to Gold and Holladay, “the conversion of the nations” is described (on 45:14-25). “The nations’ wealth will pour into Israel; they will acknowledge Israel’s God. Earlier the nations listed here served as Israel’s ransom (43:3)” (ibid., on vv. 14-15).

Sommer has a different perspective on Isaiah 45:14-17; the wealth of Egypt and the other nations does not flow into Israel, but serves as Cyrus’s reward. He calls this section “Cyrus’s reward,” adding, “God again addresses Cyrus (so Ibn Ezra), describing the vast territories he will receive for restoring Zion” (on vv. 14-17). We know, of course, that in Cyrus’s day, Babylon was weak. Before Cyrus took the city without a battle (539 B.C.), he had already made conquests in such distant places as western Asia Minor. According to Mordechai Cogan,

Under the leadership of Cyrus of Parsua, who had rebelled against his Median overlord, the combined armies of Persia and Media fought their way across the entire Anatolian peninsula to conquer the Lydian capital of Sardis, not far from the Aegean Sea. By 546 BCE, the Babylonian empire had been surrounded, and the choice of time and place to strike belonged to Cyrus” (Mordechai Cogan, “Into Exile: From the Assyrian Conquest of Israel to the Fall of Babylon. (in Michael D. Coogan, ed., The Oxford History of the Biblical World, 1998], pp. 362-363).

The contrast continues between the “God of Israel, the Savior (v. 15b) and those who make idols. “All of them are put to shame and confounded, / the makers of idols go in confusion together” (v. 16). “But,” says the prophet, “Israel is saved by the LORD / with everlasting salvation; / you shall not be put to shame or confounded / to all eternity” (v. 17).

Ephesians 5:15-33

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Christian Household (Cp Col 3.18-19)

21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind-yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. 33 Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:15-33, NRSV)

On January 18, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments were repeated from January 20, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One). The comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

This part of Ephesians presents a series of ethical admonitions in long sentences that are broken up into shorter sentences in most English translations. The imperative “Be careful then how you live” (Eph. 5:15) is followed by a participle which carries over the imperative sense, “making the most of the time” (v. 16). Two “main verb” imperatives follow: “Do not be foolish, but understand” (v. 17). Then a series of participles depends on the next imperatives, as follows (arranged to highlight these relationships):

And do not get drunk . . . but be filled with the Spirit (v. 18)

speaking [singing] to one another in psalms . . . ,

singing [ode-ing] and making melody [psalming] . .  (v.19)

giving thanks . . . (v. 20)

To modern (21^st c.) people, we might say, If you plan to get “high,” get “high” on the Spirit. But the pattern of participles dependent on preceding imperatives continues through the “Household Rules” section.

Being subject to one another (v. 21)

wives to your own husbands . . . (v. 22)

Because / for the husband is the head . . . (v. 23)

but as the church is subject to Christ,

so also the wives to their husbands in everything (v. 24)

Husbands, love your wives

just as Christ loved . . . and gave . . .(v. 25)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the same way, husbands should love their wives . . . (v. 28)

The instruction about equal and reciprocal submission in verse 21 is a participle, but, given the paragraph break in most modern translations–after verse 20 in NRSV, and again after verse 21–verse 21 functions as a key imperative to which the following instructions are subordinate. “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). In that respect, it is remarkable that the Greek text of verse 22 has no verb at all! A literal translation would read as follows: “Wives to your own husbands as to the Lord, because . . .” Verse 22 clearly depends on verse 21 for its meaning, and the English translations supply a verb:

Wives, [be subject] to your husbands as [you are] to the Lord. (v. 23 NRSV, square brackets added)

The Authorized (King James) Version, following later manuscripts, includes the verb without italics. The instruction for husbands which follows (vv. 25, 28) is in balance with the instruction for wives, and the controlling principle is mutual submission, as expressed in verse 21. Compare the following analysis by Alice P. Matthews:

Ephesians 5:22 is widely used to support a doctrine of hierarchy in Christian marriage, and the paragraphing in many Bibles enhances that interpretation by splitting verse 22 from its immediate context. Textually, this is indefensible because verse 22 does not contain a verb but infers it from Ephesians 5:21, in which submission is enjoined on all believers. Verse 21, in turn, contains the fourth (submitting) of four present participles that describe the visible evidences of being filled with the Spirit of God. This hinge verse sets down the principle of submission, which Paul then explores in 5:22-6:9, describing what it looks like for wives, for husbands, for children, for fathers, for slaves and for masters. In particular, a wife’s submission to her husband is to be of the same quality as her devotion to God. A husband shows his love for his wife by following Christ’s example of humility and self-sacrifice (clearly forms of submission). There is no hint in this passage that a husband exercises power or authority over his wife. (“Hierarchicalism & Equality in the Home,” in The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, p. 703)

Paul continues saying, “For the husband is the head (kefalhv, kephalē) of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior” (Eph. 5:23). This statement should not be understood as establishing the husband as an authority figure over his wife in a hierarchical chain of command. “It is unfortunate,” says Rebecca Merrill Groothuis,

that the head-body metaphor, as applied to Christ and his church, and to a husband and his wife, has provoked an inordinate preoccupation with a ‘chain of ‘command’ concept of headship, when the emphasis would more constructively and biblically be placed on an understanding of ‘body-ship’–that is, our unity and interdependence as one body, whether in marriage or in the larger family of God. . . . This passage depicts marriage not as a hierarchical organization, but as a living, unified (head + body) organism. (Good News for Women; A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality, 1996, p. 153; cf. Catherine Clark Kroeger, “The Classical Concept of Head as ‘Source’,” Appendix III in Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, Equal to Serve; Women and Men in the Church and Home, 1987)

According to Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean, “Husbands are to imitate Christ’s self-sacrifice on behalf of the church (but cf. v. 28)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 5:23). “Just as the church is subject to Christ,” says Paul, “so also wives out to be, in everything, to their husbands” (v. 24). This “subjection,” we are reminded, is mutual and reciprocal (v. 21). “The wife’s submission, however, is not unilateral,” says Groothuis; “for the husband also practices submission as he gives himself up for her sake” (op. cit., p. 154). “The biblical ideal,” she adds, “is that as a woman submits to her husband she receives from him the love that leads to life, growth, and health, even as Christ’s self-giving love serves to nurture the life, health, and growth of the church, which is his body” (ibid.).

Paul’s instructions for husbands equal–even exceed–those to wives. “Husbands, love your wives,” he says, “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind–yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish” (vv. 25-27). “In the same way,” adds Paul, “husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body” (vv. 28-30). “Biblically,” says Groothuis, “a man is to use his greater social power and male status for the good of his wife, thereby serving as a ‘head’ who provides life rather than commands obedience. The husband is to give up the full exercise of his social privileges and cultural authority in order to love, serve, and honor his wife, even as Christ gave up (temporarily) some of the prerogatives of divinity (Phil. 2:6-8) in order to save and serve the church” (ibid., p. 155).

At this point, Paul quotes the words of the LORD at the first marriage–Adam and Eve: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Eph. 5:31, citing Gen. 2:24). After marveling at this “great mystery,” which Paul applies “to Christ and the church” (v. 32), he reminds the readers, “Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband” (v. 33).

Mark 4:21-34

A Lamp under a Bushel Basket (Lk 8.16-18)

21 He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13.31-32; Lk 13.18-19)

30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

The Use of Parables

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. (Mark 4:21-34, NRSV)

On February 21, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two), comments were repeated from July 24, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were repeated from January 18, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when they were repeated from January 20, 2005 (Thursday of the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), and which had been repeated on March 16, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two); the latter were combined with revision and adaptation with comments from July 19, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here:

After Jesus interprets the Parable of the Sower, each of the Synoptic Gospels continues with additional parables, Luke with only one, but Matthew with eight as compared to Mark’s three. The references for today’s reading from Mark are in bold print in the following table.

As Jesus continues with brief parables or sayings, the “lamp” (Mk. 4:21-22), “the measure you get” (vv. 24-25), the seed that grows secretly (vv. 26-29), the mustard seed (vv. 30-32), he follows the principle of using parables in public, but giving his disciples private explanations (vv. 33-34). This accords with the purpose of parables presented earlier (vv. 10-12) in connection with the quotation from Isaiah 6:9-10. The reference to the lamp reminds us of another of Jesus’ admonitions, “Let your light shine before others” (Mt. 5:16), and the reference to “the measure you give” (Mk. 4:24) reminds us of Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” In Matthew, a similar saying about “the measure you give” applies to judging (Mt. 7:1-2). The seed parables (seed growing secretly, mustard seed) emphasize the surprising, even amazing, results, suggesting the potential to be realized in the kingdom of God.

Mark 4:21-25 has been called “a series of what originally were almost certainly isolated sayings in the tradition” (C. M. Tuckett, The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, on Mk. 4:21-25). A fairly literal translation of verse 21 would be, “A lamp doesn’t come ( e[rcetai, erchetai) [‘Is a lamp brought’ NRSV] to be put under a bushel basket . . .” Tuckett notes “the unusual personification of the lamp, and the significant way in which, for Mark, Jesus has ‘come’ (cf. 1:38) [which] suggests that Mark sees Jesus himself as the lamp.” Tuckett adds:

The aim of Jesus’ coming is not in the end permanent secrecy or hiddenness. Rather, any secrecy will in the end result in openness. Exactly when this will happen is not specified precisely here; but the purpose of the sayings seems to stress the inevitable end of any secrecy surrounding Jesus and his person. Vv. 24-5 strike a rather different note, with warnings as well as encouragement. Human response is also required in full measure. . . .  The section as a whole thus combines assurance and exhortation with warning. (ibid.)

The two seed parables which follow provide encouragement. When someone sows the seed, he doesn’t know how, but the seed grows, “first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head” (v. 28), yielding a ripened harvest (v. 29). The mustard seed, “the smallest of all the seeds on earth” (v. 31) becomes “the greatest of all shrubs” (v. 32). Richard A. Horsley says, “Note the modest metaphor, in contrast with the imperial metaphor of the cedar tree in Ezek. 17; 31; Dan. 4” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on vv. 30-32). Mark concludes the series of parables by explaining that Jesus used such parables with the crowds “as they were able to hear it” (v. 33), but “he explained everything in private to his disciples” (v. 34). Even so, they seem not to understand fully on subsequent occasions (4:40; 6:52; 8:14-21, etc.).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net