The readings from Deuteronomy and Hebrews are both about rebellions under the leadership of Moses, probably as a coincidence, since these readings are in series moving through both books. The reading from Hebrews is identified as a reference to Exodus 17:1-7 and the parallel account in Numbers 20:1-13. But, in the Deuteronomy reading, Moses retells the story of the Golden Calf affair (Ex. ch. 30).

Deuteronomy 9:13-21

13 Furthermore the LORD said to me, “I have seen that this people is indeed a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and more numerous than they.”

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the LORD had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the LORD by doing what was evil in his sight. 19 For I was afraid that the anger that the LORD bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. 20 The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain. (Deuteronomy 9:13-21, NRSV)

On February 28, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments were repeated from February 16, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One); the comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

The readings from Deuteronomy and Hebrews are both about rebellions under the leadership of Moses, perhaps as a coincidence, since these readings are in series moving through both books. The reading from Hebrews is identified as a reference to Exodus 17:1-7 and the parallel account in Numbers 20:1-13. But, in the Deuteronomy reading, Moses retells the story of the Golden Calf affair (Ex. ch. 30).

As noted yesterday, Moses reminds the Israelites that “even at Horeb” they “provoked the Lord to wrath” (Deut. 9:8). Moses has been on the mountain receiving the stone tablets of the Law from God (vv. 9-11), but the LORD urges him to “Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people have acted corruptly” (v. 12a). “They have been quick to turn from the way that I commanded them; the have cast an image for themselves” (v. 12b).

Moses continues this story in today’s reading. “Furthermore the LORD said to me, ‘I have seen that this people is indeed a stubborn people. Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and more numerous than they’ ” (vv. 13-14). Before objecting to the LORD’s plan to destroy Israel, Moses first goes down to find out for himself what they have done. “So I turned and went down from the mountain,” he says, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.” (v. 15). But the sight that awaited his arrival was as bad as the LORD had said. “Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God,” he says, “by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the LORD had commanded you” (v. 16). In what happens next Moses vents his anger. “So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes” (v. 17).

Not for a moment does Moses consider the LORD’s offer to make him the father of a new nation to replace Israel (v. 14), but rather, in spite of his anger at their action, he intercedes and implores the LORD on Israel’s behalf. “Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights,” he says; “I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the LORD by doing what was evil in his sight” (v. 18). In spite of Moses’s fears, the intercession had its effects. “For I was afraid that the anger the LORD bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you,” says Moses. “But the LORD listened to me that time also” (v. 19). In the earlier account, there are two times when Moses intercedes for the people in regard to this matter (Exod. 32:11-14, 30-34, cf. S. Dean McBride, Jr., HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Deut. 9:18-19). “The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him,” says Moses, “but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time” (Deut. 9:20). According to McBride, “the account in Ex. 32:1-6, 21-25, 35 recognizes Aaron’s guilt but says nothing about special pleading on his behalf” (ibid., on v. Deut. 9:20). Today’s reading concludes with Moses’s report that he destroyed the golden calf. “Then I took the sinful thing you had made,” he says, “the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain” (v. 21).

In this chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses actually refers to several occasions of complaining or rebellion by the people, but the Golden Calf affair (Ex. 32) seems to be the worst case. It amounted to breaking the covenant a few weeks after it’s ratification (Ex. 24). It anticipates the apostasy of the Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam (1 Kgs. 12:28), “Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin” (1 Kgs. 22:52, in a comment about Ahaziah, son of Ahab). The book of 1 Kings passes similar judgment on many of the kings of North Israel. Rabbi J. H. Hertz notes that the breaking of the two tablets was “a sign that God’s Covenant with Israel was at an end” (Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, p. 786, on Deut. 9:17). We know, of course, that the covenant broken (Ex. 32) was soon renewed (Ex. 34). In this retelling of the story, says Rabbi Hertz, Moses passes over several details, including “that Moses made the people drink of the mingled water and dust” (ibid., referring to Ex. 32:20). “The point on which he [Moses] is dwelling is his intercession on their behalf.”

Hebrews 3:12-19

12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 Now who were they who heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses? 17 But with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:12-19, NRSV)

On January 18, 2008 (Friday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from February 28, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were repeated from January 13, 2006 (Friday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when they were repeated from February 16, 2005, (Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One). Now they are repeated again:

Yesterday’s reading included the quotation from Psalm 95:7b-11 in Hebrews 3:7b-11. The quotation from Psalm 95 is a reminder that the generation of Israelites who followed Moses from Egypt to the border of the promised land was rebellious and did not “enter my rest” (v. 11, cf. Ps. 95:11). This reminder is presented as a warning and a preparation for the admonition that follows in today’s reading. The Psalm, in turn, presents an appeal for loyalty and true worship, not rebellion against God, using the story of rebellion under Moses during the time in the wilderness. “Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, / as on the day at Massah in the wilderness” (Ps. 95:8). When the people “quarreled with Moses and said, ‘give us water to drink’” (Ex. 17:2), Moses deliberated with them and then “cried out to the LORD (v. 4) asking what to do. As told, he struck the rock (v. 6). “He called the place Massah [NRSV text note b, “Test”] and Meribah [NRSV text note c “Quarrel”], because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’” (v. 7). According to Bernard W. Anderson, these names “became memorials of Israel’s faithlessness” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Exod. 17:7). The Numbers account uses only Meribah (Num. 20:13), but both appear in Psalm 95 and are translated in the quotation by Hebrews (following the LXX translation): parapikrasmovV (parapikrasmos) = “rebellion” for Meribah, and peirasmovV (peirasmos) = “test,” “trial” for Massah.

So, to the Hebrews, the writer says, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). By characterizing the people who were following Moses as having “an evil, unbelieving heart the turns away from the living God,” he warns his readers against such an attitude. But though he believes that the warning is necessary, he expects to be heeded, and he mixes his warning with encouragement and hope. “But exhort one another every day,” he says, “as long as it is called ‘today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (v. 13). The admonitions based on this quotation from Psalm 95 continue through Hebrews 4:13 (including tomorrow’s reading) and the writer encourages his readers to faithfulness. But the present warning is very serious, as he explains, “For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end” (3:14).

The writer repeats selected portions of the quotation for explanation. With the words, “As it is said,” he introduces the portion to be explained. “Today, if you hear his voice, / do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (v.15, citing Ps. 95:8). A series of rhetorical questions hammer home the point that the Psalm speaks of rebellion by those whom Moses led out of Egypt. “Now who were they who heard and yet were rebellious?” he asks, and answers: “Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses?” (v. 16). Speaking of God’s anger, not that of Moses, he continues: “But with whom was he [God] angry forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?” (v. 17). The first pair of questions has pointed to the people’s rebellion. The second pair has pointed to God’s anger and their death in the wilderness. And the final question points to God’s oath: “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who were disobedient?” (v. 18; cf. 4:3, 5). The preliminary conclusion with respect to the wilderness generation of Israelites emphasizes unbelief rather than rebellion. “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (v. 19).

F. F. Bruce sums up Hebrews’ use of this quotation from Psalm 95.

It was unbelief, faithlessness, then, that kept them out of the promised land. They had enjoyed God’s delivering mercy in the Exodus, and had heard him speak when he gave the law at Sinai; but those initial experiences did not keep them from dying in the wilderness, or guarantee their safe arrival in Canaan. The moral must have been plain enough to the recipients of the epistle. For they too had experienced the redeeming power of God; they too had the promise of the homeland of the faithful to look forward to; but one thing could prevent them from realizing that promise, just as it had prevented the mass of the Israelites who left Egypt from entering Canaan–and that one thing was unbelief. (The Epistle to the Hebrews, NICNT, 2^nd ed., 1990, p. 102, on Heb. 3:19)

Bruce calls this passage Hebrews’ “second admonition (after the first in 2:1-4; to be followed by the third in 5:11-14, and the fourth in 10:26-31). Rejection of Jesus is “more serious than rejection of Moses” (p. 95).

John 2:23-3:15

23 When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

Nicodemus Visits Jesus

3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 2:23-3:15, NRSV)

On August 11, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 10, Year Two), comments on John 3:1-21 were based on earlier comments of January 21 and 22, 2008 (Monday and Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), and on earlier comments as noted there. Relevant comments for today’s reading are repeated here:

At the close of yesterday’s comments on John 2:13-25, we noted the citation by Raymond E. Brown of the insight of Van den Bussche about “the contrast between the Cana scene where the disciples react with belief and the Jerusalem scene where ‘the Jews’ react to Jesus with incomprehension and hostility” (The Gospel according to John I-XII, Anchor Bible, vol. 29, 1966, on Jn. 2:13-22). This refers primarily to the reaction to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, but a brief account follows of some in Jerusalem who “believed in his [i.e., Jesus’] name because they saw the signs that he was doing” (Jn. 2:23). The evangelist John informs us of some question about this “belief”: “But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone” (vv. 24-25). “These verses,” says Brown, “prepare the way for the discourse with Nicodemus, who will be presented as one of the many at Jerusalem who had come to believe in Jesus” (ibid.), on Jn. 2:23-25).

In light of the stated purpose of John’s Gospel, “But these [‘signs,’ cf. v. 30] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31), we may ask why the belief those in Jerusalem who saw Jesus’ signs was inadequate. According to Brown, “Verses 24-25 show us that the faith produced by Jesus’ signs in vs. 23 is not satisfactory” (ibid.). He calls “the reaction described here . . . intermediary. It is better than the hostile blindness of ‘the Jews’ in the temple scene, but it is not equal to the faith of the disciples at Cana in ii 11 who are brought through the sign to see Jesus’ glory. Here at Jerusalem there is a willingness to see the sign and be convinced by it, but all that is seen through the sign is that Jesus is a wonder-worker” (ibid.).

This brings us to the conversation with Nicodemus, who is described as “a Pharisee,” and “a leader of the Jews” (3:1). Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night” (v. 2a), which means sometime during the night. The word “night” is in the genitive case (nuktovV, nyktos), the genitive of “time within which.” We may contrast the accusative case of extent of time, “they remained with him that day” (th;n hJmevran ejkeivnhn, tē n hēmeran ekeinēn, 1:39), and the dative case of a point in time, “on the first [day] of the week” (Th:/ de; mia:/ [hJmevra/ implied] tw:n sabbavtwn, tē de mia [hēmera, implied] tōn sabbatōn, 20:1). Brown calls attention to the symbolic meaning of the reference to “night.” “Darkness and night symbolize the realm of evil, untruth, and ignorance (sere ix 4, xi 10). In xiii 30 Judas leaves the light to go out into the night of Satan; Nicodemus, on the other hand, comes out of the darkness into the light (vss. 19-21)” (on v. 2). Brown adds other possible meanings. “On a purely natural level, the nighttime visit may have been a stealthy expedient ‘for fear of the Jews’ (xix 38); or it may reflect the rabbinic custom of staying up at night to study the Law (StB, II, p. 420)” (ibid.).

Nicodemus opens the conversation with an observation that reflects knowledge of the signs just mentioned. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God: (3:2b). But Jesus does not respond to the reference to signs; rather he gets to the heart of the matter, coming directly to the point, with his reference to being born again/from above. He thus continues the conversation at what we might call the A-B-Cs level. Later, he asks, “Are you a teacher of Israel,” Jesus asks, “and yet you do not understand these things?” (v. 10).

Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above (a[nwqen, anōthen)” (v. 3). When Nicodemus responds by asking, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?” (v. 4), he apparently is thinking of a repeated physical birth. But Jesus is explaining spiritual birth–the beginning of new life in Christ–on the analogy of physical birth. He explains being “born again” to Nicodemus, what we might call “new birth” or “regeneration” (paliggenesiva, palingenesia, Titus 3:5). The adverb a[nwqen (anōthen)can mean “from above,” especially from heaven (Mk. 15:38, of the tearing of the temple curtain), or “again,” “anew” (Gal. 4:9), but “in Jn. 3:3, 7 aj.[i.e., a[nwqen, anōthen] is purposely given a double meaning again and from above” (F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker, Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 2^nd ed., 1983, s.v. anōthen). According to Brown, “the double meaning is used here as part of the technique of misunderstanding. Although in vs. 4 Nicodemus takes Jesus to have meant ‘again,’ Jesus’ primary meaning in vs. 3 was ‘from above.’ This is indicated from the parallel in iii 31, as well as from the two other Johannine uses of anōthen [a[nwqen] (xix 11, 23)” (op. cit., on 3:3).

Jesus further explains, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (Jn. 3:5). Given the clear contrast that is drawn here between spiritual birth and physical birth, the former on the analogy of the latter, it seems evident that the reference to being “born of water” is to physical birth, which, among other things, includes what we call “the water breaking.” The mention of “water” in verse 5 has occasioned considerable discussion. According to C. K. Barrett, “There is no ground for omitting ‘water and’ as a redactional note intended arbitrarily to bring in a reference to the sacrament of baptism; the allusion may be to Christian baptism, or to John’s baptism, or perhaps to ordinary human birth” (Peake’s Commentary, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 740a, p. 848, on Jn. 3:5). Brown devotes several pages to the relation of “water” and “spirit” in this passage (op. cit., pp. 139-144), but does not mention the possibility of “ordinary human birth” (cf. Barrett). Jesus emphasizes the contrast between physical birth and spiritual birth. “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6); and he drives home the point about the necessity of spiritual birth: “ Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above” (v. 7). Barrett adds,

Spirit, at all events, refers to that which is not under man’s control, whether in natural processes or religious rites; begetting from the Spirit implies a new existence whose origin is in God–theocentric, not anthropocentric, existence. (loc. cit.).

Jesus continues with another analogy, using another word with a double meaning, pneu:ma (pneuma), which can mean “wind,” or “spirit/Spirit” (as in pneu:ma a{gion, pneuma hagion, Holy Spirit). “The wind (to; pneu:ma, to pneuma) blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (tou: pneuvmatoV, tou pneumatos, gen. case of to; pneu:ma, to pneuma)” (v. 8). When Nicodemus responds with amazement, “How can these things be?” (v. 9), Jesus responds, as noted above, by asking, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” (v. 10).

One may perhaps wonder exactly where the speech to Nicodemus ends and John the Evangelist takes over and addresses his audience. Quotation marks are used to continue Jesus’ speech through verse 15 (RSV, TNIV), or verse 21 (NRSV), but the ancient texts did not use quotation marks. The word “you” (Su;, Su) is singular in verse 10, matching the verb endings (ei\, ei; ginwvskeiV, ginōskeis), and shows that Jesus is still speaking to Nicodemus. Verse 11 provides a transition. “Very truly, I tell you (soi, soi, ‘you’ singular), we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive (ouj lambavnete, ou lambanete, ‘you’ plural ‘do not receive’) our testimony” (v. 11). This plural “you” continues. “If I have told you (uJmi:n, hymin, ‘you’ plural) about earthly things and you do not believe (ouj pisteuvete, ou pisteuete, ‘you’ plural ‘do not believe’), how can you believe (pisteuvete, pisteuete, ‘you’ plural ‘believe’) if I tell you (uJmi:n, hymin, ‘you’ plural) about heavenly things?” (v. 12). The remainder, through verse 21, is generalized information with no more second person pronouns. This could be understood, as implied above, as a transition by John the Evangelist from quoting Jesus to interpreting his significance. Or perhaps Jesus changes from direct personal address to Nicodemus as an individual to addressing him as a representative Jew.

In any case, the contrast continues between speaking about “earthly things” and speaking about “heavenly things” (v. 12), as earlier about physical birth and spiritual birth. Understanding the “heavenly things” (v. 12), or spiritual birth (vv. 3, 7), or the activity of the Spirit (v. 8), requires revelation through “the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man,” because, except for him, “no one has ascended into heaven” (v. 13). “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” we are told, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (vv. 14-15). According to Obery M. Hendricks, “Jesus descended from heaven to bring eternal life through being lifted up on the cross” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Jn. 3:13-15). The language here anticipates the contrast between “the one who comes from above,” that is, “from heaven,” and “the one who is of the earth . . . and speaks about earthly things” (v. 31, cf. vv. 31-36; part of tomorrow’s reading).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net