Jeremiah 25:30-38

30 You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

The LORD will roar from on high,

and from his holy habitation utter his voice;

he will roar mightily against his fold,

and shout, like those who tread grapes,

against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,

for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;

he is entering into judgment with all flesh,

and the guilty he will put to the sword,

says the LORD.

32 Thus says the LORD of hosts:

See, disaster is spreading

from nation to nation,

and a great tempest is stirring

from the farthest parts of the earth!

33 Those slain by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become dung on the surface of the ground.

34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out;

roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,

for the days of your slaughter have come-and your dispersions,

and you shall fall like a choice vessel.

35 Flight shall fail the shepherds,

and there shall be no escape for the lords of the flock.

36 Hark! the cry of the shepherds,

and the wail of the lords of the flock!

For the LORD is despoiling their pasture,

37 and the peaceful folds are devastated,

because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

38 Like a lion he has left his covert;

for their land has become a waste

because of the cruel sword,

and because of his fierce anger. (Jeremiah 25:30-38, NRSV)

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

Although the primary focus of yesterday’s reading was on the fate of Judah, including hope after “seventy years” (Jer. 25:11-12), reference was made to judgment on Babylon (vv. 12-14), and a “cup of the wine of wrath” that “all the nations to whom I [i.e., the LORD] send you [i.e., Jeremiah]” will be made to drink (v. 15). The wine and the resulting staggering become a metaphor for the effects of “the sword that I am sending among them” (v. 16). The reading closed yesterday with the introductory statement (v. 17) for the list of nations who are to be made to drink the wine of wrath (vv. 18-26).

In the interval between yesterday’s reading and today’s, these nations are listed, beginning with “Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials” (v. 18a), and the effects of the “wine of wrath,” “to make them a desolation and a waste, an object of hissing and of cursing as they are today” (v. 18b). The list includes Egypt (v. 19) and many nations that surround Israel, including, as identified by Mark E. Biddle, “Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron . . . Ashdod, Philistine cities on the coastal plain, west of Judah,” to “Dedan, Tema, Buz, cities in Arabia” and “Elam and Media, nations east of Babylon, in modern Iran” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Jer. 25:20, 23, 25). The list is summarized, revealing the intention to include “all the kingdoms of the world,” but in particular, “the king of Sheshach,” that is, the king of Babylon (v. 26). According to Marvin A. Sweeney, “The nations listed were all part of the Persian empire following the end of the Babylonian exile. Many appear in Jeremiah’s oracles concerning the nations: . . .” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Jer. 25:18-26). As Biddle explains, “Babylon is written in the Heb. text as Sheshach [j`wawe, šëšak]; in this kind of cipher, called ‘atbash,’ letters are substituted for each other according to the following patterns: The last letter of the alphabet is substituted for the first; the next-to-last letter is substituted for the second; and so on through the alphabet, ending with the substitution of the second letter for the next-to-last, and the first letter for the last” (op. cit., on v. 26, with reference to 51:1, 41). Biddle says that “the vision [here] may have originally introduced the now separated section of oracles against the nations (chs. 46-51; cf. Isa. 13-223; Ezek. 25-32; Am. 1:3-2:3)” (ibid., on vv. 15-29). We note that the separate section on the foreign nations that begins with Jeremiah 46:2-28 (NRSV), begins with 26:2-28 LXX). This would support Biddle’s comment; compare Jack R. Lundbom indication that “MT [Massoretic Text = the standard Hebrew text] 25:15-29 = LXX 32:15-29” (Jeremiah 21-36 [vol. II], Anchor Bible 21B, 2004, p. 255).

The prophet is told to force the nations to “drink, get drunk and vomit” (v. 27), but “if they refuse . . . then you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD of hosts: you must drink!” (v. 28). At first glance, it would appear that the prophet’s oracle returns to focus on Jerusalem. It continues: “See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and how can you possibly avoid punishment? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, says the LORD” (v. 29).

On Jeremiah 25:30-31

The prose listing of nations to be judged gives way to poetic lines, in which, according to Sweeney, “God is portrayed as a lion roaring in judgment against the nations (cf. Amos 1:2)” (op. cit, on Jer. 25:30-38). In the prose introduction, the LORD says to Jeremiah, “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them” (v. 30a): “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: / The LORD will roar from on high, / and from his holy habitation utter his voice; / he will roar mightily against his fold, / and shout, like those who tread grapes, / against all the inhabitants of the earth” (v. 3b, c, d, e, f). “From his holy habitation,” that is, from heaven, the LORD’s roar will threaten “his fold,” that is, Judah, as well as “all the inhabitants of the earth.” The picture of God as a roaring lion recalls Amos 1:2, “The LORD roars from Zion, / and utters his voice from Jerusalem.” And as the image changes from the lion’s roar to those treading on grapes to squeeze out the juice, recalling the LORD’s “anger” as he “trampled them [the peoples] in my wrath; / their juice spattered on my garments, / and stained all my robes” (Isa. 63:3), the judgment spreads out.

“The clamor [of his shouting] will resound to the ends of the earth, / will resound to the ends of the earth, / for the LORD has an indictment (byr9, rîv) against the nations; / he is entering into judgment (FPAAw4n9, nišpāt) with all flesh, / and the guilty (Myf9wAro4hA, hā rōšā‘îm) he will put to the sword, / says the LORD” (v. 31). According to Jack R. Lundbom, “Hebrew rib [riv] is a legal term meaning ‘accusation, case’ (cf. 11:20 = 20:12). Yahweh spoke of his ongoing litigation against Judah in 2:9)” (op. cit., p. 272, on Jer. 25:31). The legal language continues in the verse with the verb (FPAAw4n9, nišpāt) for “he is entering into judgment with all flesh, / and the guilty he will put to the sword” (v. 31c, d). According to Biddle, “The judgment is described in conventional figures: roaring (Am. 1:2); Ps. 46:6); vintage (Isa. 16:9-10; 63:1-3); courtroom ([Jer.] 12:1); sword (12:12)” (op. cit., on vv. 30-31). Lundbom comments on a disputed point about the speaker in these verses (vv. 30-31). “These verses contain two reference to Yahweh in the third person, yet at the conclusion is an ‘oracle of Yahweh’ formula [‘says the LORD’ (NRSV), hvhy Mxun4 ne’um YHWH]” (Ibid., p. 269). Though he discusses views of some about “whether this poetry can be attributed to Jeremiah” (p. 269), he agrees with others (Holladay, Jones) who “think that Jeremiah is taking older phrases [cf the ref. to Amos above] and applying them more broadly to the nations” (op. cit., p. 270). “Yahweh can be expected to speak in the first person in a divine oracle” (op. cit., p. 269).

On Jeremiah 25:32-33

The judgment spreads: “See, disaster is spreading / from nation to nation, / and a great tempest is stirring / from the farthest parts of the earth!” (v. 32). These brief poetic lines are followed by a prose comment (v. 33). “Those slain by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become dung on the surface of the ground” (v. 33). “Yahweh,” says Lundbom,

in this brief oracle says that evil shall go forth from nation to nation. The theater of divine activity is now on earth, not in the heavens: the great tempest Yahweh is rousing will originate in the farthest reaches of the earth. The effect of all this is stated in the supplemental comment. The slain of Yahweh will cover the earth, their numbers being so great that they will not be lamented, gathered up or buried. (Ibid., p. 275, on Jer. 25:32-33)

On Jeremiah 25:34-38

The judgment here falls hard on the “shepherds”: “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; / roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, / for the days of your slaughter have come–and your dispersions, / and you shall fall like a choice vessel” (v. 34). This slaughter of the shepherds is inevitable. “Flight shall fail the shepherds,” says the prophet, “and there shall be no escape for the lords of the flock” (v. 35). The prophet lets us hear “the cry of the shepherds, / and the wail of the lords of the flock” (v. 36a, b) as he says “the LORD is despoiling their pasture, / and the peaceful folds are devastated, / because of the fierce anger of the LORD” (vv. 36c, d, e, 37). The LORD is still the “lion” (v. 38) who slaughters the shepherds (v. 34) and despoils (v. 36) their pasture and the peaceful folds (v. 37). “Like a lion he has left his covert; / for their land has become a waste / because of the cruel sword, / and because of his fierce anger” (v. 38). According to Mark E. Biddle, the shepherds are “the rulers of the nations” who become “confused and desperate” (op. cit., on Jer. 25:34-38). Lundbom says “This poem could have originally been spoken against the kings and nobility of Judah, but in its present context [it] is a climactic word to the kings and nobility of nations, calling them to lament their people and their lands” (op. cit., p. 281, on Jer. 25:34-38).

Romans 10:14-21

14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;

with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;

I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (Romans 10:14-21, NRSV)

On July 12, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two). comments were repeated from March 28, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were combined with revision and supplement from July 10, 2004 in an email sent July 9, 2004, for July 10-11, from March 16, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), and from July 15, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two). The combined comments are repeated here.

Two key points have been made about salvation, which requires (1) believing with the heart, and (2 confessing with the mouth (Rom. 10:9-10). “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (v. 10, ASV, as cited by Wilbur T. Dayton, Romans, Wesleyan Bible Commentary, V, p. 67), “For one believes with the heart and so is justified” (NRSV). Dayton calls this “first and fundamental,” but the second, “and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (ASV), “and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved” (NRSV), “is really not separable from it (i.e., the first).

Paul continues on the need for someone to bring the message of salvation to those who need it, if they are to hear and respond with faith. In the first place, there must be a messenger who brings the message of salvation. “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” (v. 14). These rhetorical questions answer themselves. They must believe, and for that they must hear the gospel message. And, of course, there must be a messenger, a missionary, who proclaims the message. Paul draws a further conclusion. The messenger, if he or she is to be there and proclaim the message, must be sent. “ And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?” asks Paul (v. 15a), and supports his statement by quoting Isaiah 52:7: “As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (v. 15b). This is one of a couple places in the Hebrew Bible where the language comes close to the New Testament language about preaching the Christian gospel (eujaggevlion, euangelion) or good news. The verb eujaggelivzomai (euangelizomai), is defined as to “proclaim the divine message of salvation, proclaim the gospel” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. eujaggelivzomai, euangelizomai). Isaiah 52:7 reads as follows:

How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of the messenger who announces peace (MOlw! f1ym9w4m1 rW0@b1m4, m ^evaśśēr mašmîa‘ šālôm),

who brings good news (bOF rW0@b1m4, m ^evaśśēr tôv),

who announces salvation (hf!Uwy4 f1ym9w4m4, mašmîa‘ y^ešû‘āh),

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns. (Isa. 52:7 NRSV)

In the Septuagint translation the words, “the messenger who announces peace” (MOlw! f1ym9w4m1 rW0@b1m4, m ^evaśśēr mašmîa‘ šālôm) are rendered as eujaggelizomevnou ajkoh;n eijrhvnhV (euangelizomenou akoēn eirēnēs), “of one bringing good news, a report of peace.” The words “who brings good news” are translated in the Septuagint as eujaggelizovmenoV ajgaqav (euangelizomenos agatha), “one bringing good news of good things.” The next line, “who announces salvation,” is translated somewhat freely: o{ti ajkousth;n poihvsw th;n swthrivan sou (hoti akoustēn poiēsō tēn sōtērian sou), “because I will make heard your salvation.” The verb eujaggelivzomai (euangelizomai), “proclaim the gospel,” appears here in the Septuagint text of Isaiah 52:7 as a participle, twice translating the Hebrew participle rW0@b1m4 (m ^evaśśēr). One can certainly understand Paul’s use of this text to support his understanding of the Christian mission of proclamation. Similar language occurs earlier in Isaiah, “Get you up (j`l!-yl9f3, ‘ <sup>a</sup> lî-lāk) to a high mountain, / O Zion, herald of good tidings (tr@W0@b1m4, m<sup>e</sup>vaśśereth); / lift up your voice (j`l2Oq  . . . ym9yr9h!, hārîmî . . . qôlēk) with strength, / O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings (tr@W0@b1m4, m^evaśśereth); / lift it up, do not fear; / say to the cities of Judah, / ‘Here is your God!’ ” (Isa. 40:9). The Hebrew participle tr@W0@b1m4 (m^evaśśereth), translated “herald of good tidings” and used twice, with “Zion” and with “Jerusalem,” is feminine to agree with the feminine imperative verbs. Whether Zion/Jerusalem is the herald (NRSV text) or the herald (of good tidings) is a messenger to Zion/Jerusalem is uncertain (cf. NRSV text notes a and b); the recent Jewish Publication Society translation (NJPS 1985, 1999) translates the verse as follows: “Ascend a lofty mountain, / O herald of joy to Zion; / Raise your voice with power, / O herald of joy to Jerusalem–Raise it, have no fear; / Announce to the cities of Judah: / Bgehold your God!” In any event, the Septuagint uses masculine participles, oJ eujaggelizovmenoV Siwn (ho euangelizomenos Siōn), oJ eujaggelizovmenoV Ierousalhm (ho euangelizomenos Ierousalēm) to translate the Hebrew participle tr@W0@b1m4 (m^evaśśereth).

T. W. Manson says of Romans 10:14-15 that Paul “draws the missionary conclusions, fortifying them with the text Isa. 52:7" (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, sec. 824i, p. 948). But while this certainly is a good missionary text, Paul returns to the question of Israel’s failure to respond to the gospel. “But not all have obeyed the good news,” he says, “for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed (ejpivsteusen, episteusen) our message (ajkoh/:, akoē)?’” (v. 16, citing Isa. 53:1). Paul make a connection between faith (pivstiV, pistis, the noun related to the verb believe, pisteuvw, pisteuō) and what is heard (ajkoh/:, akoē). “So faith (pivstiV, pistis) comes from what is heard (ajkoh/:, akoē), and what is heard (ajkoh/:, akoē) comes through the word of Christ” (v. 17)

Paul asks a further question, “have they not heard?” and he answers again with scripture. “Indeed they have; for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, / and their words to the ends of the world.’” (v. 18, citing Ps. 19:4). Paul thus demonstrates that Israel has “heard.” That they should have understood is implied by the next quotation: “Again, I ask,” says Paul, “did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; / with a foolish nation I will make you angry’ ” (v. 19, citing Deut. 32:21). The Gentiles, the “foolish nation” which makes Israel “jealous,” have heard and understood.” This point is driven home by another quotation. “Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; / I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me’ ” (v. 20, citing Isa. 65:1). Still citing Isaiah, Paul maintains that Israel remains “disobedient and contrary”: “But of Israel he [Isaiah] says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people’ ” (v. 21, citing Isa. 65:2).

[A note on the texts quoted by Paul in Romans 10:15-21: Based on a quick survey, it appears that in this series of six quotations, if there is a difference in wording between the Hebrew (Massoretic = MT) text and the Septuagint (LXX) translation, Paul follows the LXX for the most part, with the exception of the citation of Isaiah 65:1 in Romans 10:20. Cf. Robert G. Bratcher, Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament, rev. ed., 1961, pp. 40-41.]

So Israel has indeed heard (v. 18), and understood (v. 19), but has not heeded the gospel (vv. 16, 21). But some have found God who did not seek him (v. 20). Manson sees this as a reference to Gentiles, “who were not very bright theologically–‘a foolish nation’ [v. 19]. They did not know how or where to seek. Yet they have found. Therefore mere ignorance is no obstacle. The real obstacle is obstinate disobedience” (Manson, loc. cit., on v. 19). “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people” (v. 21). This chapter presents an important promise: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v. 13, citing Joel 2:32), which, at the end of yesterday’s lesson, provides the basis for Paul’s series of questions.

John 10:1-18

Jesus the Good Shepherd

10:1 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (John 10:1-18, NRSV)

On January 3, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, Year One), when the reading was John 10:7-17, comments were repeated from September 6, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year Two) when the Gospel reading was John 10:1-18. The comments then were repeated from March 28, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were combined with revision and adaptation from January 3, 2005, (Monday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, with the reference listed for January 3, Year One), from March 16, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year One) that were used and adapted on February 15, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), and from January 3, 2007, again with the reference listed for January 3, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here:

In his blessing of Joseph's sons, Jacob refers to “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day” (Gen. 48:15). We all know how David's “Shepherd Psalm” begins, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1). In Moses' concern about who would lead Israel when he is gone, he asks God to appoint a leader “who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead then out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd” (Num. 27:17), before the LORD names Joshua (v. 18). But the shepherd metaphor can be turned against bad shepherds. A passage in Jeremiah pronounces severe judgment on the “shepherds,” the “lords of the flock” (Jer. 25:34-37). This includes the rulers of many nations. Another passage in Jeremiah 23 begins with “Woe” to the shepherds. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD” (Jer. 23:1). Judah’s leaders had proved to be bad “shepherds” who “scattered my [i.e. the LORD’s] flock” (Jer. 23:2). After a similar denunciation of Judah’s bad “shepherds” who feed themselves and not the sheep, and otherwise abuse the sheep (Ezek. 34:2-20), the LORD says, “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out” (Ezek. 34:11). “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD” (Ezek. 34:15; cf. Ps. 23). So when Jesus talks about the shepherd pretender, “a thief and a bandit” (Jn. 10:1), the stranger whom the sheep will not follow (v. 5), and when he sets that picture in contrast with the “gatekeeper” whose voice the sheep hear, who “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (vv. 3, 4), both he and his audience–still the Pharisees (9:40) or “the Jews” (10:19)–understand his imagery in terms of its biblical background. “Jesus uses a figure of speech [paroimivan, paroimian = ‘proverb, dark saying, figure of speech,’ F. Wilbur Gingrich Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 1965, s.v. paroimiva, paroimia] (v. 6) to describe his own role and the role of his opponents, the religious hierarchy” (Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., NOAB, 3rd ed., 2001, on Jn. 10:1-6). His opponents are “thieves” and “bandits.”

But there is more. Jesus is “the gate for the sheep” (vv. 7, 9), which one enters to “be saved” (v. 9) and to “have life, and have it abundantly” (v 10). He is “the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep” (v. 11). In light of the prophetic uses of the “shepherd” imagery, and the twenty-third Psalm, for example, Jesus’ claim, “I am the good shepherd” (v. 11) amounts to a claim of divinity (cf. 5:18; 8:58; 10:30; 17:11; 1:1). According to Hendricks, “I am is emphatic [and] contrasts with ‘hired hand’ (v. 12)” (ibid., on v. 11). “I am” translates ejgwv eijmi (egō eimi, v. 11, cf. vv. 9, 14), the phrase that introduces Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah (4:26, cf. v. 25), “the bread of life” (6:35, 48, cf. vv. 41, 51), “the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5), “from above” (8:23), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way, the truth and the life” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1), all claims in various ways to divinity as he emphasizes in 8:58, “before Abraham was, I am” (cf. recent comments of March 11, 2009, Sat. in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year One).

On the other hand, according to Hendricks, the reference to the “hired hand” who “sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and runs away” (v. 12), is “another attack on the leadership of Israel” (ibid., on vv. 12-13). As the good shepherd, Jesus knows his “own” (v. 14) and “lay[s] down [his] life for the sheep” (v. 15), including “other sheep” as a part of “one flock” with “one shepherd” (v. 16). Jesus’ knows what lies ahead for him: “I lay down my life for the sheep” (v. 15), “in order to take it up again” (v. 17). The crucifixion is not a defeat for Jesus, nor a victory for his opponents. “No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father” (v. 18). Very soon, Jesus will say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (12:23). He was not referring to the ascension, for at the Last Supper, after Judas “had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him” (13:31). We affirm Christ’s divinity when we confess that Jesus is Lord (1 Cor. 12:3). Let us live our lives in ways that bring honor to his name.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net