2 Kings 19:1-20

19:1 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left." 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.' "

Sennacherib's Threat (Isa 37.8-13)

8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia,"See, he has set out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?"

Hezekiah's Prayer (Isa 37.14-35)

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: "O LORD the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands-wood and stone-and so they were destroyed. 19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone."

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. (2 Kings 19:1-20, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with some editing from October 5, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One):

As noted in the lessons for Wednesday and Thursday, the Chronicler reports that Sennacherib’s army invaded Judah (2 Chron. 32:1) and much of what is reported in 2 Kings about the Rabshakeh’s defiant challenge, cited from “his [= Sennacherib’s] servants” ( v. 9, cf. vv. 9-19). But there are significant differences in the narratives. The substantial tribute that Hezekiah paid to the Assyrians (2 Kgs. 18:14-16; cf. comments for Wed., Sept. 30, 2009), is not reported in 2 Chronicles. On the other hand, the Chronicler tells us that Hezekiah made substantial preparations for the assault (2 Chron. 32:2-8). To the details of the Rabshakeh’s challenging speech (2 Kgs. 18:19-35), the Chronicler adds that Sennacherib “wrote letters to throw contempt on the LORD the God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, ‘Just as the gods of the nations in other lands did not rescue their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand’ ” (2 Chron. 32:17-19; cf. 2 Kgs. 18:33-35//2 Chron. 32:14-16). Hezekiah’s concern when he hears of the Rabshakeh’s speech (2 Kgs. 19:14), and his prayer (vv. 15-29), before word comes from Isaiah (v. 20), are passed over by the Chronicler, who briefly reports that “King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed because of this and cried to heaven” (2 Chron. 30:20), which leads immediately to the deliverance by the angel sent by the LORD (v. 21). On the whole, the Chronicler pictures Hezekiah as calm and with prayer and faith facing the challenge.

But as the reading from 2 Kings begins today, we find Hezekiah distraught by the news of the Rabshakeh’s challenge. “When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD” (2 Kgs. 19:1; Isa. 37:1). We note that the account in Isaiah continues to be in essential agreement, verbatim, or nearly so, with the account in 2 Kings. Compare the accounts in the separate file, Hezekiah and Sennacherib. By these accounts Hezekiah sends a desperate plea for help to the prophet Isaiah. “And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz” (2 Kgs. 19:2; Isa. 37:2). The message for Isaiah is dire. “They said to him, ‘Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left’ ” (2 Kgs. 19:3-4; Isa. 37:3-4). When Hezekiah’s servants come to Isaiah (2 Kgs. 19:5; Isa. 37:5), he gives them a message of reassurance. “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land’ ” (2 Kgs. 19:6-7; Isa. 37:6-7). According to Robert R. Wilson, “Isaiah’s oracle of salvation opens in typical style with an exhortation not to fear (see e.g., Isa. 7:4)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, on 2 Kgs. 19:6).

At this point, the Rabshakeh leaves Jerusalem and rejoins his king; he “found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish” (2 Kgs. 19:8; Isa. 37:8; cf. 2 Chron. 32:9). Lachish was some thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem, and Libnah was about five miles closer, so this move amounts to an advance toward Jerusalem. Sennacherib hears that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia “has set out to fight against you,” and renews his warning to Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 19:9a; Isa. 37:9a). Although “Tirhakah of Ethiopia was not Pharaoh of Egypt until ca. 690 BCE, [he] was old enough in 701 to command the Egyptian forces,” according to Iain W. Provan (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 2 Kgs. 19:9). He was “the last pharaoh of the twenty-fifth (Ethiopian) dynasty,” says Ziony Zevit. “Although he reigned 690-664 BCE, he was active militarily or had armies led in his name years before. He was not a king in 701 when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem, but was known to have been one when the author wrote” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on 2 Kgs. 19:9). This note reminds us of Isaiah’s warning that Judah should not rely on Egypt for military protection (cf. Isa. 30:1-7; 31:1-3), but also of the Rabshakeh’s earlier warning (2 Kgs. 18:21; Isa. 36:6). So Sennacherib sends messengers to repeat the warning to Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 19:9b; Isa. 37:9b). “Do not,” Hezekiah is to be told, “let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria” (2 Kgs. 19:10; Isa. 37:10). “The argument is subtly different on this occasion,” says Provan. “Now it is not Hezekiah who is deceiving the people (18:29), but Hezekiah who is deceived by the God in whom he trusts (19:10)” (op. cit., on 2 Kgs. 19:10). The new warning describes Assyria’s conquest and destruction of other lands in spite of the various conquered nations gods (2 Kgs. 19:11-13; Isa. 37:11-13), essentially repeating the Rabshakeh’s earlier tirade (18:33-35; Isa. 36:18-20). “Have the gods of the nations delivered them?” Sennacherib asks (2 Kgs. 19:12a; Isa. 37:12a). “Sennacherib compounds his sin of blasphemy,” says Provan, “by committing it a second time” (ibid.).

Apparently, the “messengers” (2 Kgs. 19:9; Isa. 37:9), have carried this message in a letter, which Hezekiah receives and reads: “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD” (2 Kgs. 19:14; Isa. 37:14). The threat in the letter caused Hezekiah to take it before the LORD. And addressing God in familiar terms, we are told that “Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: ‘O LORD the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth” (2 Kgs. 19:15; Isa. 37:16). Hezekiah’s prayer reminds the LORD of Sennacherib’s mocking words. “Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God” (2 Kgs. 19:16; Isa. 37:17). He reminds the LORD of Assyria’s devastation of other nations. “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands” ((2 Kgs. 19:17; Isa. 37:18). He also reminds the LORD of how Assyria has destroyed the idols of these other lands, as they “have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands–wood and stone–and so they were destroyed” (1 Kgs. 19:18; Isa. 37:19). Hezekiah concludes with a petition for deliverance in the current situation. “ So now, O LORD our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone” (2 Kgs. 19:19; Isa. 37:20). Isaiah, though not with Hezekiah at the time, is aware of Hezekiah’s prayer, and sends him a message of reassurance, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria” (2 Kgs. 19:20; Isa. 37:21). And with that we may anticipate the answer to Hezekiah’s prayer that comes in tomorrow’s reading.

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

16 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:16-27, NRSV)

On March 29, 2009 (the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments on 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 were based on those of February 29, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday of Lent, Year Two), when comments for 1 Corinthians 9:16-27 were repeated with editing, supplement and adaptation from earlier comments, specifically from March 25, 2007 (the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), and from October 5, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One), and from earlier comments mentioned on those dates (see the Archives for those dates). The revised comments are repeated here:

Paul has asserted his rights “to food and drink” (1 Cor. 9:4), later explained as a living income in payment for his ministry (cf. vv. 6-7, 11-12a, 14), and “to be accompanied by a believing wife” (v. 5). But he has also stated that he has “not made use of this right [with reference to monetary income], but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (v. 12b). Paul adds that he has “not made use of any of these rights” (v. 15).

In continuation, he explains: “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation (ajnavgkh, anagkē) is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” (v. 16). His ministry is not a matter of free choice, but rather, of his commissioning by the Lord. “For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission” (v. 17). What is his reward? “Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel” (v. 18). According to Richard A. Horsley, in the phrases, “an obligation is laid on me . . . do this of my own will, the terms in Greek are ‘necessity,’ the constraints of ordinary human affairs, which the enlightened Corinthians believe they have transcended in their ‘liberty,’ and ‘free will’ to act without the constraints of necessity, which only the wise person possesses. Paul asserts that he was entrusted with a commission like the biblical prophets” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 1 Cor. 9:16-17).

After explaining his reasons, including his desire to proclaim “the gospel free of charge” (v. 18). As John Knox and John Reumann put it, Paul is “free to waive his apostolic rights” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on 1 Cor. 9:15-27). His explanation continues. “For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them” (v. 19). He adds, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law” (v. 20). On the other hand, he says, “To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law” (v. 21). This is apparently his main point and relates to the issues of relating Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. But for good measure, he adds, “To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak (v. 22a), and summarizes: “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some” (v. 22b). This he does, “ for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings” (v. 23)

It would be wrong to criticize Paul as inconsistent here. It is important to observe what Paul does not say he will do in this passage. According to Ben Witherington III, “In vv. 19-23 Paul indicates his modus operandi. He sees himself as free of obligations from all persons, yet he has made himself a slave to all in order to win over more of them. He accommodates his style of living, not his theological or ethical principles, to whomever he is with so as better to win that person to Christ” (Conflict and Community in Corinth, 1994, p. 211, on 1 Cor. 9:1-27). Paul will be careful about Jewish scruples (v. 20)–when, we may assume, it is not a matter of requiring circumcision for Gentiles (the issue in Galatians). He will become “weak to the weak” (v. 22), but. as Witherington says, not

strong to the strong, probably because it is the “strong” Christians to whom he is directing many of his corrective remarks in this letter. Furthermore, his accommodating behavior has clear limits. He does not say that he became an idolater to idolaters, or an adulterer to adulterers. But in matters that he did not see as ethically or theologically essential or implied by the gospel, Paul believed in flexibility. (ibid., p. 213)

Witherington adds that this shows that the phrase “all things to all people” was rhetorical, “not to be taken literally” (ibid., p. 214). In Paul’s world, “taking a lower station or place in society was not seen as a virtue. It was seen as slavish and servile behavior, not the sort of thing to which the upper crust would ever aspire. Paul is saying that he deliberately moved from high status to low status, not least because he wants to produce an attitude adjustment among some of his converts who have an all too worldly vision of Christian leadership” (ibid., p. 211, citing D. B. Martin).

From this position of a certain “weakness” or “lowliness,” Paul moves on to describe his engagement in Christian ministry by the metaphor of strenuous physical training for athletes. “Do you not know,” he asks, “that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one” (vv. 24-25). Paul compares his energetic efforts to fulfill his missionary calling to the training undergone by those athletes. “So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified” (vv. 26-27). It shows that Paul took himself very seriously as a spiritual leader, pastor and missionary (i.e. in his apostolic calling). According to Victor Paul Furnish, “At the Isthmian games, held near Corinth every two years, the winner’s crown was made of withered celery. The imperishable wreath stands for one’s ultimate salvation” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Cor. 9:25, citing Phil. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:19 and other references). For the athletes, being “disqualified” means loosing the victor’s “perishable” wreath, but for Paul, it would mean loosing “an imperishable [wreath],” that is, knowing “Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:10-11).

Matthew 8:1-17

Jesus Cleanses a Leper (Mk. 1:40-44; Lk. 5:12-14)

8:1 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2 and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I do choose. Be made clean!" Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant (Lk 7.1-10)

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and cure him." 8 The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." 10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." And the servant was healed in that hour.

Jesus Heals Many at Peter's House (Mk 1.29-34; Lk 4.38-41)

14 When Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." (Matthew 8:1-17, NRSV)

The following comments are based on comments for Matthew 8:5-17 of May 5, 2008 (Monday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), and earlier comments, those of October 5 , 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One), when the reading was Matthew 8:1-17, and comments on Matthew 8:5-17 from May 29, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two).

Parallel passages for this reading from Matthew are presented in three separate files, Jesus Cleanses a Leper, Healing a Centurion’s Servant, and the Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law. One will observe differences in the order of these episodes. In respect to these three, the first in Matthew comes later in Mark and Luke, with the third (and fourth) in Matthew first in Mark and Luke. The second is found only in Matthew and Luke. These differences are largely attributable to the way Matthew uses his sources, Mark and “Q.” It appears that a cluster of events presented in Mark’s first chapter have been postponed until after the Sermon on the Mount as a part of his topical arrangement of material. Matthew follows the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) with what Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger call “Events in Galilee,”the subtitle for Mt. 8:1-9:38, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994), which takes him back to near the beginning of Mark; but the Cleansing of the Leper and the Healing of the Centurion’s Servant set the tone for what follows. The healing of the centurion’s servant at Capernaum (Mt. 8:5-13; Lk. 7:1-10) is one of a very few narrative passages that scholars associate with the theoretical common source used by Matthew and Luke known as “Q.” In both Gospels it follows the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7)/Sermon on the Plain (Lk. 6:20-49–“He came down with them and stood on a level place,” Lk. 6:17a). Something of this variation in order may be seen in the following table:

On the Cleansing of the Leper

“When Jesus had come down from the mountain,” says Matthew, “great crowds followed him” (Mt. 8:1; cf. 4:24-25). In Mark this healing follows many others (Mk. 1:21-34) after Jesus’ solitary early morning prayer (v. 35); in Luke, the setting follows the Miraculous Draught of Fish (Lk. 5:1-11; cf. Jn. 21:1-11), but is rather indefinite. “Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy” (Lk. 5:12a). The three accounts have many details in common. The leper says to Jesus, “If you choose, you can make me clean” (Mk. 1:40b); “Lord, if you choose . . .” (Mt. 8:2b; Lk. 5:12b). Jesus’ response is similar in the three accounts; though only Mark mentions “pity,” all say Jesus “stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!” (Mk. 1:41; Mt. 8:3a; Lk. 5:13a, omitting the first “and”). And the result, with minor variation in the wordings, is the same cleansing of the leprosy (Mk. 1:42; Mt. 8:3b; Lk. 5:13b). Jesus’ subsequent instructions are similar as well. He is to “say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Mk. 1:44; cf. Mt. 8:4; Lk. 5:14). In spite of this instruction, according to Mark, “he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter” (Mk. 1:45; cf. Lk. 5:15). This description of the spreading fame about Jesus’ early ministry is omitted here by Matthew, but compare the spreading of Jesus’ fame that Matthew describes in leading up to the Sermon on the Mount (i.e. in Mt. 4:23-25).

On the Healing of the Centurion’s Servant

In the accounts of the Healing of the Centurion’s Servant, Luke calls special attention to the centurion’s standing in the Jewish community, for though he is a Gentile–part of the point of the story, for Jesus later says, “Truly I tell you, in on one in Israel have I found such faith” (Mt. 8:10; cf. Lk. 7:9)–the Jewish elders praise him as they bring the request for help: “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us” (Lk. 7:4-5). In Luke, according to Marion Lloyd Soards, “This story parallels the account of Peter’s conversion of the Gentile centurion Cornelius, who was also generous to the Jews; see Acts 10:2, 34-35” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Lk. 7:1-10). Soards adds that the “centurion” was “clearly a Gentile . . . either an employee of Herod Antipas, a member of the Roman police force, or an official attached to the custom service” (ibid., on Lk. 7:2). In Matthew’s version, the centurion comes himself rather than sending others (Mt. 8:5; cf. Lk. 7:3-5). But both Gospels record the centurion’s words which elicit Jesus’ commendation for their faith (though Luke has them reported to Jesus at second hand):

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed (Mt. 8:7b). Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed (Lk. 7:6b-7).

The reason given by the centurion is reported in the same words (in English; one exception in Greek) by both evangelists:

For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it (Mt. 8:9 = Lk. 7:8 NRSV; Luke’s Greek text includes a participle in the phrase uJpo; ejxousivan tassovmenoV (hypo exousian tassomenos) where Matthew has only uJpo; ejxousivan (hypo exousian), but both are translated “under authority” NRSV; a difference is indicate by the NIV, “under authority,” Mt., but “set under authority,” Lk.).

According to J. Andrew Overman, the centurion apparently “believes that, as he can command servants and soldiers, Jesus can command or control disease” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Mt. 8:8-10).

On Jesus’ Healing of Many at Peter's House

Matthew appears to have moved backward in following Mark’s outline, apparently for reasons of placement for emphasis. We come to an example of what have been called “minor agreements of Matthew and Luke against Mark,” which, however is indeed minor. They come to “Peter’s house” (Mt. 8:14a) or to “Simon’s house” (Lk. 4:38a), which is the same thing, but to “the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John” (Mk. 1:29). Simon’s mother-in-law was there “lying in bed with a fever” (Mt. 8:14b; cf. Mk. 1:30; “suffering from a high fever” Lk. 4:38b). But of course the point of the story is the fact that Jesus healed her, proved by the fact that “she rose and served him” (Mt. 8:15), “she rose and served them” (Lk. 4:39), “he . . . lifted her up . . . and she served them” (Mk. 1:31). In the continuation, a kind of summary, Mark reports that “all who were sick or possessed with demons” were brought to him (Mk. 1:32) and “he cured many” (v. 34a), but neither Matthew nor Luke suggest that any were left out, for “he cured all who were sick” (Mt. 8:16), “and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them” (Lk. 4:40). Mark and Luke focus on the demons whom Jesus would not permit to speak “because they knew him (Mk. 1:34b), “because they knew that he was the Christ” (Lk. 4:41). But Matthew focuses on the fulfillment of scripture, citing Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases (Mt. 8:17, citing Isa. 53:4).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net