Nehemiah 13:4-22

The Reforms of Nehemiah

4 Now before this, the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon I went to the king. After some time I asked leave of the king 7 and returned to Jerusalem. I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room. 9 Then I gave orders and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who had conducted the service, had gone back to their fields. 11 So I remonstrated with the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful; and their duty was to distribute to their associates. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Sabbath Reforms Begun

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? 18 Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath."

19 When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. (Nehemiah 13:4-22, NRSV)

On November 7, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One), comments based on those of November 2, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One) were essentially rewritten; the revised comments are repeated here:

The opening verses of Nehemiah 13 speak of public reading of “the book of Moses” (Neh. 13:1a; cf. chap. 8), and discovery there of writing “that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them–yet our God turned the curse into a blessing” (13:1b-2). This discovery led the people to separate “from Israel all those of foreign descent” (v. 3).

In today’s reading , we apparently move back in time before this reading and discovery. “Now before this,” says Nehemiah, “the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests” (vv. 4-5). This was done during Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem. “While this was taking place,” he says, “I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon I went to the king” (v. 6a). “Artazerxes’s thirty-second year,” says Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, was “433 BCE” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Neh. 13:6). David J. A Clines the year was 432 B.C. (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Neh. 13:6). But Eskenazi says, “The priest Eliashib [was] possibly, but not necessarily (the name was common in this era), the high priest (of 3:1 and 13:28).” He was “appointed over the chambers, hence controlling the storage and distribution of Temple resources” (ibid., on Neh. 13:4. According to Peter R. Ackroyd, Tobiah was

an opponent of Nehemiah (Neh. 2:10, 19; 4:3, 7; 6:1-19; 13:4-8 with Sanballat and Geshem. He is described as ‘the Ammonite’ and also (Neh. 2:10, 19) as ‘the servant.’ These descriptions suggest a derogatory attitude, but ‘servant,’ which has royal connotations in the OT, may indicate high office (i.e., ‘servant of the [Persian] king’; cf. 2 Kings 22:12). ‘Ammonite’ may indicate his origin or be a nickname; more probably it indicates his responsibility for that area, placing him alongside Sanballat, who was governor of Samaria, and Geshem, who could have been the Arab ruler of Qedar. All three would then occupy important positions under Persian authority. (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., 1996, s.v. Tobiah)

“After some time,” says Nehemiah, “I asked leave of the king and returned to Jerusalem. I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God” (vv. 6b, 7). Upon his return, Nehemiah discovers the violation and reacts intensely. “And I was very angry,” he says, “and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room” (v. 8). “Then I gave orders,” he adds, “and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense” (v. 9). According to Clines, “Not only is Tobiah not a priest or Levite, he is an Ammonite (see v. 1; Deut 23:3)! This is an act of sacrilege and a defilement that must be cleansed (v. 9). It is probably also an attack on Nehemiah’s personal authority–which explains Nehemiah’s reaction” (op, cit., on vv. 4-9).

In the process of evicting Tobiah and cleansing the temple storerooms, Nehemiah discovers further irregularities. “I also found out,” he says, “that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who had conducted the service, had gone back to their fields” (v. 10). “The portions (tithes) of the Levites are their regular income,” says Clines; “without them they have to leave Jerusalem and earn their living on their farms (for Levite villages with their pasturelands, see Num. 35:1-8). So temple worship has virtually come to a standstill” (ibid., on vv. 10-14). Eskenazi says, “Tobiah’s presence likely hastened the departure of the Levites” (op. cit., on v. 10). But Nehemiah challenges this situation “I remonstrated with the officials,” he says, and asks, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And he gathers them together and “set them in their stations” (v. 11). “Then,” says Nehemiah, “all Judah brought (Uxyb9he hdAUhy4-lkAv4, w ^ekol-y ^ehûdāh hēvî’û, lit. ‘and [not necessarily “then”] all Judah brought/had brought’) the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses” (v. 12). Verse 12, says Eskenazi, “should be read as ‘All Judah had brought.’ Nehemiah alleges that the desertion of Levites resulted less from lack of contributions than from mismanagement, probably by Tobiah” (ibid., on v. 12). Eskenazi’s interpretation is possible. For understanding the Hebrew perfect tense verb form (Uxyb9he, hēvî’û) in a pluperfect (i.e. past perfect) sense, compare Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar (E. Kautzsch, ed., A. E. Cowley, trans., 2^nd Engl. ed., 19^th impression, 1988), sec. 106 f. Nehemiah claims responsibility for setting the financial affairs of the temple in order. “And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful; and their duty was to distribute to their associates” (v. 13). “Nehemiah’s new supervisors,” says Eskenazi, “are representative of the groups involved” (loc. cit.). According to Clines, “Nehemiah makes the support of the Levites the responsibility of the lay leaders (officials, v. 11), and appoints treasurers (v. 13, including priests, since their income derives from the Levites’ . . . to supervise the delivery of the tithes.” And he adds that “the community pledge of Neh. 10 goes a step further by establishing levitical depots across the country (10:37) to facilitate collection” (loc. cit.). And Nehemiah prays that this service of his will not be forgotten. “Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service” (v. 14).

Another issue that Nehemiah addresses is abuse of the laws concerning the Sabbath. “In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food” (v. 15). “In those days,” says Eskenazi, means “when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem” (op. cit., on v. 15). Foreign merchants were part of the problem. “Tyrians [i.e., merchants from Tyre] also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem” (v. 16). According to Clines, “there is buying from non-Jewish merchants–which is not specifically forbidden in the law” (op. cit., on vv. 15-22). So Nehemiah challenges this situation as well. “Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah,” he says, “and said to them, ‘What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day?’ ” (v. 17). According to Clines, “Nehemiah makes the family heads responsible for enforcing sabbath observance (v. 17)” (ibid.). He questions the nobles further. “Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath” (v. 18). So he takes action again, closing the gates of the city for the duration of the sabbath. “When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day” (v. 19). There was a kind of protest, as “the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice” (v. 20). But Nehemiah was firm. He warned them, he says, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” And he adds that “From that time on they did not come on the sabbath” (v. 21). Nehemiah “commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy” (v. 22a). “Such measures,” says Eskenazi, “are unique to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah, underscoring the holiness of the entire city” (op. cit., on v. 22). And Nehemiah prays again that the LORD will remember his service. “Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love” (v. 22).

or Haggai 1:1-2:9 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For the text and comments on this reading see the text and comments of Sunday, October 25, 2009, ten days ago.

Revelation 12:1-12

The Woman and the Dragon

12:1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Michael Defeats the Dragon

7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

12 Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

for the devil has come down to you

with great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short!" (Revelation 12:1-12, NRSV)

On October 29 and 30, 2008 (Wednesday and Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), comments on Revelation 12:1-6 and 7-17 were repeated from December 23, 2007 (the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year Two), and earlier comments, as noted there; the following comments are based on earlier comments:

Following the account of the seventh trumpet which, as noted yesterday, according to Bruce M. Metzger, “announces the consummation of God’s Kingdom (10:7)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed.1994, on Rev. 11:14-19), John has another vision. “A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1). “She was pregnant,” we are told, “and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth” (v. 2). According to Metzger, she “appears to be the heavenly representative of God’s people, first as Israel (from whom Jesus the Messiah was born, v. 5), then as the Christian Church (which is persecuted by the dragon, v. 13)” (ibid., on Rev. 12:1). David E. Aune, while allowing for John’s use of language from non-Judeo-Christian stories, is clear that the vision here is at home in the biblical (Judeo-Christian) tradition about the birth of the Messiah/Christ. “The portent of the woman, the child, and the dragon is an adaptation of the myth of Apollo’s birth understood by the author to point to the birth of Christ” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Rev. 12:1-17). Of the description, “a woman clothed with the sun,” Aune explains, “a cosmic queen (described much like Isis) [is] used as a symbol for both the Israel from whom the Messiah came (v. 5) and the church (vv. 6, 14, 17), widely understood in Catholic thought to symbolize the Blessed Virgin Mary” (ibid., on 12:1).

“Then,” says John, “another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads” (v. 3). This dragon’s “tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (v. 4a). “The dragon, says Jean-Pierre Ruiz, “identified in v. 9 as ‘the Devil’ and ‘Satan,’ is Leviathan, the great sea monster of Canaanite tradition and of the Hebrew Bible (Job 40:25; Isa. 27:1), one specification of the primeval watery chaos” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Rev. 12:3). The dragon becomes a serious threat to the woman and her child. “Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child,” says John, “so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born” (v. 4b). And John reports that the child is born. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron” (v. 5a). As noted above, Metzger identifies this child as “Jesus the Messiah.” According to Ruiz, the fact that the child “is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,” alludes “to Ps. 2:9, originally concerning the king of Israel, and interpreted as referring to a future anointed ruler or messiah (Psalms of Solomon 17:23-24)” (op. cit., on v. 5). But the child is “snatched away and taken to God and to his throne” (v. 5), which prevents the dragon from devouring him, and the woman is also protected: she flees “into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God” (v. 6a); thus, according to Metzger, “the church is sustained by God” (op. cit., on v. 6). The woman is nourished in that place “for one thousand two hundred sixty days” (v. 6b). “The wilderness,” says Ruiz, echoing Metzger, “is a place where God provides refuge and sustenance amidst adversity (e.g., Gen. 21:14-21; Deut. 8:15-16; 29:5; 32:10; 1 Kings 17:1-2.” And he adds that the “one thousand, two hundred sixty days, the equivalent of ‘a time, and times, , and half a time’ (v. 14), ‘forty-two months” (11:2; 13:5), amounts to three and a half years. This symbolic number suggests a period of time limited by divine design” (op. cit., on v. 6). According to Ruiz,

The vision of the woman, the child, and the dragon is rich in symbolism drawn from mythological traditions found in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as in the Hebrew Bible. One well-known version of the story tells of the goddess Leto, pregnant with Apollo, who is menaced by the dragon Python, who pursues her because he knows that Apollo is destined to kill him (Hyginus, Fabulae 140). Here this material is reinterpreted in terms of Jewish traditions and expectations as the story of the birth of the messiah. (op. cit., on Rev. 12:1-17)

One should say, however, that the “Jewish traditions” dominate the background, and contribute to John’s message of Christian victory in the face of diabolical opposition.

The Battle continues on a cosmic scale. “War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon” (Rev. 12:7a). According to Bruce M. Metzger, “Michael [is] an archangel and the champion of Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9)” (op. cit., on Rev. 12:7). “The dragon and his angels fought back,” says John, “but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven” (v. 7b, 8). John explains, “The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (v. 9).

Although the dragon and his angels, when thrown down to earth, pose a deadly threat, at this moment the victory in heaven is celebrated. John says he “heard a loud voice in heaven proclaiming,

‘Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God’ ” (Rev. 12:10 NRSV)

The “accuser,” says Metzger alludes to “Job 1:9-11” (ibid., on v. 10). “Satan,” says David E. Aune, “means accuser in Hebrew (Job 1:9-11; Zech. 3:1)” (op. cit., on v. 12). The song of victory continues in heaven.

“But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.” (Rev. 12:11 NRSV)

“They have conquered” says Metzger, “through both divine and human effort” (op. cit., on v. 11). Jean-Pierre Ruiz puts it this way: “They have conquered, the paradoxical victory of the crucified Christ [he refers here to 5:6] and of the martyrs, who were faithful unto death” (op. cit., on Rev. 12:11). While the celebration in heaven continues for a couple lines, it takes note in a “woe” of the threat to earth when the devil comes down.

“Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

for the devil has come down to you

with great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short!” (Rev. 12:12 NRSV)

To this call for rejoicing, Metzger compares the following (ibid., on v. 12): “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; / let the sea roar, and all that fills it; / let the field exult, and everything in it” (Ps. 96:11); and “Sing for joy, O heavens and exult, O earth; / break forth, O mountains, into singing! / For the LORD has comforted his people, / and will have compassion on his suffering ones” (Isa. 49:13).

But, as we look beyond today’s reading, we see that the joy in heaven stands in contrast to woes on earth. “So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child” (Rev. 12:13, cf. vv. 4-6). “But the woman,” says John, “was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time” (v. 14, cf. 11:2-3 and the “forty-two months”). Then she is threatened, as John tells us, “from his mouth thwe serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood” (v. 15). But, as Metzger points out, “aid comes from an unexpected quarter” (ibid., on v. 16): “But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth” (v. 16). “Earth helps the woman,” says Ruiz, “as in Ex. 15:12 the earth swallows up the pursuing Egyptian armies” (op. cit., on v. 16). So the frustrated dragon vents his anger by making “war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (v. 17; cf. 14:12, ref. by Ruiz, ibid., on 12:17).

Matthew 13:53-58

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (Mk 6.1-6; Lk 4.16-30)

54 He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?" 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house." 58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:53-58, NRSV)

On November 7, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One), comments were repeated from June 6, 2006 (Tuesday in the week the Sunday closest to June 1, Year Two, Pentecost Sunday in 2006), when comments were combined with revision from comments of May 31, 2004 (Tuesday of the week of Pentecost, Year Two) in an email sent May 31, 2004 for May 30 through June 6, and comments of November 2, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here with some further editing and supplement:

This reading from Matthew is presented in parallel with Mark 6:1-6a and Luke 4:16-30 in the separate file, Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth. Recent comments on these passages from the perspective of Mark’s version may be found in the Archive for July 25, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One). Matthew’s and Mark’s versions are very similar. Jesus’ sermon on Isaiah 61 at Nazareth (Lk. 4:14-30), which also leads to rejection, is clearly not a version of the accounts in Matthew and Mark, but may be Luke’s substitute for them. In Luke, the Nazareth sermon begins Jesus’ public ministry, and it’s emphasis on the Spirit, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, / because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Lk. 4:18, citing Isa. 61:1). The sermon’s placement at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is programmatic, not only for Luke’s Gospel, but also for the Acts of the Apostles, with its account of Pentecost (Acts 2) and the Spirit’s leadership of the church as its mission spreads. The placement of the Nazareth sermon here involves a decision of Luke to move the event at Nazareth forward as compared with the sequence of events in Mark. Recent comments from the perspective of Luke’s version may be found in the Archive for April 27, 2009 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Easter, Year One).

Today’s reading begins with Matthew’s closing formula for his collection of Jesus’ parables: “When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place” (Mt. 13:53). This becomes

, which becomes the transition to a series of “events of decisive acceptance or rejection of Jesus” (Mt. 13:53-17:27, so called by E. E. Tilden and B. M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^rd ed. on Mt. 13:53-17:27), beginning with the account of Jesus’ rejection at home (13:53-58; cf. Mk. 6:1-6a; Lk. 4:16-30). Jesus “came to his hometown,” says Matthew, “and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?’ ” (Mt.13:54). Mark notes that as Jesus “came to his hometown . . . his disciples followed him” (Mk. 6:1), and that the teaching was “on the sabbath . . . in the synagogue (v. 2a). In both Gospels the people of Nazareth ask about Jesus family. In Matthew, they say, “Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” (Mt. 13:55-56). Matthew’s phrase, “the carpenter’s son,” replaces Mark’s “the carpenter, the son of [Mary]” (Mk. 6:3a), but names of the same brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, and reference to unnamed sisters, appear in both Gospels (Mt. 13:55b, 56a; cf. Mk. 6:3, with Judas before Simon). The rejection is explained by the proverb, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown [‘own country,’ Mt. 13:57], and among their own kin [omitted by Mt.], and in their own house” (Mk. 6:4; cf. Mt. 13:57; Lk. 4:24; Jn. 4:44). Mark thus includes Jesus’ “own kin” among those who fail to honor him. Mark says that Jesus “could do no deed of power there, except; that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them” (Mk. 6:5); cf. “And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief” (Mt. 13:58). Whereas a typical miracle story in the Gospels ends by noting the crowd’s amazed reaction (cf. Mk. 2:12), this one ends with reference to limitations “because of their unbelief” (Mt. 13:58).

In Mark, the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (Mk. 6:1-6), coming as it does between a series of four of Jesus’ miracles (Mark 4:35-5:43), and his sending out the Twelve, who “cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (Mk. 6:13), strikes us as sad indeed. We may sometimes feel that the people who know us well take us for granted, or do not give us the honor and respect we deserve. That certainly applies to Jesus in this situation. “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house” (Mk. 6:4). But in Mark’s narrative, the rejection at Nazareth is a kind of foil that makes the surrounding miracles stand out in bold relief. Jesus commends the faith (pivstiV, pistis) of the woman with the hemorrhages (Mk. 5:34), but is “amazed at their unbelief (ajpistiva, apistia)” in Nazareth (6:6). “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (pivstiV, pistis), who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God” (Heb. 12:1-2). Through Jesus, we have access to the Creator of heaven and earth for whom Isaiah speaks.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net