Isaiah 45:14-19

14 Thus says the LORD:

The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,

and the Sabeans, tall of stature,

shall come over to you and be yours,

they shall follow you;

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

They will make supplication to you, saying,

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

there is no god besides him.”

15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.

16 All of them are put to shame and confounded,

the makers of idols go in confusion together.

17 But Israel is saved by the LORD

with everlasting salvation;

you shall not be put to shame or confounded

to all eternity

18 For thus says the LORD,

who created the heavens

(he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he did not create it a chaos,

he formed it to be inhabited!):

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

19 I did not speak in secret,

in a land of darkness;

I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,

“Seek me in chaos.”

I the LORD speak the truth,

I declare what is right. (Isaiah 45:14-19, NRSV)

The following comments are based on relevant comments from those on Isaiah 45:5-17 and 18-25 of January 22 and 23, 2009 ((Thursday and Friday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 1), and on earlier comments as noted there.

According to Joseph Blenkinsopp, this reading from Isaiah is preceded by “the Cyrus oracle” (Isa. 44:24-45:8) in which the God of Israel designates “Cyrus II (558-530 BCE), founder of the Persian Empire . . . as the LORD’s anointed [Hayw9mA, māšî ^ach, Isa. 45:1; cf. LXX cristovV, christos] or messiah and commissioned to conquer Babylon and other nations, and to do this on behalf of the people of Israel” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Isa. 44:24-45:8, and on 45:1-8). This is followed by what Blenkinsopp calls, “a refutation of those who question Cyrus’s mission” (on 45:9-19), in the middle of which comes a promise. Warnings are given in the form of “woes” (yOh (hôy) . . .). “Woe to you who strive with your Maker, / earthen vessels with the potter! / Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making’? / or ‘Your work has no handles’? / Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ / or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’” (vv. 9-10). These woes are “directed against those questioning the propriety of Cyrus’s messiahship” (Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay, NOAB, 2^nd. ed., 1994, on Isa. 45:9-10). The LORD asks, “Will you question me about my children, / or command me concerning the work of my hands?” (v. 11). He points out that he “made the earth, / and created humankind upon it”; “it was my hands, “ he says, “that stretched out the heavens, and,” he adds, “I commanded all their host” (v. 12). For the one who has done that, it is not a serious challenge to use a foreign ruler to rescue Israel. “I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,” says the LORD, “and I will make all his paths straight; / he shall build my city / and set my exiles free, / not for price or reward, / says the LORD of hosts” (v. 13). Following this description of Cyrus’s mission, a reversal of fortunes for Israel is described. “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, / and the Sabeans, tall of stature, / shall come over to you and be yours, / they shall follow you; / they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. / They will make supplication to you, saying, / ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other; / there is no god besides him’” (v. 14). According to Gold and Holladay, “the conversion of the nations” is described (on 45:14-25). “The nations’ wealth will pour into Israel; they will acknowledge Israel’s God. Earlier the nations listed here served as Israel’s ransom (43:3)” (ibid., on vv. 14-15).

According to Benjamin D. Sommer, “People (either the Judeans themselves or perhaps the nations of the world) are surprised by God’s plan to bring salvation to the exiles by means of a Persian king. God rebukes them for their chutzpah in questioning the means through whom God chose to work. Cf. Isa. 10:15; 29:14-21” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Isa. 45:9-13). “Chutzpah” is a Yiddish word defined as “unbelievable gall; insolence; audacity” (WordNet, a large lexical database, developed under the direction of George A. Miller, wordnet.princeton,edu; the definition is on the Internet at http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=chutzpah, accessed Jan. 8, 2010).

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

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

The contrast continues between the “God of Israel, the Savior (v. 15b) and those who make idols. “All of them are put to shame and confounded, / the makers of idols go in confusion together” (v. 16). But,” says the prophet, “Israel is saved by the LORD / with everlasting salvation; / you shall not be put to shame or confounded / to all eternity” (v. 17). And, we are reminded, the oracle, the LORD speaking through the prophet, continues. “For thus says the LORD, / who created the heavens / (he is God!), / who formed the earth and made it / (he established it; / he did not create it a chaos, / he formed it to be inhabited!): / I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:18). His creation, so the LORD claims, was orderly, creating the heavens and the earth, not chaos. This was not done “in secret, / in a land of darkness” (v. 19a, b), for he did not direct Jacob’s offspring to “Seek me in chaos” (v. 19c, d). God is a God of order, not chaos. More than that, he says, “I the LORD speak the truth, / I declare what is right” (v. 19e, f). According to Blenkinsopp, “the LORD replies to the charge of abusing his own people. As creator of order out of chaos (cf. Gen. 1:1-2), he has always dealt openly with his people” (op. cit., on Isa. 45:18-19).

Colossians 1:24-2:7

Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ, 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

2:1 For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Fullness of Life in Christ

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 1:24-2:7, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of May 6, 2009 (Wednesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year One), when comments were repeated from April 10, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Third Sunday of Easter, Year Two), comments that were repeated from January 9, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of Epiphany Sunday, Ref. for Jan. 9, 2008, Year Two), and earlier as noted there:

Paul has concluded his encomium on the supremacy of Christ (Col. 1:15-23), the “Great Christology” as C. F. D. Moule called it (as cited yesterday), with a reminder that the readers are reconciled, holy and blameless (Col. 1:22), “provided” they remain faithful (v. 23). He continues with “a very startling phrase, “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church” (v. 24), which, according to Moule,

seems to mean (a) that the apostle’s sufferings can be spoken of as Christ’s afflictions because of the communion which a Christian, incorporated in Christ, holds with the Lord; and (b) that it is the destiny of the ‘corporate Christ’–the Church–to fulfil a certain tale of afflictions; and that thus the apostle’s hardships and privations, incurred in his calling, are a contribution made for the sake of the whole body, towards the discharge of this quota. It is clear that the faith of the NT is that Christ suffered once and for all, and that His self-surrender was complete and unique–the fountainhead of reconciliation, a free gift that cannot be earned; yet, also, that those who are in Christ are caught up into this activity, and, though never able on their own merit to win their own salvation (still less that of others), are, by their very acceptance of this free gift, brought into the same stream of creative suffering. (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 866 a, p. 992)

According to F. F. Bruce,

At the back of Paul’s mind there may be the rabbinical concept of the messianic birth pangs which were to be endured in the last days–from Paul’s new Christian perspective, in the period leading up to the parousia. Jesus, the Messiah, had suffered on the cross; now his people, the members of his body, had their quota of affliction to bear, and Paul was eager to absorb as much as possible of this in his own ‘flesh.’ The suffering of affliction now was, for the followers of Christ, the prelude to glory at his advent, and such was the incomparable and ‘eternal weight of glory’ to which they could look forward that the hardships of the present were described, in relation to it, as ‘this slight momentary affliction.’ (2 Cor. 4:17) (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT, 1984, pp. 83-84 on Col. 1:24)

“I became its [i.e., the church’s] servant (diavkonoV, diakonos),” says Paul, “according to God’s commission (oijkonomiva, oikonomia) that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known” (v. 25). According to Frederick William Danker, oijkonomiva (oikonomia) means “ ‘taking care of (business) affairs’, administration, with focus on an estate and accounting procedures . . . Then in extended sense of various kinds of responsibilities, esp. in NT relating to divine intent and purpose in distribution of divine largesse” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. oijkonomiva, oikonomia). Bruce translated the term as “stewardship” (op. cit., p. 80). “It was Paul’s responsibility,” says Bruce, “to discharge this stewardship by exercising his special apostleship to the Gentiles, among whom the Colossians were included. In the words of the parallel passage in Ephesians, ‘to me . . . this grace has been given, to bring to the Gentiles the good news of God’s unfathomable wealth’ (Eph. 3:8); and the Colossians were among the beneficiaries of Paul’s apostolic commission, even if he had never visited them in person” (ibid., p. 84, on Col. 1:25).

Paul further defines his ministry as “the mystery (musthvrion, mystērion) that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them [i.e., to the saints] God chose to make know how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery (musthvrion, mystērion), which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (vv. 26-27). Danker defines musthvrion (mystērion) as “ ‘that which awaits disclosure or interpretation,’ mystery, secret–a. of divine counsel and plans that have awaited disclosure and interpretation” (op. cit., s.v. musthvrion, mystērion, meaning a.). Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean says, “mystery [means] the previously hidden plan of God; here, the gospel proclaimed to Gentiles (2:2; 4:3; Rom. 16:25-26; cf. Eph. 1:10; 3:2-6)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Col. 1:26-27). Bruce says,

The word ‘mystery’ . . . has an OT background in the Aramaic part of the book of Daniel. there the divine purpose is communicated in two stages: first as a mystery (as when Nebuchadnezzar sees the great image in his dream, described in Dan. 2:31-35) and then by way of interpretation (as when Daniel in Dan. 2:37-45 gives the king the explanation of the dream–an explanation which he himself has received by direct revelation from God). (op. cit., pp. 84-85, on Col. 1:26).

 In a footnote, Bruce explains “mystery” as “Aramaic rāz, a word of Iranian derivation (rendered musthvrion in Gk.); the interpretation is Aramaic p ^ešar (Heb. pēšer [rw,Pe], as in Eccl. 8:1 [and frequently in Qumran mss., e.g. the Habakkuk Commentary], rendered suvgkrisiV [sygkrisis] in Greek” (ibid., p. 84, n. 214). According to Moule, the phrase, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” may mean

that God’s ‘secret’ is the indwelling Christ–the character of Jesus reproduced in the believer’s life through the Holy Spirit; but, ‘in you’ may, perhaps more probably, be taken collectively, so that the mystery is Christ as found among the Gentiles–the Messiah in an unheard-of position! In either case, it is an aspect of the gospel of the incarnation; and it carries in it the ‘hope’, or guarantee, of the revealing of God’s presence–for that is what the Bible generally means by ‘glory’. (op. cit., sec. 866 b p. 992, on Col. 1:27)

“It is he whom we proclaim,” says Paul, “warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature (tevleioV, teleios) in Christ” (v. 28). “Warning,” says J. Paul Sampley, “anticipates the author’s treatment of the opponents in 2:4-23” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Col. 1:28). According to Danker, the word tevleioV (teleios) means “ ‘free from any deficiency, omission, or corruption,’ complete, perfect–a. of integrity relative to character, personal identity, or an avowed objective” (op. cit., s.v. tevleioV, teleios). The Authorized (King James) version translated tevleioV (teleios) here as “perfect” (cf. ASV, NIV, NKJV, and New Living Bible [with ‘or mature’ in a text note]). The RSV and NRSV use “mature” (cf. ESV, ISV, NASV, New Century Version and, changing from NIV, TNIV “fully mature”). “The presentation of everyone ‘perfect’ or fully grown in Christ,” says Bruce, “is probably envisaged as taking place at his parousia” (op. cit., p. 87, on v. 28). “For this, I toil,” says Paul, and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me” (v. 29). By that Paul means not just one, but every aspect of his ministry.

Paul begins chapter two by expressing his concern for the Christians of Colossae and the surrounding area. “For I want you to know how much I am struggling (ajgw:na e[cw, agōna echō ) for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face” (2:1). The phrase, “I am struggling,” translates a phrase that literally means “I have struggle, am struggling,” with a term, ajgwvn (agōn), meaning “an assembly,” especially for contests or games, then “any struggle or contest (A Lexicon Abridge from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, impression of 1958, s.v. ajgwvn (agōn). In the New Testament, according to Danker, it is “only imagistic, with context determining the kind of ‘contest’: race . . . trial, struggle.” Danker translates ejn pollw:/ ajgw:ni (en pollō(i) agōni) as “under much stress” (op. cit., s.v. ajgwvn, agōn). According to Sampley, “Struggling has the semantic range of ‘conflict,’ ‘fear,’ ‘care’ ” (op. cit., on 2:1). “The conflict,” says Bruce, “is waged in the spiritual realm; the opposition is the false teaching to which the churches of the Lycus valley are exposed” (op. cit., on 2:1).

“I want their hearts to be encouraged and united (sumbibasqevnteV, symbibasthentes) in love (ajgavph, agapē ),” says Paul, “so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery (musthvrion, mystērion), that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom (sofiva, sophia) and knowledge (gnw:siV, gnōsis)” (vv. 2-3). Here again we see Paul’s emphasis on the centrality of love (cf. Rom. 12:9; 13:8-10; 1 Cor. 13). “United,” says Sampley, is “rendered held together in v. 19” (op. cit., on v. 2). We note that the “mystery” is identified with “Christ himself” (cf. 1:26, 27). According to Bruce,

Over against all those who tried to intellectualize the Christian faith, speaking of knowledge (gnōsis) as if it were an end in itself, Paul emphasizes that the revelation of God cannot be properly known apart from the cultivation of brotherly love within the community. The Corinthian church, which had special need to learn this lesson, was reminded that ‘knowledge (gnōsis) inflates, but love builds up’ (1 Cor. 8:1), and it is later made clear in Eph. 3:17-18 that only as Christians are ‘rooted and well founded in love’ can they ‘comprehend with all the saints’ the fullness of the divine revelation. And this revelation is personal: Christ himself is the mystery of God revealed–Christ, with whom they have now become one. ‘All the promises of God find their Yes in him’ (2 Cor. 1:20). The personal knowledge of Christ is the royal road to the appreciation of the divine wisdom. (op. cit., on 2:2)

“I am saying this,” says Paul, “so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments (piqanologiva, pithanologia)” (v. 4). The word piqanologiva (pithanologia) occurs only here in the New Testament, and not at all in the Septuagint, but Plato use it as the “Use of probable arguments,” the opposite of “demonstration (ajpovdeixiV [apodeixis],” cited from Plato Theaetetus,162e). A related term, piqanologikhv (pithanologikē ) refers to the “art of using probable or specious arguments” cited from Arrianus Historicus, ii A.D., Epicteti Dissertationes (Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, rev. Henry Stuart Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon, 1843, 9^th ed., 1940, repr. 1966, s.v. piqan-oV, pithan-os, and listed cognates). Danker simply defines the word as “speech that sounds convincing Col 2:4” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. piqanologiva (pithanologia). The larger New Testament lexicon defines it as “persuasive speech, art of persuasion . . . in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ejn piqanologiva/ [pithanologia(i) ], by specious arguments Col. 2:4” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. piqanologiva, pithanologia). “For though I am absent in body,” says Paul, “yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale (tavxiV, taxis) and the firmness (sterevwma, stereōma) of your faith in Christ” (v. 5; cf. 1:Cor. 5:3-5). Danker defines tavxiV (taxis) as “ ‘condition of being orderly,’ orderliness Col. 2:5)” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. tavxiV, taxis; cf. Sampley, “Morale [is] lit. ‘(good) order.’ See 1 Cor. 14:40,” op. cit., on v. 5). This concern with truth and order within the Christian community is fortification against the threat of the “Colossian heresy” against which Paul warns (vv. 8-23).

But the present reading ends with a call for continued steadfastness in the Christian faith. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives (peripatei:te, peripateite, lit. ‘walk’) in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (vv, 6-7). The Colossian Christians were apparently brought to faith, established and taught, by Epaphras, one of Paul’s coworkers from that region (4:12-13). “Walk” as a metaphor for living one’s life in a prescribed–Christian–manner was discussed two days ago (Jan. 7, 2010) with reference to Colossians 1:10. Maclean describes verses 6 and 7 as the “thematic statement of the letter” (op. cit., on 2:6-7), and refers to her Introduction to Colossians. In the Introduction, she says, “The main theological argument focuses on the change in believers’ destiny achieved by Christ’s death on the cross (2:9-15); the recurring contrasts of death and life (2:12-13, 20; 3:1-5), old and new (3:9-120, and past and present (1:12-14, 21-23) emphasize the fundamental psychological and moral reorientation required of the faithful” (ibid., in the Introduction to Colossians). Bruce gives these two verses a separate sub-title, “Maintaining the Tradition of Christ (2:6-7)” (op. cit., p. 92, on 2:6-7). With reference to the beginning lines of Pirqê ’Abôt, a well-known tractate of the Mishnah, Bruce describes “the ‘tradition of the elders’ which Jesus denounced” (Mk. 7:8). But he takes note of both negative and positive uses of “tradition”:

Paul uses this same phrase, ‘the tradition of men,’ of the teaching by which the Colossian Christians were in danger of being misled. By implication he opposes to it the tradition of Christ, which then had received when first the heard the gospel. When he says that they have ‘received’ Christ Jesus as their Lord, he uses the verb [paralambavnw, paralambanô] which was specifically employed to denote the receiving of something which was delivered by tradition. In other words, the Colossians have received Christ himself as their ‘tradition,’ and this should prove a sufficient safeguard against following the ‘tradition of men’ (v. 8). Emphas is laid on the continuity of the transmission of Christian truth, relating to doctrine and practice alike. The teaching which has been delivered to the Colossians embodies the apostolic witness, derived from Christ, whose authority is supreme, and maintained in purity by his indwelling presence. (ibid., pp. 93-94, on v. 6)

John 8:12-20

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” 19 Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:12-19, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from August 23, 2009 (the Sunday closest to August 24, Year One), when they were based on earlier comments as noted there:

In John's Gospel, the occasion of Succoth (the Feast of Tabernacles), which featured the drawing and pouring out of water, provides a setting for Jesus claim, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water’ ” (Jn. 7:37-38). As discussion and debate with Pharisees continues, the emphasis upon light, “I am the light of the world” (8:12), leads to the healing of the blind man (chap. 9), with its question about who was really blind, the blind man whom Jesus healed, or the unbelieving Pharisees (9:40-41). And the Feast of Dedication (10:22), which we know as Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, continues the reference to “light.” The Feeding of the 5000 in John, chapter six, followed by Jesus' claim, “I am the bread of life” (6:35) and comparison with the “manna in the wilderness” (v. 49) reminds some of the Christian Eucharist and associations with the Passover. But the reference to Moses (v. 32) suggests an association with Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks, remembered by Christians as Pentecost), at which Jews celebrate the giving of Torah:

Shavuot is the holiday Jews universally accept as the day when G-d gave the Jewish people the Torah following Moses’ descent from Mount Sinai. However, nowhere in the Torah is the holiday of Shavuot actually linked to Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah. (“History and Origin of Shavuot,” on the Internet at http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/shavuot/history_and_origin_of_shavuot.shtml, accessed again January 9, 2010–Copy and paste the URL in your browser).

John's Gospel seems to progress through the Jewish calendar: Passover and/or Shavuot (chap. 6), Sukkoth (chap. 7), discussion of light and blindness (chaps. 8, 9), Hanukkah (chap. 10), and Passover again, in relation to the Christian Holy Week. Jesus uses these connections to present himself as the one sent by the Father (8:16). “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (8:19).

According to Rabbinic tradition, a part of the celebration of bet hashshoebah was a ceremony of lights–torches carried in an evening procession to the temple–which would light up the city. Jesus thus claims to be the true light, the fulfilment of that aspect of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is one aspect of the presentation of his divinity in John’s Gospel, and the point of contention in the “testimony” which the Pharisees claim “is not valid” (v. 13). Jesus says that his claims have the testimony of two witnesses (v. 17; cf. Deut. 19:15). Moreover, merely human testimony would be invalid; Jesus comes from above (v. 14; cf. 3:31-33). According to Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., “He alone knows who he is (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Jn. 8:13-18). So the testimony that counts is his own and that of “the Father who sent me” (vv. 16, 18).

The Mishnah’s description of celebration at the Festival of Tabernacles continues with the playing of instruments (harps, lyres, cymbals, trumpets, and other musical instruments) by Levites standing on the steps which go down from the Israelites’ court to the women’s court, singing the “fifteen Songs of Ascents which are in the Book of Psalms,” followed by sustained shofar blasts. (People of Houston may be reminded of the annual but brief “Lighting of Houston” celebration in November.)

5:1 A. Flute playing is for five or six days;

B. This refers to the flute playing on bet hashshoebah.

C. which overrides the restrictions of neither the Sabbath nor of a festival day.

D. They said: Anyone who has not seen the rejoicing of bet hashshoebah in his life has never seen rejoicing.

5:2 A. At the end of the first festival day of the Festival [the priests and Levites] went down to the women’s courtyard.

B. And they made a major enactment [by putting men below and women above],

C. And there were golden candleholders there, with four gold bowls on their tops, and four ladders for each candlestick.

D. And four young priests with jars of oil containing a hundred and twenty logs [i.e., about 40 liters], [would climb up the ladders and] pour [the oil] into each bowl.

5:3 A. Out of the worn-out undergarments and girdles of the priests they made wicks,

B. and with them they lit the candlesticks.

C. And there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem which was not lit up from the light of bet hashshoebah.

5:4 A. The pious men and wonder workers would dance before them with flaming torches in their hand.

B. and they would sing before them songs and praises. (Mishnah, Sukkah 5:1-4, trans. Jacob Neusner, 1988, pp. 288-289)

The Gospel of John continues in 8:12 within the context of the Festival of Tabernacles (following the story of the Woman taken in Adultery, [7:53-8:11]). If the people of Jerusalem celebrated in the manner described in the passage from the Mishnah cited above, lighting up every “courtyard in Jerusalem,” that is, lighting up their “world,” then it was very bold of Jesus to assert, “I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12). But it fits with earlier claims made for Jesus, and by Jesus, in the Gospel of John. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. As before, Jesus’ claim is disputed by the Pharisees: “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid” (Jn. 8:13), an objection which was anticipated by Jesus already in 5:31-47. Jesus answers, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going” (v. 14). “You judge by human standards,” he tells his opponents; “I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me” (vv. 15-16). According to Hendricks, Jesus does not need the approval of his self-witness from the religious authorities because (a) in that he comes from the world above, he alone knows who he is” (op. cit., on vv. 13-18). But Jesus appeals to their law (the Mosaic Law). “In your law it is written,” he says, “that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf” (vv. 17-18). Hendricks continues, “(b) [cf. (a) above] the joint witness of the Father and the Son fulfills the requirement of two witnesses (Deut. 19:15)” (ibid.). The Pharisees challenge him with respect to his “Father”: “Then they said to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also’ ” (v. 19). The Pharisees apparently aren’t aware of it, but they were in over their heads in this debate. Jesus “spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come” (v. 20).

The lighting up of Jerusalem was apparently glorious for a time, but as with our holidays, over all too soon. But Jesus remains as the light of the world.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net