Daniel 7:9-14

Judgment before the Ancient One

9 As I watched,

thrones were set in place,

and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,

and its wheels were burning fire.

10 A stream of fire issued

and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,

and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,

and the books were opened.

11 I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being

coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One

and was presented before him.

14 To him was given dominion

and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one

that shall never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:9-14, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of May 1, 2008 (Thursday in the Sixth Week of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from 25, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year Two).

Today’s reading is comes from the part of Daniel that is written in the Aramaic language (Dan. 2:4b-7:28; cf. NRSV text note a on Dan. 2:4b). Amy-Jill Levine says Aramaic was “the common language of the Near East from the time of the Babylonian exile until the conquests of Alexander the Great” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, Introduction to Daniel). After the episode of Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:18-23) and King Darius’ proclamation exonerating Daniel (6:25-28), we are presented with a series of Daniel’s own visions. Earlier he has interpreted dreams for Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:4-27) and Belshazzar (5:1-31). But now Daniel needs an interpretation for his own dreams (7:15, 26, 19; cf. Levine, op. cit., on Dan. 7:1-8). In his first vision,” she says, “he sees “four great [grotesque] beasts [which] came up out of the sea” (Dan. 7:3), which “symbolize kingdoms” (ibid., on v. 3). Of these, the fourth beast was “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns” (v. 7). Levine identifies this fourth beast as “the Greek kingdom, in particular the Seleucid kingdom founded by Seleucus I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, in Syria and Mesopotamia after Alexander’s death in323 BCE” (on Dan. 7:7). John Wesley, however, identified this beast with the Roman Empire (Explanatory Notes, on Dan. 7:7, at the Wesley Center Online, accessed again May 12, 2010 at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/daniel.htm). As Daniel considered the ten horns “another horn appeared, a little one” (v. 8), which Levine identifies with Antiochus IV Epiphanes (on v. 8).

But today’s reading proper begins with poetic lines describing Daniel’s vision of God’s throne and throne room in heaven.

As I watched,

thrones (Nv!sAr4KA, korsāwān) were set in place,

and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,

and its wheels were burning fire. (Dan. 7:9, NRSV)

This picture of God’s throne room reminds us of Ezekiel, chapter 1, and Revelation, chapter 4, among other texts. For “the heavenly throneroom,” Levine refers to “1 Kings 22:19; Isa. 6; Ezek. 1:26-28; 3:22-24; 10:1; 1 Enoch 14:9” (op. cit., on Dan. 7:9-14). Of “thrones,” she adds, “although the other parts of the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish apocalypses refer to only a single throne in heaven, the multiple thrones of the court setting in Daniel 7 are reflected in early Christian texts (see Mt. 19:28; Rev. 4:2; 20:4)” (ibid., on v. 9). Again, she says of “ancient one,” “God. Although the depiction of God as an old man becomes common in later Jewish and Christian traditions, it is unusual in the Hebrew Bible” (ibid.). Of other terms here she has further references “White clothing, Mt. 28:3; Rev. 3:5. Fiery flames, Ezek. 1:4; wheels, Ezek. 1:15-21; 10:2).

Daniel’s vision continues:

A stream of fire issued

and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands (Nyp9l4xa Jl,x,, ’eleph ’alpîn [BHS for Myp9l4x, ’alpîm]; LXX civliai ciliavdeV, chiliai chiliades) served him,

and ten thousand times ten thousand (NbAb4r9 OBr9, ribbô ribb ^ewān; LXX muvriai muriavdeV, myriai myriades) stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment (xn!yD9, dînā’, LXX krithvrion, kritērion),

and the books (Nyr9p4s9, siphrîn, LXX bivbloi, bibloi) were opened (Dan. 7:10, NRSV)

The fire imagery continues (v. 10a, b). For the very large number of those who attend God, compare John’s vision, when he “heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads (muriavdeV muriavdwn, myriades myriadōn, AV/KJV ‘ten thousand times ten thousand’) and thousands of thousands (ciliavdeV ciliavdwn, chiliades chiliadōn)” (Rev. 5:11). According to William L. Holladay, Jlax3 (’ ^alaph) means the numeral 1000 (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. Jlax3, ’ ^alaph, Aramaic), and ’elef ’alpin means “many thousands” (ibid.). He says “*OBr9 (ribbô*) is a “great number, ten thousand (ibid., s.v. *OBr9, ribbô*). According to Frederick William Danker, muriavV (myrias) is “ ‘group of ten thousand,’ myriad ” and, by extension, “any large undefined number” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. muriavV, myrias), and ciliavV (chilias) is “a collective noun = (group of) a thousand, mostly of humans” (ibid., s.v. ciliavV, chilias). By any count, the numbers of angels are exceedingly large (1000 x 1000 and 10,000 x 10,000 [= 101,000,000]). For “judgment” and opening of the “books,” compare John’s vision: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books (bibliva, biblia) were opened. Also another book (biblivon, biblion) was opened, the book of life (o{ ejstin th:V zwh:V, ho estin tēs zōēs, lit. ‘which is of life’). And the dead were judged ( ejkrivqhsan, ekrithēsan) according to their works, as recorded in the books (bibliva, biblia)” (Rev. 20:12).

“I watched then,” says Daniel, “because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire” (v. 11). By “the horn,” Daniel refers to the last little horn with “eyes like human eyes” and “a mouth speaking arrogantly” (v. 8). According to Levine, “The little horn is probably Antiochus IV Epiphanes (8:9; 1 Macc. 1:41-50), who attempted to outlaw Jewish practices” (op. cit., on v. 8). The beast that was put to death (v. 11) is apparently the fourth beast (v. 7), identified by Levine (above) as the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. “As for the rest of the beasts,” says Daniel, “their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time” (v. 12). “Prolonged for a season and a time,” says Levine, means, “although the first three empires are stripped of power, they are not destroyed as the fourth is” (ibid., on v. 12).

Then we come to what is, if not the salient point of this vision, certainly the point of most interest, due to the later application of the vision to Christ. “As I watched in the night visions,” says Daniel,

I saw one like a human being (wn!x$ rbaK4, k ^evar ’ ^enāš, lit. ‘son of man’)

coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One

and was presented before him. (Dan. 7:13, NRSV)

For “one like a human being, compare the NRSV text note b, “Aram. one like a son of man.” See also Jesus’ response to the high priest in his hearing before the council. “Jesus said, ‘I am [i.e., I am the Messiah], and

‘you will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of the Power,’

and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’ ” (Mk. 14:62, citing Dan. 7:13 and Ps. 110:1)

In this reference Jesus represents the Son of Man as “coming with the clouds of heaven,” which reverses direction from the Daniel passage where the son of man approaches God by “coming with the clouds of heaven” (Dan. 7:13).

In the Gospels, “Son of Man” is a Christological title relating Jesus to the “son of man” in Daniel who approaches the throne of God, “coming with the clouds of heaven,” representing his people. The similar phrase in the Hebrew text of Ezekiel addresses the prophet. “He [i.e., the glory of the LORD, chap. 1] said to me: O mortal (MdAxA-NB,, ben-’ādām, lit. ‘son of man,’ ‘son of Adam’), stand up on your feet and I will speak with you” (Ezek. 2:1; cf. 3:1, 4, 10, 17; 4:1 etc.). “Son of Man” in Daniel and the Gospels is an honorific title applied to Christ, usually by himself, whereas, “son of man in Ezekiel stresses the very humanness of the prophet.

The dominion that was taken away from the beasts (v. 12) was given to this “son of man” (v. 14):

To him was given dominion (NFAlwA, šoltān)

and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him.

His dominion (NFAlwA, šoltān) is an everlasting dominion (MlafA NFAlwA, šoltān ‘ālam)

that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one

that shall never be destroyed. (Dan. 7:14, NRSV)

The word translated “dominion” here, according to Holladay, means “dominion, lordship,” and is related to the verb that means “rule,” or even “overpower” (op. cit., s.v. NFAl4wA, šoltān, and Flew4, š ^elēt, Aramaic). We may compare John’s vision again. “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,

‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing’ ” (Rev. 5:11-12, NRSV)

Hebrews 2:5-18

            Christ versus Angels

5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere,

"What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

or mortals, that you care for them?

7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned them with glory and honor,

8 subjecting all things under their feet."

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Hebrews 2:5-18, NRSV)

The following comments are based on relevant comments of January 12 and 13, 2010 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when the readings were Hebrews 2:1-10 and 11-18, and earlier comments as noted there.

The Epistle to the Hebrews alternates between what we might call doctrinal or theoretical sections focused on the identity of Jesus as the final revelation of God and the greater, perfect priest and mediator of salvation to God’s people–sections based on passages from the Hebrew Bible–and stern admonitions to remain faithful to Christ. The scripture texts quoted in chapter one demonstrate that Christ, the “Son” (Heb. 1:2) is greater than the angels. The lesson drawn in the admonition (2:1-4) is that if the law of Moses, thought by many contemporary Jews to have been delivered to Moses by angels–“the message declared through angels” (Heb. 2:2a)–was given with severe sanctions for failure to obey–“every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty” (v. 2b)–we ought to “pay greater attention”–all the more!–“to what we have heard [i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ], so that we do not drift away from it” (v. 1). The solemnity of the first is exceeded by that of the second. Given this a fortiori (for a stronger reason, all the more) argument, the writer asks, “how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation (swthriva, sōtēria)? (v. 3a). This comparison anticipates an important part of the final exhortation to fidelity and steadfastness, and against apostasy (12:18-20). “You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest . . . But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . .” (Heb. 12:18, 21).

“Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels,” says the writer. He (or she) has already demonstrated the superiority of Christ to angels (1:5-14), and the message about Christ to the law declared through angels (2:1-4). So now the writer moves on to discuss how Jesus was made ready to be the perfect priest and leader in the Christian community, the kingdom of God. The admonition about heeding “the great salvation” (v. 3) is followed by an application of Psalm 8 to Jesus. Psalm 8 is quoted and applied to Jesus as the Son of Man, representative human, “who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb 2:9; cf. Ps. 8:4-5). The Psalmist asks, “What are human beings (wOnx$, ’ ^enôsh, ‘man’ AV/KJV) that you are mindful of them (Heb. ‘him’), / mortals (Md!x!-Nb,U, ûven-’ādām, ‘son of man” AV/KJV) that you care for them (Heb. ‘him’)” (Ps. 8:4 [Heb. v. 5]). Notwithstanding the NRSV plural form “them” (due to the inclusive language policy), the writer to the Hebrews apparently takes the words “son of man” as a reference to Jesus, and comments, “As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them (tw:/ aujtw:/, tō(i) autō(i), lit. ‘to him’), but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:8b-9). The reference to being “a little lower than God” or “angels” (Myh9lox#, ’ ^elōhîm, Ps. 8:5 [Heb. v. 6], ‘God’ NRSV, ‘angels’ LXX, which Hebrews follows, and other ancient versions), is related to Jesus’ incarnation, “for a little while . . . made lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). The dominion mentioned in the Psalm (Ps. 8:6) is seen as future for Jesus, “we do not yet see everything in subjection to them/him” (Heb. 2:8). These things are part of making “the pioneer (ajrchgovV, archēgos) of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). According to Frederick William Danker, the word translated “pioneer” refers to “ ‘one noted for beginning something,’ originator, founder” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. ajrchgovV, archēgos, meaning no. 2). Through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, we might say, Jesus prepared the way for our entry into the presence of God.

So the present world, but not the world to come, has been subjected to angelic beings. F. F. Bruce says,

The biblical evidence for the angelic government of the world is early: it goes back to the Song of Moses in Deut. 32. The Septuagint reading of Deut. 32:8 (which has claims to represent the original text) runs thus:

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he separated the children of men,

he set the bounds of the peoples

according to the number of the angels of God.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“The world to come, which is our theme” (NEB) is the new world-order inaugurated by the enthronement of Christ at the right hand of God, the world-order over which he reigns from that place of exaltation, the world of reality which replaces the preceding world of shadows. (The Epistle to the Hebrews, NICNT, 2^nd ed., 1991, p. 71, on Heb. 2:5, with footnote references to Heb. 8:5 and 10:1).

Bruce sees the Psalm as “plainly based on the words of the Creator in Gen. 1:26: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that loves on the earth’.” “Our author,” says Bruce,

applies these words not to the first Adam but to Christ as the last Adam, the head of the new creation and ruler of the world to come. Here is probably a tacit identification of “the son of man” in Ps. 8:4 with the “one like a son of man” in Dan. 7:13, who receives from the Ancient of Days “an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.” (ibid.).

In summary of this part of the Epistle to the Hebrews (1:1-2:18), Bruce puts it this way:

Jesus, the Son of God, is the one to whom the dominion of the world has been committed for all time to come. As the eighth psalm teaches us, God has put everything under the dominion of human beings, and it was the nature of humans–our nature–that the Son of God took upon himself in order to win back this dominion. To do this he had to conquer the devil who had usurped it, and rescue those whom he held in bondage; and he conquered the devil when in death he invaded the realm of death, which the devil had controlled until then. It is because Jesus is truly Man, moreover, that he is qualified to serve as high priest on his people’s behalf; he knows all their trials from his own experiences and therefore can give them the timely help they need. (ibid., p. xix)

As noted above, the quotation from Psalm 8 (in Heb. 2:6-8) is used to support this view of the enthronement of Christ. The Psalm itself wonders at the place of human beings in God’s world; this interpretation takes the reference to “the son of man” (Ps. 8:4; Heb. 2:8 KJV) as a reference to Jesus, “one like the Son of man” (Dan. 7:13 KJV; ‘one like a human being NRSV), that is, representative man, or “the last Adam, the head of the new creation and ruler of the world to come” (Bruce, p. 72 on Heb. 2:6-8a). But this exaltation comes through abasement, Jesus’ “suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste of death for everyone” (v. 9). Jesus, the “pioneer” of our salvation was made “perfect through suffering” (v. 10).

 It is God the Father who makes the Son “perfect through sufferings” (v. 10). Bruce takes this to mean, not that Jesus was somehow “imperfect” before, but rather, “Son of God [who] is the effulgence of his Father’s glory [Heb. 1 :3, Bruce’s translation],” “the perfect Son of God has become his people’s perfect Savior, opening up their way to God; and in order to become that, he must endure suffering and death” (ibid., p. 80, on Heb. 2:10). Jesus, “the one who sanctifies,” and the people, “those who are sanctified,” have the same Father, and “Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (v. 11). In that, the writer takes the speaker in Psalm 22:22, “A Psalm of David” in the superscription, as Christ:

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: (Ps. 22:22 NRSV, Heb. text v. 23)

In quoting, the writer says, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, / in the midst of the congregation I will praise you” (Heb. 2:12, citing Ps. 22:22). And the writer adds quotations. “And again, ‘I will put my trust in him’ ” (Heb. 2:13a, citing Isa. 8:17 LXX , cf. 2 Sam. 22:3 LXX; Isa. 12:2); “And again, ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given me’ ” (Heb. 2:13b, citing Isa. 8:18).

“Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood,” says the writer, “he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-15). According to Bruce, it was by “becoming a human being [that] the Son of God [could] conquer death, which mankind without him could never have done” (ibid., p. 86 on Heb. 2:15). Since he “did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham” (v. 16), he became “like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people” (v. 17). We have seen a transition in chapter 2 from the description of Jesus as the one who brings God’s final revelation, in contrast to the angels, credited with bringing the Mosaic law (2:2), to Jesus as “a merciful and faithful high priest” (v. 17) who, “tested by what he suffered . . . is able to help those who are being tested” (v. 18; cf. 4:14-15). The writer thus describes a significant function of Christ’s “priesthood.”

Matthew 28:16-20

The Commissioning of the Disciples (Mk 16.14-18; Lk 24.36-49; Jn 20.19-23; Acts 1.6-8)

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:16-20, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from April 8, 2010 (Thursday of Easter Week, Year Two), when the were repeated from May 21, 2009 (Ascension Day, Year One), when comments were based on relevant comments from August 2, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two), when the reading was Matthew 28:11-20, those of May 1, 2008 (Ascension Day, Year Two), and earlier comments as noted there:

The concluding paragraph of Matthew’s Gospel, known to us as the Great Commission, reports that “the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them” (Mt. 28:16). Matthew admits to some doubt among the disciples, saying, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (v. 17). And Jesus introduces his “marching orders,” we might say, for the church. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’ ” (v. 18). His final instruction here ends the chapter and the Gospel according to Matthew. “Go (poreuqevnteV, poreuthentes) therefore and make disciples (maqhteuvsate, mathēteusate) of all nations (pavnta ta; e[qnh, panta ta ethnē ), baptizing (baptivzonteV, baptizontes) them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching (didavskonteV, didaskontes) them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (vv. 19, 20a). The word translated “nations” ( e[qnh, ethnē, plural of e[qnoV, ethnos) is often translated “Gentiles” (e.g., Mt. 10:5). In other words, the overall message of Matthew’s Gospel is for all people, not just for Jews, as apparently and temporarily in Matthew’s version of the mission of the twelve (10:5-15).

This command is one sentence with one main verb, “make disciples” (maqhteuvsate, mathēteusate). “Go,” at the beginning is a participle in Greek, aorist (past) tense: “Having gone, make disciples . . .” It has the force of a command: we are to go and make disciples, but the going, the “having gone” is a circumstantial participle. The main thing is to make disciples; it’s just that we need to go and be there in order to do that. The other verbs are present participles, which relate to what is involved in making disciples: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (vv. 19b, 20a). For you and me, as individual Christian persons, our going may have been predetermined for us, so we must make disciples where we are. For others the clear call may be to go, but in any case, to make disciples on the journey and upon arriving. But the command is followed by the reassuring promise, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (aijwvn, aiōn)” (v. 20b). The word translated “age,” according to Frederick William Danker, means “an extended period of time” defined by the context, that is, “ ‘a segment of extended time’ age, determined by qualifiers as present or future” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. aijwvn, aiōn, meaning no. 2). In this context, “the end of the age” would be the Second Coming of Jesus, the last judgment, and related events. Compare the related adjective in the phrase “eternal life” (zwh; aijwvnioV, zōē aiōnios, e.g. Jn. 3:15, 16).

A comparable passage in John’s Gospel quotes Jesus’ words in commissioning the disciples: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (Jn. 20:21-23). It is noteworthy that they are sent for ministry as Jesus was sent by the Father, and that he confers on them the Holy Spirit and affirms their power to forgive or retain sins (cf. Mt. 16:19; 18:18). The brief version of Jesus’ commission given in the “longer ending of Mark” is clearly, from manuscript and vocabulary evidence, something added to Mark’s text later: [“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mt. 16:15).] While the statement as such reflects the Lord’s command, it adds nothing to Matthew’s version of the Great Commission.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net