Sermon, Hillcrest United Methodist Church, May 23, 2010

Deuteronomy 16:9-12

9 You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall keep the festival of weeks to the LORD your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the LORD your God. 11 Rejoice before the LORD your God–you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you–at the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 12 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes. (Deuteronomy 16:9-12, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with some editing and supplement from May 11, 2008 (Pentecost Sunday, Year Two), when they were repeated with some editing from June 4, 2006 (Pentecost Sunday, Year Two).

In Deuteronomy, chapter 16, instructions are given for three festivals: Passover (Hs1P@, pesach) (Deut. 16:1-8; cf. Exod. 12:1-13, 21-23; Lev. 23-5-6; Num. 28:16, 17-25), the Feast of Weeks (tOfbuw@ gH1, chag š ^evu‘ôth) (vv. 9-12; cf. 34:22; Lev. 23:15-16; Num. 28:26), and the Feast of Tabernacles (tKos0uh1 gH1, chag hassukōth) (vv. 13-15; cf. Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:33-43; the cross-references here for the three feasts are from Bernard M. Levenson, NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Deut. 16:1-8, 9-12, and 13-15 respectively; compare his notes on these passages in The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, pp. 400-403).

After the instructions about Passover (Deut. 16:1-8), the Israelites are told: “You shall count seven weeks (tfobuw@ hf!b4w9, šiv‘āh š ^evu‘ōth; LXX eJpta; eJbdomavdaV, hepta hebdomadas); begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain” (v. 9). Levenson sees here an indication of the origin of this festival. “The Festival of Weeks . . . ‘Shavuot,’ [was] originally , a ‘festival of harvest (Ex. 23:16) celebrated in June. In postbiblical Judaism, the festival came to be associated with the Revelation at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-20); in the New Testament it is called Pentecost because it begins on the fiftieth day after Passover (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8)” (ibid., on Deut. 16:9-12). The term “Pentecost,” is from the Greek word for “fiftieth,” as in reference to the year of Jubilee as the “fiftieth year”: “And you shall hallow the fiftieth (Myw09m9H3ha, hach ^amiššîm; LXX to; penthkostovn, to pentēkoston) year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (Lev. 25:10a, cf. v. 11). The instructions for the Festival of Weeks continue (Deut. 16:9), “then you shall keep the festival of weeks to the LORD your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the LORD your God” (v. 10). Of “freewill-offering,” Rabbi J. H. Hertz says, “i.e. with a gift adequate to the ability of the offerer. On Passover, the Israelite’s offering was prescribed; but on the Feast of Weeks, each pilgrim offered what he felt disposed to give” (Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, on Deut. 16:10).

The people are told to rejoice at this time of feasting. “Rejoice (TAH4maW!&v4, w ^eśāmachtā, 2^nd person, masculine singular verb form), before the LORD your God (j~yh,lox$, ’ ^elōheykā, ‘your [2^nd sing.] God)–you (hTAxa, ’attāh, 2^nd masc. sing. pronoun ‘you’) and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you–at the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name” (v. 11). Although this list includes “daughters,” “female slaves” and “widows,” it appears that the “wife” is not included. Rabbi Hertz quotes an explanation that seems focused on the man. “ ‘It is a man’s duty to be joyful and glad at heart on the festivals, he and his wife and his children and those dependent upon him. Make the children happy by giving them sweets and nuts; and the womenfolk by buying them frocks and jewellery according to your means. It is also a duty to give food to the hungry, to the fatherless, and to the widow as well as to other poor people’ (Shulchan Aruch)” (ibid., on v. 11). But Levenson clearly has a different perspective: “The command to rejoice before God at the central sanctuary specifies the inclusion of women (as v. 14; 12:12, 18). That the wife is not named separately in the list implies that the law regards the male and female adult citizen as equals. Contrast the more formulaic vv. 16-17, which is slavishly adopted from its source in Exodus” (The Jewish Study Bible, on Deut. 16:11). Note the emphasis upon a central sanctuary as the place for worship, an important theme in Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 12). This instruction about the Festival of Weeks concludes with a typical reminder. “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes” (16:12). Levenson says, “In postbiblical Judaism, the festival came to be associated with the revelation at Mount Sinai (Exod. Chs. 19-20). The idea underlies the New Testament narrative of the Holy Spirit’s activity at ‘Pentecost’ (Acts 2:3; cf. 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8), the Greek term for which reflects the calculation of ‘fifty days’ (Lev. 23:16)” (The Jewish Study Bible, on Deut. 16:9-12).

“In the Liturgy,” says Rabbi Hertz, “it [i.e., the Feast of Weeks] is described as vntrvt Ntm Nmz ‘the Season of the Giving of our Torah’, viz. the Revelation at Sinai. It is thus both a nature and a historical festival” (op. cit., p. 816, on Deut. 16:10). “Unlike Passover and Tabernacles,” he adds,

the Feast of Weeks has no distinctive ceremony. In many rites, the Book of Ruth, presenting a charming picture of agricultural life in ancient Palestine, is read. In many congregations it is also customary to spend the first night of Shavuos in reading selections from the Torah and the Prophets, as well as from Rabbinic literature. . . . A more universal custom is to decorate the synagogues with flowers and plants on this Festival . . . On Shavuos, the Jewish child was first initiated into the study of the Jewish religion and the Hebrew language. (ibid., pp. 816-817 on Deut. 16:12).

Acts 4:18-21, 23-33

18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.

23 After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25 it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:

'Why did the Gentiles rage,

and the peoples imagine vain things?

26 The kings of the earth took their stand,

and the rulers have gathered together

against the Lord and against his Messiah.'

27 For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." 31 When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:18-21, 23-33, NRSV)

The following comments are based on comments on Acts 4:18-31 of September 6, 2009 (the Sunday closest to September 7, Year One), when comments were based on those of April 18, 2009 (Saturday of Easter Week, Year One), when comments were repeated from August 8, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 3, Year Two), when comments were repeated from April 14, 2007 (Saturday of Easter Week, Year One) on Acts 4:13-21(22-31), when comments were repeated from August 11, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 3, Year Two), when they were combined and revised from April 2, 2005 (Saturday of Easter week, Year One), and from September 4, 2005 (Sunday of the week of the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). Compare the comments of May 11, 2008 (Pentecost Sunday, Year Two) and earlier as noted there.

In the period following Pentecost (Acts, chap. 2), Peter and John, when at the temple in Jerusalem “at the hour of prayer” (3:1), healed a lame man (vv. 1-10). When a crowd gathered in astonishment (v. 11), Peter spoke to the people, saying that the healing was due to faith in Jesus, the one whom you “killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead” (v. 15). After further preaching (vv. 17-26), the apostles attract the attention of Jewish leaders: “the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, [who were] much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead” (4:1b, 2). Peter’s preaching about resurrection apparently irritated especially the Sadducees. In any event, Peter and John were arrested (4:3) and brought before the council of “rulers, elders, and scribes” (v. 5). At the hearing–postponed until morning (v. 3)–the Council found Peter to be forthright and outspoken. When asked, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (v. 7b), that is, the healing of the lame man (3:1-10), Peter responds, accusing the Jewish leaders of complicity in the crucifixion of Jesus. “Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” (4:10).

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus” (v. 13). And they were stymied, because “when they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition” (v. 14). Given this incontrovertible evidence, “they ordered them [i.e., the apostles] to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another” (v. 15). Due to the “notable sign” that they “cannot deny” (v. 16), they decide that “to keep it from spreading further among the people, [they should] warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name” (v. 17). “So they called them,” says Luke, “and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). With this the present reading begins. The apostles appeal to a higher law–a principle used by some Christian groups such as the early Quakers when they found themselves caught between their conscience and the state on various issues such as conscription for war or payment of state-imposed “tithes.” Peter and John point out that they must listen to God. “But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard’ ” (vv. 19-20).

So Peter and John were released for the time being. “After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened” (v. 21). Luke points out that “the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old” (v. 22). As we know they will be arrested again later (5:18) after further healings (5:12-16). But after their first release they rejoined the community of disciples “and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (4:23). And the believers responded with rejoicing and praising God. “When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them” (v. 24). And they continue by quoting the Second Psalm, through which “you [Sovereign Lord] . . . said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant” in lines probably originally used to celebrate the coronation of a Davidic king:

'Why did the Gentiles rage,

and the peoples imagine vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand,

and the rulers have gathered together

against the Lord and against his Messiah (CristovV, Christos), (Acts 4:25-26, citing Ps. 2:1-2, NRSV)

In their interpretation, according to Luke, they saw recent events as fulfilment of the Psalm’s statements. “For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed ( e[crisaV, echrisas), to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:27-28). Note the relation of the verb “anoint” to “Messiah” (Christos). In this interpretation of the Psalm, the chief priests of Jerusalem become the “Gentiles” who rage against the Christians, the kings and rulers who have opposed the Lord and his Messiah, but for Luke himself, for whom this arrest of Peter and John was history, it probably meant various kinds of opposition to the Christian movement not only from Jewish leaders, but from Roman officials from the level of local magistrates to the emperor himself. Even the “threats” against the “Messiah” were seen as fulfilment of the Psalm, but they pray for “boldness.” “And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness (parrhsiva, parrēsia), while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (vv. 29, 30).

They saw these events, including threats (v. 29), as fulfilment of the Psalm’s statements. The apostles’ prayer is not for protection against such oppression, but rather for “all boldness” (v. 29), a prayer that saw something of an immediate answer. “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness (parrhsiva, parrēsia)” (v. 31). According to Frederick William Danker, the word for “boldness” is used “of freeness in speech, as opposed to being under constraint to watch one’s words, straightforwardness, candor, unguardedness” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. parrhsiva, parrēsia, meaning no. 2). In this interpretation of the Psalm, the chief priests of Jerusalem become the “Gentiles” who rage against the Christians, the kings and rulers who have opposed the Lord and his Messiah, but for Luke himself, for whom this arrest of Peter and John was history, it probably meant various kinds of opposition to the Christian movement not only from Jewish leaders, but from Roman officials from the level of local magistrates to the emperor himself.

Today’s reading closes with the beginning of a summary (vv. 32-35). “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common” (v. 32). According to F. F. Bruce,

The Spirit-filled community exhibited a remarkable unanimity which expressed itself even in the attitude to private property. Whereas the institution of a communal purse was explicitly regulated in writing at Qumran, the action taken by these early disciples of Jesus was intended to be voluntary. Members regarded their private estates as being at the community’s disposal; those who owned houses or lands sold these in order that they might b e more conveniently available to the community in the form of money. The richer members thus made provision for the poorer, and for a time no one had any need to complain of hunger or want. (The Book of Acts, NICNT, rev. ed., 1988, pp. 100-101, on Acts 4:32-35)

According to Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “This second summary of the common life of believers (cf. 2:42-47) emphasizes the sharing of property in a way consistent with the Hellenistic ideal of friendship” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 4:32-37). But the central theme remained salvation through Christ. “With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the LORD Jesus, and great grace was upon them all” (v. 33).

John 4:19-26

19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." (John 4:19-26, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from January 22, 2010 (Friday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when comments on John 4:16-26 were based on comments on John 4:1-26 from March 7, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were repeated from August 13, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 10, Year Two), when comments on John 4:1-27 were repeated from January 24 and 25, 2008 (Thursday and Friday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany), when the reading was, respectively, John 4:1-15 and John 4:16-26. Some of these comments were based on earlier comments, as noted there.

In the story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman of Samaria (Jn. 4:1-42), we hear an exchange about the woman’s husband (or husbands). “Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ ” (Jn 4:16-18). Dr. Barbara Worden (my wife) has a sermon on the Samaritan woman. The whole story of Jesus’ encounter with her is treated in the comments for January 21, 22 and 23, 2010 (Thursday through Saturday, in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), with considerable quotation from Dr. Worden. For the present context, she raises a question:

In verses 16-18, Jesus bluntly refers to the woman’s complex and unorthodox marital situation. Why is the way he describes it something the Samaritan woman can accept while she takes so much trouble to avoid her peers’ comments, which seem similar? The difference is the way and the purpose of Jesus remarks. Jesus names her deeds and situation, then goes on. The woman is not her five husbands or the man who is now not her husband. She has a greater calling as an evangelist. In Jesus’ eyes, his voice, his demeanor, his personality, the woman sees a new Samaritan woman, someone who will worship in spirit and truth. Someone who cannot be limited by not worshiping God in the right place, Jerusalem, or her lifestyle, her ethnicity, her gender or anything less than Jesus’ vision of who she can be in God.

According to Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., Jesus presents “an observation, not a judgment against the woman, and divorce is not the only possible explanation of her past” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Jn. 4:17-18).

“Sir,” says the woman, “I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem” (vv. 19-20). The woman thus raises an issue of religious difference between the Jews and the Samaritans. “This mountain,” according to Hendricks, is “Mount Gerizim, near Shechem, where the Samaritan temple had once stood (see 2 Macc. 6:2). Some years ago I ordered a set of slide pictures of the Holy Land from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. One of the pictures was of modern day Samaritan priests celebrating Passover on Mt. Gerizim. On an Internet web site, Bible Picture Gallery, there is “an early photograph” of a Samaritan synagogue and the notation: “In Nablus, or Shechem, is the only synagogue of the Samaritans, descendants of the remnant of the Northern Kingdom of Israel” (http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/Pictures/JewishW/In%20Nablus%20or%20Shechem%20is%20the%20only%20synagogue%20of%20the%20pa.htm, accessed again, May 20, 2010; copy and paste the URL address). Jerome Murphy-O’Connor describes the site: “The modern houses on the plateau below the summit belong to the Samaritans who live there during the forty days of the feast of Passover; the lambs are sacrificed in a fenced area south of the road, just before the dirt track leading to Tel er-Ras. Previously the sacrifice took place in a fenced area of flat rock on the very summit” (The Holy Land; and Oxford Archaeological Guide, 1998, p. 361, cited on the Internet http://books.google.com/books?id=GhPlUt1kz-wC&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=gerizim+samaritan+worship&source=web&ots=IHiuRwiElM&sig=cxUrpr040btKyzqgjGR7Z_VdjCI, accessed again, May 20, 2010; copy and paste the URL address). If that is now unavailable, consider the Internet site, “Walking in their Sandals,” with its page on Mount Gerizim and link to pictures, http://www.ancientsandals.com/overviews/mount_gerizim.htm, accessed again, May 20, 2010.

Jesus’ response to the woman transcends the difference between Jews and Samaritans as to the proper place for worship. “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem’ ” (v. 21). According to Hendricks, with the words, “nor in Jerusalem,” Jesus says “the Jerusalem Temple has only a provisionally divine sanction and status; Jesus thus brings into question its legitimacy (cf. 2 Sam. 7:5-7; Jer. 35:2-9; Acts 7:48)” (on vv. 20-21). He does credit the Jews with being God’s channel for salvation. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (v. 22). But he places an important qualification on this Jewish “prerogative.” “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such as those to worship him” (v. 23). And Jesus adds, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (v. 24). “In [Jn] ii 21 it was Jesus himself who was to take the place of the Temple,” says Raymond E. Brown,

and here it is the Spirit given by Jesus that is to animate the worship that replaces worship at the Temple. Notice that it is a question of worshiping the Father in Spirit. God can be worshiped as Father only by those who possess the Spirit that makes them God’s children (see Rom. viii 15-16), the Spirit by which God begets them from above (John iii 5). This Spirit raises men above the earthly level, the level of flesh, and enables them to worship God properly. (op. cit., on Jn 4:23-24)

The woman responds with what Dr. Worden calls “the traditional concept of the Messiah.” “I know that Messiah is coming,” she says, and the Evangelist says, parenthetically, “who is called Christ” (v. 25a). And she adds, “When he comes he will proclaim all things to us” (v. 25). Take note of Jesus’ response, when “he said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you’ ” (v. 26). According to Dr. Worden, Jesus introduces her to the Messiah, himself. In so doing he does for her something he doesn’t do for the apostles until a lot later, telling her his true identity.”

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net