Daily Scripture Readings

Thursday (July29, 2010)*

Daily Office Lectionary, The Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1979; cf. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), Abingdon Press, 1992

Daily Lectionary, Book of Common Worship, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1993

Daily Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing) ‡

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm

http://www.pcusa.org/lectionary

YOU MAY NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THESE URLs IN YOUR BROWSER

‡ Daily Lectionary, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA, 2006. In the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book of 2006, the Daily Lectionary (pp. 1121-1153) is revised to correlate with the Sunday Lectionary (the Revised Common Lectionary) on the three year cycle: Year A, Year B (now current), Year C. “The readings are chosen so that the days leading up to Sunday (Thursday through Saturday) prepare for the Sunday readings. The days flowing out from Sunday (Monday through Wednesday) reflect upon the Sunday readings” (p. 1121).

Unless otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1989.

Thursday

AM Psalm [70], 71

PM Psalm 74

Judges 4:4-23

Acts 1:15-26

Matt. 27:55-66

Mary and Martha [& Lazarus] of Bethany

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Mary&Martha.htm

Psalm 36:5-10

Ruth 2:5-12; Romans 12:9-13; John 11:1-7, 17-44

Eucharistic Readings:

Jeremiah 18:1-6; Psalm 146:1-5;

Matt. 13:47-53

Thursday

Morning: Psalms 143; 147:12-20

Judges 4:4-23

Acts 1:15-26

Matt. 27:55-66

Evening: Psalms 81; 116

Thursday

Morning Pss.: 36, 147:13-21

Joshua 3:14‑4:7

Rom. 12:1‑8

Matt. 26:1‑16

Evening Pss.: 80, 27

 

Year C Daily Readings

Psalm 49:1-12

Proverbs 23:1-11

Romans 11:33-36

* Thursday in the week of the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two

 

For the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for July 15, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

 

Episcopal and Presbyterian Readings:

 

Judges 4:4-23

 

            4 At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand’.” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

            11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

            12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. The LORD is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. 15 And the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, 16 while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

            17 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No’.” 21 But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. 22 Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

            23 So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan. (Judges 4:4-23, NRSV)

 

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from July 31, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two), when they were repeated from August 3, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two).

 

As chapter 4 of Judges opens, the cycle continues. “The Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died” (Judg. 4:1). The evil is not specified here, but one can assume some form of idolatry such as the worship of “Baal and the Astartes” (2:13; cf. 3:7). In consequence, “the LORD sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan” (Judg. 4:2a), According to K. Lawson Younger, Jabin, who is mentioned in Joshua 11:1 and Psalm 83:9, “plays a role only in the prologue and epilogue of the story [of Deborah]” (NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Judg. 4:2). Alish Ferguson Eves summarizes the situation:

 

In this stage of the spiral Israel is a terrorized and oppressed people living in the hills (Judg. 5:6-8). This stage is full of incongruities and contrasts. On one side is the overwhelming twenty-year-long military superiority of the Canaanites and their iron-furbished chariotry (Judg. 4:1-2) based at Hazor north of the Sea of Galilee. On the other side is Israel, whose “strengths” are a woman prophet, a spineless army commander and whole tribes that prefer not to get involved (Judg. 5:15-18). Only God can bring victory in that situation and his main agents are women. (The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 133 on Judg. 4:1-5:31)

 

“At that time,” says the narrator, “Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging (HFAp4wo, šÇf et~h) Israel” (Judg. 4:4). The term HFAp4wo, (šÇf et~h) is the feminine form of Fpewo (šÇf‘t), plural MyF9p4wo (shÇfetîm) (2:16), which, in the Book of Judges MyF9p4wo (shÇfetîm) is better “deliverers” or “saviors” (cf. comments for July 27, 2010, two days ago). The attempt of Daniel I. Block to downplay this aspect of the term in Deborah’s case seems gratuitous, to say the least (Judges, Ruth, The New American Commentary, vol. 6, pp. 193-194 on Judg. 4:5), but, while noting the shortcomings of other judges, he praises Deborah.

 

The moral and spiritual characters of the governors who follow Deborah display a rapid downward spiral. Far from being solutions to the Canaanization of Israelite thought and ethic, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson were themselves all parts of the problem. These are not noblemen; they are ‘antiheroes.’ But as the only unequivocally positive major personality and as the only one involved in the service of God prior to her engagement in deliverance activities, she stands out as a lonely figure indeed. (ibid., pp. 194-195)

 

Deborah “used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment” (Judg. 4:5). But she takes charge to free Israel from the Canaanite oppression.

 

She sent and summoned Barak son Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulon. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand” ’ (Judg. 4:6-7, NRSV)

 

When summoned, Barak says, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go” (v. 8). According to Younger, “Barak’s insistence that Deborah accompany him diminishes his heroic stature. The honor will go to a woman” (op. cit., on Judg. 4:8-9). Eves says that Barak “triggers the emergency situation by his overdependence on Deborah and implied lack of trust in God” (op. cit., on Judg. 4:1-10). Deborah agrees. “I will surely go with you,” she says, but she reminds Barak, “nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (v. 9a). So she “got up and went with Barak to Kedesh” (v. 9b). This was apparently a journey of some 90 miles (cf. the scale of map presented by Herbert G. May and others, eds. (Oxford Bible Atlas, 3rd ed., 1984, repr. 1985, p. 49). Nancy L. Lapp says, “Kedesh in Galilee [was] a site identified with modern Tell Qadis northwest of Lake Huleh,” and adds that “the Kedesh where Heber pitched his tent and Sisera escaped (Judg. 4:11, 17) was probably [the] northern site, near Canaanite Hazor and away from the center of Israelite strength” (The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. s.v Kedesh 2). But the battle site is identified as further south. Yairah Amit says “Wadi Kishon [cf. vv. 7, 13], one of the branches of the Kishon [was] the most important of the brooks of the Jezreel Valley. This branch flows close to Taanach and Megiddo and is referred to in the song as ‘Megiddo’s waters’ (5:19)” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Judg. 4:7). So “Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh [the two northernmost tribes] to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him” (v. 10).

 

“Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,” we are told, “that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh” (v. 11). As identified by May and others, Elon-bezaanannim (Zaanannim) is about 27 miles south of Kedesh west of the Sea of Galilee (op. cit., p. 62, cf. p. 143 in the Gazetteer). The reference to “Heber the Kenite anticipates the exploit of Heber’s wife, Jael (vv. 17-22; cf. Younger on Judg. 4:11). According to the narrator, “When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, [he] called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon” (vv. 12-13). However, Deborah commands Barak to attack, with assurance of victory: “Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the day on which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. The LORD is indeed going out before you’ ” (v. 14a). In response, “Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him” (v. 14b).

 

As promised, the LORD fights for Israel. “And the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim” (vv. 15, 16a). As indicated in the Song of Deborah, the panic was apparently due to flooding of the Wadi Kishon.

The torrent Kishon swept them away,

The onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. (Judg. 5:21a, b)

“Harosheth-ha-goiim,” at the foot of Mt. Carmel near the Mediterranean coast (cf. May and others eds., op. cit., p. 62), was apparently at a distance of ten or fifteen miles at least from the battle scene. Eves notes that “The very ancient Song of Deborah (Judg. 5:1-31 . . .)describes God’s victory in language, implying an unexpected storm on the plain of Jezreel” (op. cit., p. 133 on Judg. 4:11-24; cf. 5:5:4, 21).

 

But the decisive end of the conflict is the action of Jael, who, according to Younger, “demonstrates ancient Near Eastern hospitality, which disarms Sisera” (op. cit., on Judg. 4:12-13). According to the narrator, “Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him ‘Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.’ So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug” (vv. 17-18). Robert G. Boling, revised by Richard D. Nelson, says, “Although Barak pursued the chariots, Sisera has abandoned his and escaped (vv. 15, 17)” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on v. 16), and they add, “Peace between Jabin and Heber explains why Sisera feels comfortable seeking sanctuary in the tent of Jael” (ibid, on v. 17). Having accepted Jael’s “hospitality,” Sisera has requests. “Then he said to her, ‘Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty’ ” (v. 19a). And her response exceeds the request. “So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him” (v. 19b). Sisera’s next request, understandably, seeks to remain safe in the tent. “Stand at the entrance of the tent,” he says, “and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here (wyx9 hPo-wy%2h3, hayēš-pōh ’îš)?’ say ‘No’ ” (v. 20).

?’ say, ‘No’ ” (v. 20). According to Boling and Nelson, “Sisera’s request reveals his confidence in Jael, but also his unmanly fear. In Hebrew the question can be understood as ‘Is there a man here?’ ” (ibid., on v. 20).

 

But, as we are told, Sisera’s confidence in Jael was misplaced. “But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died” (v. 21). At that point, Barak arrives. “Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, ‘Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.’ So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple” (v. 22). Eves says that Jael

 

is kind, hospitable, consoling and motherly, while even in his extremity he [Sisera] acts as the dominant male to a woman alone and defenseless. Then, in the helplessness of his exhausted sleep, Jael bangs a tent peg through his temple. (Tent-pitching was women’s work, and she knew well how to use the stone tent peg and hammer.) ‘And he died!’ (Laughter and cheers from the listening Israelites, male and female.) A defenseless, statusless, weaponless female becomes the victor over the erstwhile commander of “nine hundred chariots of iron.” Commander Barak pants up, a late arrival who finds himself overtaken at the finish line by a mere female. (op. cit., on Judg. 4:11-24)

 

In closing, today’s reading says, “So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites” (v. 22). But the next verse adds emphasis. “Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan” (v. 24). “Jael’s murder of Sisera is narrated,” says Younger, “in the same vivid style as Ehud’s murder of Eglon (3:21-22)” (op. cit., on v. 21). According to Younger, “The three-fold repetition of King Jabin of Canaan stresses the magnitude of the victory over the oppressor” (op. cit., on vv. 23-24).

 

Acts 1:15-26

 

            15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus—17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘Let his homestead become desolate,

and let there be no one to live in it’;

and

‘Let another take his position of overseer.’

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:15-26, NRSV)

 

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from June 16, 2009 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 15, Year One), when comments were repeated from July 31, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from June 19, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 15, Year One), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from August 3, 2006 (Thursday in, the week of the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two), when they were repeated from June 14, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Third Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to June 15, Year One

 

The disciples have been told by Jesus to “stay here in the city [Jerusalem] until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49), a promise repeated in Acts 1:8). Those gathered in the upper room included more than the eleven remaining apostles, but it seems important to have a roll call (v. 13), and to replace Judas (vv. 21-22). Peter takes the lead. “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus’ ” (vv. 15-16). For a scriptural reference to Judas’s betrayal, compare Psalm 41:9, of which Patrick D. Miller says, “Who ate of my bread [is] applied to Judas in Jn. 13:18” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Ps. 41:9). Peter explains: “for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry” (v. 17). Beverly Roberts Gaventa, referring to Peter’s words, “the scripture had to be fulfilled,” says, “For similar emphasis on divine necessity, see, e.g., 3:21; 9:16; Lk. 24:44. It is not clear whether Luke refers to a specific passage of scripture or to scripture in a general sense” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 1:16). The reference to “us” (v. 17) means “the apostles,” according to Christopher R. Matthews (NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Acts. 1:17). Parenthetically, Luke explains the death of Judas. “Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama ( +Akeldamavc, Hakeldamach), that is, Field of Blood” (vv. 18-19). The name of the field is Aramaic, xmAD4 lqeH3 (ch aq‘l d em~’), “field of blood” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 2000, s.v. +Akeldamavc, Hakeldamach). Matthews says, “Compare the gruesome death of Herod Agrippa in 12:23,” and adds, “According to Matthew 27:5, Judas hanged himself” (NOAB, 3rd ed., on Acts 1:18). Peter explains by citing scripture: “For it is written in the book of Psalms,

‘Let his homestead become desolate,

And let there be no one to live in it’;

And

Let another take his position of overseer (hJ ejpiskophv, hē episkopē)’ ” (Acts 1:20, citing LXX Ps. 68:26 = Heb. Ps. 69:25, and LXX 108:8; cf. Heb. Ps. 109:8)

The Septuagint’s words hJ ejpiskophv (hē episkopē), compare ejpivskopoV (episkopos, “overseer,” or “bishop”), translate hDAquP4 (pequdāh), which can mean “office” or “administration” (William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10th corrected impression, 1988, s.v. hDAquP4,pequdāh). In Psalm 109:8, as in Acts 1:20, the NRSV has “position” (cf “office” Ps. 109:8 AV/KJV, and “bishoprick” Acts 1:20 AV/KJV with “Or office, or charge” in the margin). The Psalm, of course, is about one’s enemy, as Judas turned out to be. Matthews interprets Peter’s meaning: “Scripture foresaw the situation (Ps. 69:25) and dictates a course of action (Ps. 109:8). In Acts citations from the Hebrew Bible are based on the Greek version, the Septuagint” (ibid., on Acts. 1:20).

 

So Peter infers the need to replace Judas, and presents the criterion: the person chosen must have been with the disciples from the beginning, and must be a witness to Jesus’ resurrection: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection” (vv. 21-22). Loveday Alexander makes this observation about the replacement of Judas:

 

But the defection of Judas also creates a theological problem, not only because of the symbolic significance of the number 12 (Lk. 22:30), but also because of the high value Luke places on the apostolic office. He has already stressed that the apostles were ‘chosen’ by Jesus and taught by him ‘through the Holy Spirit’ (v. 2). Judas’ treachery shows that neither fact constitutes an automatic guarantee of fidelity. For Luke, acts of treachery against the Spirit (especially if there is a financial motive) are punished by God; cf. Acts 5:1-11. (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2004, p. 1031, on Acts 1:13-26)

 

Alexander adds that “Peter’s call for a replacement for Judas, based . . . on an appeal to scripture (v. 20), reinforces the identity of the group at this crisis point in its existence, and also constitutes a de facto recognition of his own authority in the group” (ibid.). In the selection process, two were nominated, “Joseph called Barsabbas who was also known as Justus, and Matthias” (v. 23). “Neither Justus nor Matthias appears elsewhere in the NT,” says Gaventa (op. cit., on v. 23); however, Matthews says, “Nothing else is known about Joseph (but see 15:22) and Matthias” (op. cit., on v. 23). In Acts 15:22, “Judas called Barsabbas” is named as one of the leaders sent with Paul and Barnabas with the letter about the decision of the Jerusalem council. As the story continues in Jerusalem, “Then they [i.e., the disciples] prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place’ ” (Acts 1:24-25). It is God’s decision, they understand, as to who are to be the leaders of his church. “And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles” (v. 26). “On casting lots to determine God’s will,” says Gaventa, “see Prov. 16:33” (op. cit., on v. 26). Matthews puts it this way: “Cast lots [allows] Jesus (the Lord of v. 24) to choose. Lots were widely used in the ancient world for religious and social decisions and are often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Lev. 16:8; 1 Chr. 25:8-9). Compare the use of “Urim” and “Thummim” (1 Sam. 14:41).

 

Matthew 27:55-66

 

Witnesses of the Crucifixion

 

            55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

 

The Burial of Jesus (Mk 15.42-47; Lk 23.50-56; Jn 19.38-42)

 

            57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

 

The Guard at the Tomb

 

            62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. (Matthew 27:55-66, NRSV)

 

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from July 31, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two), when comments were repeated from August 3, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two):

 

As noted on each of the last three days, an accompanying table may help to demonstrate continuity in this part of the Passion Narrative. It is found in the file, Crucifixion Outline, with titles and references for eleven sections (Mt. 27:24-66 and parallel passages), which is less than the complete Passion Narrative, but perhaps helpful for us at this point. Full texts relevant to today’s reading, and those of the last three days, may be found in a file called Crucifixion. These files have been relevant for the readings for Monday through Thursday of this week (July 26-29, 2008; cf a similar series of readings from Mark in the Archives for Sept. 3-5, 7, 2009, Thurs., Fri., Sat. in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year One, and the following Mon.; cf. also the readings from Luke for July 3-4, 6, 2009, Fri. and Sat. in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One, and the following Mon.).

 

 

Events after Jesus “breathed his last” (Mt. 27:50; cf. Mk. 15:39) may be compared to the first subsection today, Witnesses of the Crucifixion (Mt. 27:55-56; Mk. 15:40-41; Lk. 23:49; Jn. 19:24b-27). In Mark, as soon as Jesus “breathed his last,” the centurion said, “Truly this man was God’s Son” (Mk. 15:39; Mt. 27:54). The equivalent saying of the centurion in Luke is, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Lk. 23:47), which echoes Pilate’s true verdict (Lk. 23:4, 14, 15, 20, 22; cf. Jn. 18:38; 19:4, 6, 12) and that of one of the criminals (v. 41), but not, of course, the verdict that Pilate issued at the Jews’ insistence (v. 24).

 

In Matthew, immediately after Jesus “breathed his last” (Mt. 27:50), we are told, “At that moment the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom” and “the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (v. 51). We are also told of a kind of anticipation of the final resurrection of the saints: “The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many” (vv. 52-53). According to Krister Stendahl,

 

In [Mt. 27:]52-3 Mt.–and he alone–offers what must have been a piece of a primitive Christology. The resurrection of the righteous (‘saints’) was expected as one of the great events of the End, and it was expected to take place at Jerusalem when the Mount of Olives split in two; out of that split the dead were to appear. Here the earthquake at Jesus’ death (cf. also 28:2) performs the first part of this event while a second (their appearance) comes first after Jesus’ resurrection. It is easy to see how such a witness to the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection did not survive in the main stream of the tradition, since it did not fit into what came to be the basic Christology with Jesus as the ‘first fruit of those who had fallen asleep’ (1 C. 15:20), all the rest awaiting the general resurrection (1 Th. 4:16). But the point made in 51-2 is clear: with Christ the general resurrection has begun; cf. Also Ign. Mag. 9:2. (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprinted 1972, sec. 694 o, p. 797 on Mt. 27:52-53)

 

Stendahl refers to the following from Ignatius’ letter to the Magnesians, chapter IX: “how then shall we be able to live without him, of whom even the prophets were disciples in the Spirit and to whom they looked forward as their teacher? And for this reason he whom they waited for in righteousness, when he dam raised them from the dead” (Ign., to the Magnesians, ix, 2, trans. Kirsopp Lake, 1912 [Loeb Classical Library]; cf the trans. of Philip Schaff, on the Internet web site, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.v.iii.ix.html, accessed again July 29, 2010; you may need to copy and paste the URL).

 

Another observer/participant was the centurion. “Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son (qeou: uiJovV, theou huios)!’ ” (Mt. 27:54; cf. Mk. 15:39; in both Gospels NRSV text notes say “Or a son of God).

 

Matthew refers to “many women” who were observers “from a distance” at the crucifixion, who “had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him” (Mt. 27:55). Of these he names three: “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” (v. 56). Mark’s list is not identical, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome” (Mk. 15:40), but he also notes their support of Jesus’ work and adds that “there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem” (v. 41). Luke has already referred to “a great number of the people” who “followed him” on the way to the cross, including the women who “were beating their breasts and wailing for him” (Lk. 23:27). Jesus told them not to “weep” for him, but to “weep for yourselves and for your children” (v. 28). After Jesus’ death, without naming observers (except for the criminals earlier, and the centurion now), Luke says “when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts” (v. 48). John reports a touching scene in which, with Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene present (Jn. 19:25), Jesus commend’s his mother to the care of “the disciple whom he loved (vv. 26-27). Only John reports that the crucifixion was on “the day of Preparation” (Jn. 19:32, cf. Lk. 23:54, though the reference there may be merely to the preparation for the sabbath), that is the day when the Passover lamb was slaughtered in preparation for the Passover meal that evening. John is clearly following a different calendar than that used in the Synoptic Gospels, where the Last Supper takes place at the Passover meal. John begins that evenings procedures by dating them “before the festival of the Passover” (Jn. 13:1). Galilean Jews may well have been critical of the Jerusalem priesthood, as were the Jews of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Part of that criticism may have been related to the use of a different calendar. O. S. Wintermute points to disagreement in the second century B.C. Book of Jubilees with the normal Jewish calendar.

 

It was important for the author of Jubilees to be assured that the festivals of Israel would fall on the same day of the week year after year. That was possible only if the readers would make use of the special calendar of 364 days (divisible by seven) that was adopted by the particular Jewish community to which the author belonged. Each year in that calendar began on Wednesday and lasted precisely fifty-two weeks so that the following year would also begin on Wednesday . . . The author of Jubilees is an outspoken opponent of the lunar month . . . (from the “Introduction to Jubilees,” in James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, 1985, p. 39).

 

John’s dating becomes the motive for breaking the legs of the crucified men in order to speed their deaths, because “the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity,” that is, the Passover (Jn. 19:31, cf. vv. 31-32). But they found Jesus already dead (v. 33), and settled for piercing “his side with a spear” (v. 34), just to be sure, I suppose. John’s editor reminds us of the veracity of the eyewitness testimony about that (the testimony of the Beloved Disciple?), in a statement which the NRSV puts in parentheses (v. 35). We are told that this part of the crucifixion fulfills the scripture, “None of his bones shall be broken” (v. 36). “Jesus embodies the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:46; see also Ps. 34:20; Jn. 1:29n)” (Obery M. Hendricks, NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Jn. 19:36). In addition, the words, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10) are cited here and applied to Jesus (v. 37).

 

The burial of Jesus is undertaken by Joseph of Arimathea. “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus” (Mt. 27:57; cf. Mk. 15:43; Lk. 23:50; Jn. 19:38a), with the assistance, according to John, of Nicodemus (Jn. 19:39). Joseph was “a respected member of the council [Sanhedrin], who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God” (Mk. 15:43). Luke points out that he “had not agreed to their [i.e. the council’s] plan and action” and, following Mark, adds that “he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 23:51). As noted, Matthew says he was “rich” and “also a disciple of Jesus” (Mt. 27:57). Joseph “went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him” (Mt. 27:58; cf. M. 15:43-45; Lk. 23:52; Jn. 19:38b). John, who earlier has described Nicodemus’s timid protest in the council, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” (Jn. 7:51), now refers to Joseph as “a disciple, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews” (Jn. 19:38). “In view of how Jesus has been treated throughout the passion narrative,” says Dale C. Allison, Jr., “one would anticipate for him [a dishonorable burial]. But thanks to Joseph of Arimathea’s unexpected and reverent intervention, Jesus receives a worthy entombment. Further, like the kings of Israel, he is buried beside Jerusalem (1 Kings 15:8, 24, etc.)” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 885). Mark tells us about Pilate’s first hesitation when Joseph asked for the body of Jesus. “Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead,” says Mark, but when he inquired and “learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph” (Mk 15:44-45). The body was wrapped in a linen cloth (Mk. 15:46; Lk. 23:53). Matthew calls it a “clean linen cloth” (Mt. 28:59), but Mark says that Joseph “bought” it, so it was likely “clean.” John adds Nicodemus’ contribution, “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” (Jn. 19:39). The “myrrh,” says Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., was “a resinous gum which, when mixed with crushed or pounded aloes, was used for embalming. A hundred (Roman) pounds [was] about 34 kg (75 lb)” (op. cit., on Jn. 19:39). After the body of Jesus was laid in the tomb, Joseph “rolled a stone against the door of the tomb” (Mk 15:46; cf. Mt. 27:60, ‘a great stone’). The women from Galilee saw the burial (Lk. 23:55), and “returned and prepared spices” before resting on the sabbath “according to the commandment” (v. 36). Matthew names the women observers: “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb” (Mt. 27:61). Mark refers to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses” (Mk. 15:47; cf. v. 40 and Mt. 27:56).

 

Matthew alone reports the request of the chief priests and the Pharisees for Pilate to secure the tomb with a guard (Mt. 27:62-66). They said to Pilate, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first” (vv. 63-64). When Pilate complied with their request, saying they should use the guard they had (v. 65), “they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone” (v. 66). Dale C. Allison, Jr., calls this an “apologetic tale,” which, he says,

 

refutes the criticism of 28:15, that is, refutes Jewish slander against the disciples by showing that they could not have stolen Jesus’ body–there was a guard and in any case they were nowhere around–and reinforces belief in Jesus’ resurrection: given the guard the empty tomb is a very suggestive sign. One can imagine an exchange between Matthew and critical Jews. Matthew: Jesus rose from the dead and his tomb was empty (28:6). Opponent: did Jesus really die? Matthew: a Roman guard kept watch over him, surely he was dead before his body was released (27:36). Opponent: was there a mix-up in tombs? Matthew: the women saw where Jesus was buried (v. 61). Opponent: the disciples, seeking to confirm Jesus’ prophecy of his resurrection after three days, stole the body. Matthew: the disciples had fled, they were nowhere near (26:56). Opponent: then someone else stole the body. Matthew: a large stone was rolled before the tomb; it was sealed; and Roman soldiers kept watch (2[7]:62 -66), Opponent: the soldiers fell asleep. Matthew: they were bribed to say that (28:12-15). (Allison, pp. 884-885 on Mt. 27:57-66)

 

After citing Psalm 2:1, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” Allison comments, “Jesus’ opponents take every precaution to prevent proclamation of the resurrection: they seal the stone and set a guard. But their efforts are futile: ‘he who sits in the heavens laughs’. Human beings cannot oppose earthquakes and angels and the power of God (ibid.).

 

As noted above, for the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for July 15, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

 

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net