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Daily
Scripture |
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Tuesday
(October 19, 2010)* |
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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 |
Daily
Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on
Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing) ‡ |
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http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi YOU MAY NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THESE URLs
IN YOUR BROWSER |
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‡
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, Year C (now current). “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). |
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Unless
otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised
Standard Version ( |
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Tuesday AM Psalm 26, 28 PM Psalm 36, 39 Ecclus. 6:5-17 Rev. 7:9-17 Luke 10:1-16 Henry
Martin: Psalm 56:8-12 Isaiah 49:1-6;
Romans 1:8-15; John 4:22-26 [William
Carey]: Psalm 119:25-32
Jeremiah 1:4-8;
Romans 10:14-17; Matthew 17:14-20 Eucharistic Eph. 2:11-22;
Psalm 85:8-13; Luke 12:35-38 |
Tuesday Morning: Psalms
54; 146 Ecclus. 6:5-17 or
Micah 3:1-8 Rev. 7:9-17 Luke 10:1-16 Evening: Psalms
28; 99 |
Tuesday Morning Pss.:
123, 146 Hosea 7:8-16 Acts 23:12-24 Luke 7:1-17 Evening Pss.:
30, 86 |
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Year C Daily Psalm 57 1 Samuel
25:23-35 James 5:7-12 |
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* Tuesday in
the week of the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week
of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two |
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For the Lutheran
Episcopal and Presbyterian
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 6:5-17
Friendship, False and True
5 Pleasant speech multiplies friends,
and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies.
6 Let those who are friendly with you be many,
but let your advisers be one in a thousand.
7 When you gain friends, gain them through testing,
and do not trust them hastily.
8 For there are friends who are such when it suits them,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
9 And there are friends who change into enemies,
and tell of the quarrel to your disgrace.
10 And there are friends who sit at your table,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
11 When you are prosperous, they become your second self,
and lord it over your servants;
12 but if you are brought low, they turn against you,
and hide themselves from you.
13 Keep away from your enemies,
and be on guard with your friends.
14 Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
15 Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
16 Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
17 Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright,
for as they are, so are their neighbors also. (Ecclesiasticus 6:5-17, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from October 21, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from October 24, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from October 19, 2004 , (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two); they are repeated again here with editing and supplement:
Jesus Ben Sira talks about friends and friendship, true
friends and those who disappointment us. Burton L. Mack, revised by Benjamin G.
Wright III, explains that this reading is “a unit that contrasts true and false
friends [and] shifts the preceding reflections on integrity away from students
and to associates” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on
Ecclus. 6:5-17). “Pleasant speech multiplies friends (fivloi, philoi),” says Ben
Sira, “and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies” (Sirach. 6:5). One should
welcome friends, for, as he says, “Let those who are friendly with you (oiJ
eijrhneuvontevV soi, hoi
eirēneuontes soi, ‘live peaceably with you’) be many” (v. 6a),
but such friends will not necessarily be good advisers, for he adds, “but let
your advisers be one in a thousand” (v. 6b). For the most part in this reading,
the word for “friend” or “friends” is fivloV (philos), singular (7 times; plural in vv. 5, 13). The reference to
a typical “friend” becomes plural in the NRSV translation. “When you gain
friends (eij kta:sai fivlon, ei ktasai philon, lit. ‘if
you gain a friend’), gain them [lit., ‘him] through testing” (Ecclus. 6:7); cf.
“When you make a friend, begin by testing him” (6:7
Why should we not trust friends hastily?
We may ask? Ben Sira’s answer is that “there are friends who are such
when it suits them, / but they will not stand by you in time of trouble” (v.
8). Some will go farther, for “there are friends who change into enemies, / and
tell of the quarrel to your disgrace” (v. 9). In Proverbs true friendship is
compared to that of a brother. “Some friends (Myfire, rē‘îm) play at friendship (f1ferot4hil;, lehithrō‘ē‘a‘)
/ but a true friend (bhexo, ’ōhēv)
sticks closer than one’s nearest kin (Hx!&me, mē’āch, lit., ‘than a brother’ cf. AV/KJV)” (Prov.
18:24 NRSV). The second part of this verse from Proverbs is clear enough, but
William L. Holladay translates the hitpolel
of II ffr (r ‘ ‘) as used
here as “beat each other up, destroy each other” (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971,
10th corrected impression, 1988). Some friendship! Various milder translations
(cf
Some friends “who sit at your table,” are fair-weather friends who “will not stand by you in time of trouble” (v. 10). They may be attracted not by who you are, but by your wealth. “When you are prosperous,” says Ben Sira, “they become your second self, / and lord it over your servants; / but if you are brought low, they turn against you, / and hid themselves from you” (vv. 11-12). Compare the observation of “Solomon” in Proverbs. “The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, / but the rich have many friends (MyBi%ra rywi6fA ybehExov4, we’ōhavê rabbîm, lit. ‘the friends of the rich are many’)” (Prov. 14:20). Here, “friend,” as “true friend” above (Prov. 18:24), is the participle of the verb meaning “love.” Ben Sira advises caution: “Keep away from your enemies, / and be on guard with your friends (fivloi, philoi)” (v. 13). Harold C. Washington says, “Just as Wisdom tests her followers ([Sirach] 4:17; 6:21), friends are to be gained through testing ([6:]5-12)” (NOAB, 3rd ed, augmented, 2007, on Sirach 6:5-12). According to Mack and Wright, “In Greek literature of the time, a friend was one who remained true in times of distress and could therefore be trusted with one’s official or private interests and affairs” (loc. cit.).
Following a series of admonitions that mostly warn against
the wrong kind of friends, Ben Sira continues now with a few observations about
“faithful friends” (fivloV pistovV, philos pistos, lit. ‘a faithful friend,’ cf.
Micah 3:1-8 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions–see the comments for Thursday, October 7, 2010, twelve days ago.)
Revelation 7:9-17
The Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They
will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for
the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17, NRSV)
The following comments are based on relevant comments from those on Revelation 7: (4-8) 9-17 of October 31, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One), when comments were based on those of October 20 and 21, 2008 (Monday and Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), when comments were based with some revision and supplement on comments from November 2 and 3, 2007 (Friday and Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year One), comments from October 23, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), and on earlier comments as noted there.
In an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, Revelation 7:1-17, John tells us about people who have been sealed. “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel” (Rev. 7:4). This follows reference to protection, “four angels” who are “holding back the four winds of the earth” (v. 1) and an angel with “the seal of the living God” (v. 2) used to protect people from the coming judgments. This angel says, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads” (v. 3).
As noted previously Revelation 7:4-8 lists “twelve
thousand,” from each of the Israelite tribes: Judah, Reuben and Gad (v. 5),
Asher, Naphtali and Manasseh (v. 6), Simeon, Levi and Issachar (v. 7) and
Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin (v. 8). According to Bruce M. Metzger, “the
explicit number (144,000) symbolizes completeness; not one of the redeemed is
missing” (NOAB, 2nd ed., 1994, on Rev. 7:4). The number, of
course, and the reference to “every tribe of the people of
“The enumeration in terms of the twelve tribes of
There is a curious saying in Jeremiah
8:16: ‘The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the
neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the
land and all that fills it.’ That saying came to be taken as referring to the
Antichrist, the coming incarnation of evil; and it came to be believed among
the Jewish Rabbis that Antichrist was to spring from Dan. Hippolytus (Concerning
Antichrist 14) says: ‘As the Christ was born from the tribe of
The fact that Jeremiah predicts the assault on
Even though the number 144,000 should be considered symbolic, and not an exact count of the “redeemed,” it is comforting to know that John’s visions move on to see “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9). According to Metzger, this refers to “a great multitude of the redeemed, so many they cannot be counted.” “White robes and palm branches,” he adds, “symbolize righteousness and victory” (op. cit., on v. 9). David E. Aune agrees, in essence, but elaborates: “A great multitude [is] a heavenly assembly that may include but is not identical to the 144,000 Israelites mentioned in vv. 4-8; it represents the spiritualized fulfillment of the promise to Abraham (Gen. 22:17; 32:12; cf. Rom. 9:27. Its members are identified in v. 14 as the martyrs who have gone through the great tribulation” (op. cit., on v. 9). According to John, this multitude “cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ” (v. 10). The cry of praise to God and the Lamb by these martyrs is joined by what Metzger calls “a sevenfold ascription of praise to God” (op. cit., on v. 12).
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.’ (Rev. 11-12, NRSV)
“The picture,” says Barclay, “is of a series of great concentric circles of the inhabitants of heaven. On the outer ring stand all the angels. Nearer the throne are the twenty-four elders; still nearer are the four living creatures; and before the throne are the white-robed martyrs. The martyrs have just sung their shout of praise to God and the angels take that son of praise and make it their own” (op. cit., p. 27, on vv. 11, 12).
“Then,” says John, “one of the elders addressed me, saying ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ ” (v. 13). “One of the elders,” says Aune, “functioning in place of the more typical figure of the interpreting angel (1:1; 17:1-18; 21:9-22:5 . . .), provides an explanation of the vision in vv. 14-17” (op. cit., on v. 13). “I [John] said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ ” (v. 14). “The blood of the Lamb,” says Metzger, “cleanses from sin (Jn. 1:29; 1 Jn. 1:7). For “the great ordeal” (v. 14), Aune refers to his earlier comment. “Hour of trial [is] the period of distress and suffering, often called ‘the great tribulation,’ prior to God’s eschatological triumph (7:14; 13:5-10; Dan. 12:1; Mt. 24:21; Mk. 13:7-20; 1 Cor. 7:26; Hermas Visions 2.2.7), probably referred to in the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:13; Didache 8:2)” (op. cit., on 3:10).
In the Book of Revelation, a group of poetic lines often represents a song of praise, for example, 4:11; 5:9-10, 12, 13b; 7:12. But chapter 7 ends with nine poetic lines (vv. 15-17 that complete the elder’s explanation. “For this reason,” he says, “they [i.e. those who “have come out of the great ordeal,’ v. 14] are before the throne of God, / and worship him day and night within his temple, / and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter (skhnwvsei, skēnōsei) them” (v. 15). According to Metzger, they are “before the throne of God, in a favored position because of their faithfulness. To worship God implies activity in heaven” (op. cit., on v. 15). “Shelter them,” he adds, is “literally ‘spread his tabernacle over them’ ” (op. cit., on v. 15). “They will hunger no more,” says the elder, “and thirst no more; / the sun will not strike them, / nor any scorching heat; / for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, / and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, / and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (vv. 16-17). “A paradox,” says Metzger, “the Lamb is a shepherd Ps. 23:1-2; Ezek 34:23-24; Jn. 10:11)” (ibid., on v. 17). “Shepherd,” says Aune, is “a stock metaphor for a king (see 2 Sam. 7:7; Isa. 44:28; Jer. 3:15) in the ancient world generally and a favorite metaphor for Jesus (Mt. 15:24; 25:32; Jn. 10:2; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25)” (op. cit., on v. 17). On “springs of the water of life,” adds Aune, “lit. [it means] ‘springs of living water’ can mean either flowing water (as opposed to the still water stored in cisterns) or water imbued with (eternal) life, a metaphor for salvation (21:6; 22:1, 17; see also Jn. 4:14; 6:35; 7:37-38)” (op. cit., on v. 17).
Metzger’s reference to paradox in verse 17, where “the Lamb
is their Shepherd,” reminds me of the Commencement Address given by T.
Canby Jones when I graduated from
I've been struggling to remember
when I first became enamored with this Quaker way of describing the eternal
struggle against evil into which Christians are called. Since I gave the
commencement address at
John depicts a life and death struggle between the powers of darkness, led by Satan, and the powers of light, led by the Lamb. The enemy was at least personified by Lord Caesar and his Empire, but that was the side ultimately to be defeated. Are we fighting the Lamb’s war with the weapons of peace? T. Canby Jones has more to say about the Lamb’s war:
If we are committed to the Lamb's War and engaged in nonviolent force, Jesus’ command to love enemies is an inescapable demand on us. However difficult, this command is a must! If we cannot practice reconciling love toward enemies, we not only are not fit to engage in the Lamb's War, but we are also not worthy of experiencing his transforming presence and power in our lives.
I must bear personal witness to the fact that just as the act of forgiveness is a gift of sheer grace so is the act of loving our enemies. I find it extremely hard to practice such love. I am tender toward those who try but fail at it. By the same token, I am jubilant and my faith in the Lamb's War is confirmed when I observe someone actually loving an enemy or an oppressor.
It is well to remember in such difficult circumstances that Jesus has promised he will not lay on us such heavy burdens or tasks without giving us the grace and strength to carry them out. (from the online address cited above)
The book of Revelation ends with Jesus’ invitation: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’ / And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come,’ / And let everyone who is thirsty come. / Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift” (Rev. 22:17). God is in the business of including all who do not resist him, not arbitrarily excluding people. As C. S. Lewis once said (in The Great Divorce), “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way’” (cf. The Freeman Institute, Quotable Quotes, an Internet web site: http://www.freemaninstitute.com/quotes.htm, accessed again Oct.18, 2010; search for the quote on the site).
Luke 10:1-16
The
10:1 After this the
Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every
town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest
is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you
out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals;
and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to
this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest
on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house,
eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid.
Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its
people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there,
and say to them, ‘The
Woes to Unrepentant Cities (Mt 11.20-24)
13 “Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Luke 10:1-16, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here from relevant comments on Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 of October 18, 2009 (the Sunday closest to October 19, Year One), and from comments of May 26, 2009 (Tuesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), when the readings were Luke 10:1-17 and Luke 10:17-24, and comments were repeated from October 21 and 22, 2008 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 19, Year Two), when comments were repeated from earlier as noted there.
On Luke 10:1-12
The mission of the Twelve is reported in three Gospels: Matthew 10:1-16; Mark 6:6-13; Luke 9:1-6, but the mission of the Seventy (or Seventy-two) is reported only by Luke (10:1-10, 17-20). Eric Franklin comments on the number:
The MS evidence is fairly divided
and it is not easy to conclude what Luke actually wrote. Both numbers [70, 72]
are linked to the two OT episodes that might be reflected in Luke’s story. Gen.
10 has a list of seventy nations of the world, though LXX has seventy-two. Num.
11 speaks of Moses choosing seventy elders upon whom a portion of the spirit
that was upon him would rest, but since two others shared the gift, this could
be taken as seventy-two. Which of these two episodes influenced Luke’s telling
of the story is not certain. That they were sent ‘before Jesus to every town
and place where he himself intended to go’ suggests the situation of the
world-wide church as it preached and witnessed in anticipation of the return of
Christ. On the other hand, the woes against the Galilean towns of vv. 13-15
point to Jewish perversity which was not wholly other than that which caused
Moses’ appointment of the seventy elders. The episode is certainly related to
the continuing mission to
Jesus gives similar instructions in both accounts. They go
in pairs (Lk. 10:1; cf. Mk. 6:7). Jesus’ saying about the harvest provides
motivation (Lk. 10:2; cf. Mt. 9:37-38). They are sent as lambs / sheep in the
midst of wolves (Lk. 10:3; cf. Mt. 10:16). They are not to take money (Lk.
10:4; Mt. 10:9-10; Mk. 6:8). They are to stay where they are welcomed (Lk.
10:5-6; Mt. 10:11-13; cf. Mk. 6:10), but if not welcomed, they are to find
another house (Lk. 10:6-7; cf Mt. 10:13). They are to “shake off” or “wipe off”
“dust against” those who do not welcome them (Lk. 10:11; Mk. 6:11; Mt. 10:14,
cf. v. 10). They are to preach the
On Luke 10:13-16
In the interval between the going out and the return of the
Seventy, Luke makes brief reference to woes which Jesus pronounced on Chorazin,
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Woes to Galilean Cities † |
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Matthew 11:20-24* |
:Luke 10:13-15* |
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20 Then he began to reproach the cities in
which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. |
13 “Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. |
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Matthew 10:40* |
Luke 10:16* |
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40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” |
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” . 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. (Mark 9:41, NRSV)
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† Cf. Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels, 1982, rev. printing, 1985, secs. 178, 179, pp. 166-1657 * NRSV |
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The woes sayings of Matthew and Luke (Mt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13)
are practically verbatim. The phrase “had been done,” the same in English in
both versions, represents different but essentially synonymous Greek, ejgevnonto (egenonto) in Matthew,
for ejgenhvqhsan (egenēthēsan)
in Luke (both aorist forms meaning “had happened”). Luke includes the word
“sitting” (kaqhvmenoi, kathēmenoi)
in the phrase, “sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” In the next verse, Matthew has
“on the day of judgment” (Mt. 11:22) for Luke’s “at the judgment” (Lk. 10:14).
In the saying about
Today’s reading is followed by a brief report of the return of the Seventy: “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” (Lk. 10:17; cf. Mk. 6:30 and Lk. 9:10 on the return of the twelve).
As noted above, for the Lutheran
Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.