Archive for the ‘Sabbath’ Tag
Above: Jesus and His Disciples
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Genesis 3:9-15
Psalm 61:2-5, 8 (LBW) or Psalm 28 (LW)
2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Mark 3:20-35
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O God, the strength of those who hope in you:
Be present and hear our prayers;
and, because in the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do nothing good without you,
give us the help of your grace,
so that in keeping your commandments
we may please you in will and deed,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24
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O God, from whom all good proceeds,
grant to us, your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration we may think the things that are right
and by your merciful guiding accomplish them;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 64
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In the great mythology of Genesis 3, the knowledge of good and evil is not intellectualized and academic. No, this is lived knowledge. One can have this knowledge of good and evil only by performing good and evil. The consequences for humans include the inevitable estrangement from God, who had required only obedience. This estrangement from God is the opposite of what we read in the selected psalms and in the epistle lection. In Christian terms, the point of the Incarnation and the Atonement is to reverse that estrangement. Thus, as one can read in the Epistle to the Ephesians, Christ breaks down the walls of estrangement have from each other. Nevertheless, O reader, as you may observe, even Christians rebuild these walls of estrangement and separation. How ironic is that tendency?
The lection from Mark 3 brings us to the topic of the unpardonable sin. The textual context is invaluable in understanding the unpardonable sin–blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The context of the inability to discern between good and evil–in this case, manifested in attributing the deeds of Jesus to an alliance with Satan–indicates estrangement from God. This estrangement is of human origin. Those who, for any reason, persist in this estrangement from God cut themselves off from God, who reaches out to them. Many of them may not know of their estrangement from God.
In textual context of the Gospel of Mark, we can read 3:1-6, in which Jesus scandalously healed a man with a withered hand in a synagogue on the sabbath. That story tells us that some conventionally pious people–other Jews–sought to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath for healing that unfortunate man on that day. In Mark 3:1-6, all the educators are Jewish, so we read of an intra-Jewish dispute. Verse 5 tells us that Jesus felt anger toward those accusers and grieved their hardness of heart. Verse 6 informs us that plotting for the death of Jesus ensued immediately. So, Mark 3:20-35 plays out in the context of a conspiracy to kill Jesus–in the name of God, of course.
Religion–regardless of its label–is what adherents make of it. If one seeks justification for killing people, one can find it. One may have to distort that religion to locate that mandate or permission slip, but seeking usually culminates in finding. And if one is prone to being merciful and compassionate, one can find justification for that in religion, too. As David Bentley Hart astutely and correctly observes, there is no such thing as generic religion.
In Mark 3, the religion is Second Temple Judaism. The existence of capital offenses in the Law of Moses is a fact. Yet so are cultural considerations of antiquity relative to the first century of the Common Era. Lest we Christians rush to judgment against Judaism, the Law of Moses, or those conspiring Pharisees and Herodians, may we not neglect the logs in our proverbial eyes and the violent sins of our tradition. We have the blood of victims of crusades, inquisitions, pogroms, and wars of religion on our collective hands. David Bentley Hart contextualizes this violent past by (a) explaining that the drivers of it were usually political, and (b) that the religious moral vision exposes the sinfulness of such violence. That is a nuance–one worth considering while never minimizing the devastation of such violence.
Lambasting long-dead Pharisees and Herodians is easy. Condemning long-dead Christians for killing in the name of Jesus (himself executed horribly) requires minimal moral effort, too. But think, O reader: Is there someone whose death you would cheer? Have you ever applauded anyone’s execution, murder, or any other mode of death? If so, are you any different from those whom you deplore for plotting or committing violence, especially in the name of God? If so, you may be estranged from God. This estrangement need not persist, though.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 3, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTY-FIFTH DAY OF LENT
MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK
THE FEAST OF LUTHER D. REED, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS BURGENDOFARA AND SADALBERGA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESSES, AND THEIR RELATIVES
THE FEAST OF MARC SAGNIER, FOUNDER OF THE SILION MOVEMENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY OF EGYPT, HERMIT AND PENITENT
THE FEAST OF REGINALD HEBER, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CALCUTTA, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SIDNEY LOVETT, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND CHAPLAIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Christ and the Apostles
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Psalm 81:1-10 (LBW) or Psalm 142 (LW)
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Mark 2:23-28
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Lord God of all nations,
you have revealed your will to your people
and promised your help to us all.
Help us to hear and to do what you command,
that the darkness may be overcome by the power of your light;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24
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O God,
whose never-failing providence sets in order all things
both in heaven and on earth,
put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things;
and give us those things that are profitable for us;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 62
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The Sabbath is a divine gift. The Deuteronomistic version of the Ten Commandments explains that the Sabbath is a mark of freedom; a free person, not a slave, gets a day off from work each week. This explanation differs from that in the version of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. In Exodus 20:11, the Redactor explains the rationale for the Sabbath as emulating God.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. God liberates us. God frees us to be out best possible selves, communities, congregations, et cetera. In turn, obedience is hardly an onerous requirement. Even during persecution, we are free to cry out to God for deliverance. And we, as those who follow God, can follow it. St. Paul the Apostle is identifying our suffering with that of Jesus. If we suffer with our Lord and Savior–if we take up our cross and follow him–God will not abandon us either. Our triumph may come in the afterlife, but it will come.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. Yet many people, out of misguided piety, transform it into a burden. With that comment I turn my attention to the reading from Mark 2. People have to eat on the Sabbath, do they not? Yes, plucking grain on the Sabbath is work, but the Law of Moses does not forbid all work on the Sabbath. For example, circumcision must occur on the eighth day of a boy’s life, according to the Law of Moses. If that day falls on the Sabbath, so be it. Also, the Jewish tradition understands that keeping some commandments may require violating others, due to circumstances. Prioritizing and ranking commandments is, therefore, necessary.
Yet some people did not receive that memorandum, so to speak.
Lambasting long-dead Pharisees is easy. Examining ourselves spiritually may be challenging, though. Do we have our precious categories, which we maintain strictly and piously, to the detriment of others? Does our piety ever harm anyone or delay someone’s restoration to physical, emotional, or spiritual wholeness? Does our piety ever cause or prolong the suffering of others? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” we practice misguided piety.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 28, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTIETH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF JAMES SOLOMON RUSSELL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, EDUCATOR, AND ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES, ANGLICAN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUNTRAM OF BURGUNDY, KING
THE FEAST OF KATHARINE LEE BATES, U.S. EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHEVENIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
THE FEAST OF SAINT TUTILO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND COMPOSER
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Woodland Stream, by Alexander Demetrius Goltz
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 1
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10
Matthew 22:34-40 (41-46)
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Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity;
and, that we may obtain what your promise,
make us love what you command;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29
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Almighty God, we pray,
show your humble servants your mercy,
that we, who put no trust in our own merits,
may be dealt with not according to the severity of your judgment
but according to your mercy;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 87
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Holiness, in the Bible, pertains to separation from the profane/common (Leviticus 10:10; 1 Samuel 21:5-6; Ezekiel 22:26; 44:23; etc.). Holiness is about complete devotion to God. Holiness, however, is not about legalism, self-righteousness, and serial contrariness. No, holiness is more about what it favors than what it opposes.
Holiness–in its proper sense–manifests itself in life:
- The Holiness code, as in Leviticus 19:1-37, includes honoring parents; keeping the sabbath; refraining from idolatry; offering a sacrifice of well-being properly; feeding the poor; dealing honestly with people; defrauding no one and stealing from nobody; not insulting the deaf; not placing a stumbling block before the blind; rendering impartial justice; loving one’s kinsman as oneself; not mixing different types of cattle, seeds, and cloth; refraining from sexual relations with a slave woman meant for another man; reserving the fruit of the food tree for God for the first three years; eating nothing with blood; avoiding divination and soothsaying; avoiding extreme expressions of grief and mourning; not forcing one’s daughter into harlotry; and eschewing necromancy. Most of the items on this list are absent from the assigned portion of Leviticus 19. Cultural contexts define them.
- “The man” (literal from the Hebrew text) is a student of the Torah. He finds his stability in God, in contrast to the unstable scoffers. When the scoffers find stability, they do not find it in God.
- Holiness is contagious in 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10.
- Jesus knew the influence of Rabbi Hillel (Matthew 22:34-40). Holiness manifests in how we treat each other.
In a dog-eat-dog world, more spiritually toxic since the advent of social media and internet comments sections one does well not to read, loving God fully and loving one’s neighbor as one loves oneself (assuming that one loves oneself, of course) does separate one from the profane/common. Holiness is love, not legalism. Many particulars of holiness vary according to context, but the timeless principles remain constant.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 22, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
THE FEAST OF JOHN DAVID CHAMBERS, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINTS HRYBORII KHOMYSHYN, SYMEON LUKACH, AND IVAN SLEZYUK, UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND MARTYRS, 1947, 1964, AND 1973
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN KEMBLE AND JOHN WALL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYRS, 1679
THE FEAST OF SAINTS THOMAS PERCY, RICHARD KIRKMAN, AND WILLIAM LACEY, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1572 AND 1582
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Adapted from this post
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Above: The Man Without a Wedding Garment, by Jan Luyken
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART XXXVII
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Luke 14:7-35
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Narratively, Luke 14:7-35 follows 14:1-6, a story of Jesus healing on the Sabbath.
Imagine the scene as if you were there, O reader. (This is a fine method of gleaning meanings from scripture.) You have witnessed Jesus, a guest at a meal at the home of a leading Pharisee, heal a man afflicted with dropsy on the Sabbath. You have listened as Jesus defended himself for doing so. You have noticed that Christ reduced his critics to silence.
Then our material for this post begins. The theme of reversal of fortune–a motif in the Gospel of Luke–is prominent here. Another prominent theme is a motif extant in the Old and New Testaments–the divine eschatological banquet. In a social context in which most people did not feast, consider the power of that metaphor, O reader.
Back to our imaginary role-playing game now, O reader…..
Imagine how you would have felt as you, another guest at this meal, listened to Jesus speak after his critics had fallen silent. Perhaps you would have understood what he spoke of when he referred to the shame of social demotion. Maybe you would have grasped the connection between social status and spiritual status, according to conventional wisdom. Would Jesus’s counsel to invite the socially lowly have scandalized you? And how would you have reacted or responded to the Parable of the Great Banquet? What would the facial expressions in the room have been?
You, O hypothetical guest at this meal, probably would not have known that Jesus was en route to Jerusalem to die. Therefore, you probably would have missed the full force of the story about the people who had accepted an invitation then refused it. Yet you probably would have noticed that Jesus was accepting no excuses.
Jesus turned social mores on their heads. Roman elites curried favor via patronage and lavish banquets. By doing this, they gathered influence among people who could repay them. Yet Jesus taught that, in the divine order, true generosity entailed bestowing dignity and respect on those who could never repay one.
All of us are those who can never repay divine generosity. Do we know and accept that? Do we attend God’s banquet, or do we make excuses?
Standard English translations of 14:25-27 use “hate,” an unfortunate rendering. Christ never commanded disciples to hate. He never ordered them to hate relatives and the disciples’ own lives. No, Jesus commanded his disciples to love all of the above less than himself. As we have already established in this series of posts, the priority of following Jesus takes precedence.
Salt cannot lose its taste, scientifically. That fact is crucial to understanding verses 34-35. For salt to lose its taste, it must cease to be NaCl. A disciple who refuses to take up a cross and follow Jesus Christ ceases to be a disciple. A former disciple is like one of the people who had accepted an invitation to the banquet then refused to attend. Such a person will never taste of Christ’s banquet.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 17, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONY OF EGYPT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND FATHER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM
THE FEAST OF SAINTS DEICOLA AND GALL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS; AND SAINT OTHMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AT SAINT GALLEN
THE FEAST OF JAMES WOODROW, SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, NATURALIST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC
THE FEAST OF SAINT PACHOMIUS THE GREAT, FOUNDER OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNAL MONASTICISM
THE FEAST OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS A. DOOLEY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN AND HUMANITARIAN
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Above: Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, by Johannes Vermeer
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART XXVII
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Luke 10:38-42
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July 29 is the Feast of Sts. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany in The Episcopal Church.
The Gospel of Luke has already established that following Jesus outweighs all other obligations. In this context, we read of St. Mary of Bethany, a younger sister, listening to Jesus as a male disciple would. One may imagine the older sister, St. Martha of Bethany, mindful of her hospitable duties, muttering under her breath,
Where is Mary?
After all, somebody had to feed the guest and provide the hospitality. St. Martha played her role. St. Mary of Bethany was a female disciple of Jesus; she played her role.
We need Marys and Marthas. The contemplative life is valid; may nobody disparage it without receiving due criticism in return. The active life is also valid; may nobody criticize it without receiving due criticism in return. Service and contemplation are valid spiritual paths. However, expecting a square peg to fit into a round hole–as in expecting a contemplative to serve as one God is a way incompatible with that spiritual type–is unfair.
I have noticed a disdain for the Christian contemplative tradition within liberal, moderate, and conservative Protestantism alike. I have heard many Protestants dismiss contemplative monastics as being useless. Such Protestants have missed at least to major points and bought into the (Calvinist) Protestant Work Ethic. They have forgotten that the Sabbath–a time of intentional non-productivity–is a way of emulating God. Such critics have also missed the point Jesus made explicitly: St. Mary of Bethany had chosen the better part, and she would not lose it because for her, listening to Jesus was the better part.
I defend both sisters. As one who enjoys knowing that he has done something, I understand St. Martha’s concern. As one with contemplative tendencies and the desire to study the Bible and even to write weblogs about it, I identify with St. Mary, too. Critics of monastics need to reconsider their scorn for the contemplative tradition. If these critics really affirm the efficacy of prayer, they ought to thank God for people who devote their lives to it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 3, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF EDWARD CASWALL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD PERRONET, BRITISH METHODIST PREACHER
THE FEAST OF ELMER G. HOMRIGHAUSEN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
THE FEAST OF GLADYS AYLWARD, MISSIONARY IN CHINA AND TAIWAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ALFRED PASSAVANT, SR., U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND EVANGELIST
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Above: Christ Healing the Man with a Withered Hand
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART XIV
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Luke 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6
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INTRODUCTION
The Gospel of Luke tells four stories (6:1-5; 6:6-11; 13:10-17; and 14:1-6) pertaining to scandalous activities on the Sabbath. For the sake of not repeating myself more often than necessary; I combine the material for all three stories in this post.
The Sabbath is a gift. It is a mark of freedom. (Hebrew slaves in Egypt had no days off.) To keep the Sabbath is to live in freedom and to imitate God. The Sabbath reminds us that we do not need to be productive every day of the week. The Sabbath should inspire joy. Why, then, do so many people transform it into an occasion of boredom and misery? I leave the answer to that question to you, O reader.
Also, ancient diagnoses were unreliable much of the time. Possession does not cause a person’s crippled state, a condition with other origins.
6:1-5
Deuteronomy 23:24-25 permits someone to enter another person’s field and to pluck ears of grain, provided that one does not use a sickle. The Law of Moses also considers reaping and sowing forms of work forbidden on the Sabbath.
We read that some of Christ’s disciples followed the provisions of Deuteronomy 23:24-25, but did so on the Sabbath. We also read that, in their defense, Jesus cited the example of David (1 Samuel 21:1-6). The defense Jesus offered, we read, is that, if David had the authority to overturn Levitical rules when he and his companions were hungry, so did Christ and his disciples, for the same reason.
6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6
According to later rabbinic tradition, the only healing permitted on the Sabbath was that which spared a life. The man with a withered hand was not in a life-threatening situation. Neither were the crippled woman and the man with dropsy. Jesus insisted that the Sabbath is a day to perform good deeds.
The combination of these three healing stories points to the universalism of Christ’s message. A withered hand. Eighteen years of being crippled and bent over. Dropsy. One woman. Two men. The Gospel of Luke casts a large and inclusive net.
AVOIDING STEREOTYPES AND GRASPING THE TRUTH
The Law of Moses is a complex code. Obeying one provision may require a violation of another one sometimes. Therefore, one must rank priorities. We read that, in Jesus, satisfying hunger and helping other people outranked a hypothetical standard. Ideals are necessary, but people live in reality, not hypothetical scenarios.
Jewish tradition before and during the time of Jesus understood the ranking of commandments in conflict with each other. (Modern Judaism still does, too.) In the First Book of the Maccabees, the Hasmoneans–sticklers for the Law of Moses–waged combat on the Sabbath more than once. They reasoned that not waging defensive combat on the Sabbath as necessary would contribute to the failure of their cause, which they carried on in the names of God and the Law of Moses. In the Gospels, Jesus mentioned Pharisaic exceptions to Sabbath-keeping.
So, what was really going in these stories? Why were critics of Jesus and his disciples unjustly critical? I posit that Jesus and his disciples threatened the traditional understandings of what was orthodox and proper. As I keep repeating ad nauseum, O reader, heaping scorn upon long-dead scribes and Pharisees is easy. Doing so is part of a self-righteous effort if one is not careful. Examining oneself for undue rigidity is another matter–and a vital one.
I reject Gentile stereotypes of Judaism. (I grew up with them.) These are traditional misunderstandings born of ignorance, not malice. Yet the often feed malice, at worst. At best, these stereotypes lead to misunderstanding certain Bible stories.
Nevertheless, legalistic people have always existed. Some otherwise commendable pushing back against stereotypes of Judaism have ignored or minimized this point. I have chosen to eschew stereotypes and false, easy answers, in favor of recognizing reality.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 28, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST (TRANSFERRED)
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Above: Illustration of a Spider Web (Isaiah 59:5)
Image in the Public Domain
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READING THIRD ISAIAH, PART III
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Isaiah 56:1-59:21
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Third Isaiah, First Zechariah, and Haggai had to explain why previous prophecies of heaven on earth after the end of the Babylonian Exile had not come to pass. (I have already covered Haggai-First Zechariah.) Third Isaiah spoke of sinful and rebellious people within Israel opposing God’s righteous rule. According to Third Isaiah, the end of the Babylonian Exile was not the inauguration of heaven on earth. No, it was a foretaste of heaven on earth.
Isaiah 56;1-59:21 comes from a time when many Jewish exiles remained in Babylonia (then part of the Persian Empire) and the situation in Judah was difficult. The economy was bad and the drought was severe. The material in Isaiah 56:1-59:21 emphasizes keeping the divine covenant in the context of community. This covenant requires justice. This covenant excludes corruption, idolatry, faithlessness, and superficial piety. This covenant includes all who keep it–even foreigners and eunuchs (see Ezra 9; Ezra 6:21; Deuteronomy 23:2; Leviticus 21:16-23). This covenant, therefore, moves beyond some of the exclusionary parts of the Law of Moses and welcomes the conversion of Gentiles. This covenant entails keeping the Sabbath, by which one emulates God.
The Sabbath, in this context, had a particular meaning. Keeping it indicated commitment to the ancestral faith, the faith to which the society was supposed to be returning. Keeping the Sabbath was part of a just society, as well as a mark of freedom. People were free to be their best in God. Many did not want to pursue that goal.
Without going too far down the rabbit hole of necessary compromises regarding Sabbath-keeping in Judaism in antiquity and the present day, I point out that some people have to perform certain work on the day designated in their tradition as the Sabbath. I also affirm that keeping Sabbath, whichever day a tradition or an adherent to it does so, is necessary, proper, and beneficial. Keeping Sabbath is not being productive. Being productive should not be the greatest value or one of the greatest values in a society. It is, actually, a form of idolatry when raised to that high a priority. My worth as a human being comes from bearing the image of God, not in how productive I am (or can be) and how much I purchase (or can afford to buy).
God judges unrepentant sinners and helps the righteous and penitent, we read. God balances judgment and mercy. God could not ignore what the society of Judah was doing to itself, we read. When Judahites oppressed each other, God could not pretend this was not occurring, we read. Divine judgment and mercy are inseparable. They are like sides of a coin.
Sadly, the warnings in Isaiah 56:1-59:59:21 remain relevant in 2021. What we mere mortals do–collectively and individually–matters. God is watching us.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES
THE FEAST OF CATHERINE LOUISA MARTHENS, FIRST LUTHERAN DEACONESS CONSECRATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1850
THE FEAST OF GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR RYGH, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY IN NEW ZEALAND; HIS WIFE, MARIANNE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JANE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; AND HER HUSBAND AND HENRY’S BROTHER, WILLIAM WILLAMS, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WAIAPU
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN POSTEL, FOUNDER OF THE POOR DAUGHTERS OF MERCY
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Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART IX
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Ezekiel 16:1-63
Ezekiel 20:1-44
Ezekiel 23:1-49
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This project of reading the Book of Ezekiel is part of a larger project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in chronological order. I know already, based on this larger project alone, that the Hebrew prophetic books are repetitive. For example, idolatry is, metaphorically, sexual–prostitution and/or adultery. This metaphorical prostitution is, functionally, pagan temple prostitution, common in the ancient Near East into New Testament times (from Genesis 38:15 to 1 Corinthians 6:15f). Also, much of the language of this sexual metaphor is Not Safe for Work (NSFW) and replete with shaming.
The Bible is not G-rated.
Ezekiel 16 is not G-rated. It uses the marital metaphor, also present in Isaiah 8:5-8; Isaiah 49-54; Isaiah 66:7-14; Jeremiah 2-3; Hosea 1-3; Zephaniah 3:14-20.
Robert Alter provides perhaps the most memorable synopsis of Ezekiel 16:
Among the themes of Ezekiel’s prophecies, the most striking expression of neurosis is his troubled relation to the female body. Real and symbolic bodies become entangled with each other. In biblical poetry, a nation, and Israel in particular, is quite often represented as a woman. God’s covenant with Israel–see Jeremiah 1–is imagined as a marriage, and so the bride Israel’s dalliance with pagan gods is figured as adultery or whoring. This is a common trope in biblical literature, but the way Ezekiel articulates it is both startling and unsettling.
The most vivid instance of this psychological twist in Ezekiel is the extended allegory of whoring Israel in chapter 16. The allegory here follows the birth of the nation in Canaan–represented with stark physicality in the image of the infant girl naked and wallowing in the blood of afterbirth, then looked after by a solicitous God–to her sexual maturity and her betrayal of God through idolatry. The focus throughout is on Israel as a female sexual body. Thus, the prophet notes (as does no other biblical writer) the ripening of the breasts and the sprouting of pubic hair. The mature personification of the nation is a beautiful woman, her beauty enhanced by the splendid attire God gives her (this is probably a reference to national grandeur and to the Temple). Yet, insatiably lascivious, she uses her charms to entice strangers to her bed: “you spilled out your whoring” (given the verb used and the unusual form of the noun, this could be a reference to vaginal secretions) “upon every passerby.” Israel as a woman is even accused of harboring a special fondness for large phalluses: “you played the whore with the Egyptians, your big-membered neighbors.” She is, the prophet says, a whore who asks for no payment for her services. “You befouled your beauty,” he inveighs, “and spread your legs for every passerby.” All this concern with female promiscuity is correlative with Ezekiel’s general preoccupation with purity and impurity.
It is of course possible to link each of these sexual details with the allegory of an idolatrous nation betraying its faith. But such explicitness and such vehemence about sex are unique in the Bible. The compelling inference is that this was a prophet morbidly fixated on the female body and seething with fervid misogyny. What happens in the prophecy in chapter 16 is that the metaphor of the lubricious woman takes over the foreground, virtually displacing the allegorical referent. Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person.
—The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Volume 2, Prophets (2019), 1051
Corinne L. Carvalho comments:
In Israel, spouses were not equal partners; women were legally and socially subservient to their husbands. Betrothal and marriage were contractual arrangements by which a woman became the exclusive “property” of her husband, even before the actual marriage. In practical terms, this meant that her husband was her sole sexual partner from the moment of betrothal. Since men could have more than one wife, adultery occurred only when it involved a married woman; it was a crime, punishable by death, against the sole property rights of a wronged husband (Lev 18:20; 20:10; Deut 22:22).
Ezekiel 16 plays on these elements of marriage. God is the one who owns Jerusalem, and Jerusalem owes him her exclusive allegiance and fidelity. Anything less gives him the legal right to punish her. Ezekiel 16 uses hyperbole and inflammatory rhetoric to achieve a shocking literary effect. Here, the author utilizes a common metaphor, the city as God’s wife, in ways that border on pornography. (Modern translations tone down the sexually explicit language of the Hebrew texts.) It is an image to provoke a response.
–in Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament (2015), 1431
Ezekiel 16 concludes on a sexually graphic metaphor of future restoration (verses 59-63). After all, to “know” is frequently a euphemism for sexual intimacy.
And I Myself will establish the covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
–Ezekiel 16:62, Robert Alter, 2019
Consider the following verse, O reader:
Thus you shall remember and feel shame, and you shall be too abashed to open your mouth again, when I have forgiven you, for all that you did–declares the Lord GOD.
–Ezekiel 16:63, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
I feel too abashed after reading Ezekiel 16.
My library contains a variety of editions and versions of the Bible. The Children’s Living Bible (1972) is one of these. The artwork depicts a smiling Jesus holding lost-and-found sheep, smiling at children wearing attire from 1972, and generally smiling. The volume also includes Ezekiel 16. I imagine a child reading Ezekiel 16 and asking a horrified parent about the contents of that chapter. I also imagine that parent’s horror that the tyke was reading a volume that included the term, “son of a bitch” (1 Samuel 20:30). Just wait for Ezekiel 23!
Ezekiel 20 continues the themes of idolatry and apostasy. The text dwells on the sabbath. This suggests that the sabbath had become important, as a substitute for the Temple, during the Babylonian Exile. The sabbath is foundational in the covenant. The sabbath is also a sign of a free person in the context of liberation from slavery in Egypt. And to keep the sabbath is to emulate God, the creator and original keeper of the sabbath.
God, as depicted in Ezekiel 20, is not worthy of emulation, respect, love, and awe:
- God, according to 20:9, 14, 22, and 44, acts selfishly, to preserve the divine reputation.
- God gave the people “laws that were not good and rules by which they could not live (20:25) then promised to destroy the people as punishment for obeying the bad laws and disobeying the impossible rules (20:26).
Chapter 20 exists in the shadow of Ezekiel 18–about individual moral accountability to God. The verdict on the people of Judah, in the yet-future context of the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) is damning.
Ezekiel 20 concludes on a note of future restoration, but not for the sake of the covenant people:
Then, O House of Israel, you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for My name’s sake–not in accordance with your evil ways and corrupt acts–declares the Lord GOD.
–Ezekiel 20:44, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
I wonder how many agnostics and atheists grew up devout, with this understanding of God, or one close to it. That theology may explain their current spiritual status as they properly reject that understanding of God yet go too far and remain out of balance.
Ezekiel 23 returns to the imagery of idolatry as harlotry. It also returns to the category of Not Safe for Work. (What was it with Ezekiel and sex?) Break out the plain brown wrappers again, O reader! The text speaks of the Babylonian Exile as punishment for persistent, collective, and unrepentant idolatry.
Some G-rated details (There are some.) require explanation:
- Samaria, the capital of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel, is, metaphorically, Oholeh, “her tent.” One may recall that, in the theology of the Hebrew Bible, the Presence of God dwelt in a text then in the Temple. We read of the fall of the Kingdom of Israel and of the causes of that collapse.
- Jerusalem, the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, is, metaphorically, Oholibah, “my tent is in her.”
- Ezekiel 23 condemns the kingdoms’ foreign alliances. This is an old Hebrew prophetic theme, albeit one other prophets presented in less graphic terms.
I try to maintain a spiritual and theological equilibrium. The God of Ezekiel 16, 20, and 23 is a self-absorbed, abusive, and misogynistic monster. This is not my God-concept. Neither is the God of my faith anything like a cosmic teddy bear or a warm fuzzy. No, the God of my faith holds judgment and mercy in balance. I do not pretend to know where that balance is or where it should be. The God of my faith also loves all people and models selflessness. Neither is the God of my faith a misogynist or any kind of -phobe or bad -ist. The model for the God of my faith is Jesus of Nazareth, God Incarnate. I read stories of Jesus having harsh words for those who deserved them and compassion for the desperate. I understand Jesus as being stable, unlike Ezekiel, apparently.
Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person.
–Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (2019), 1051
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 27, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 8: THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF CORNELIUS HILL, ONEIDA CHIEF AND EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ARIALDUS OF MILAN, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC DEACON AND MARTYR, 1066
THE FEAST OF HUGH THOMSON KERR, SR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST; AND HIS SON, HUGH THOMSON KERR, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JAMES MOFFATT, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GEORGIAN, ABBOT; AND SAINTS EUTHYMIUS OF ATHOS AND GEORGE OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN, ABBOTS AND TRANSLATORS
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Above: Icon of Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XII
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Jeremiah 17:1-20:18
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The Hebrew prophetic books are repetitive. When one reads the genre methodically, one realizes this. Pardon me, therefore, O reader, for not explaining every repeated theme in Jeremiah 17:1-20:18.
Jeremiah 17:1-4 uses powerful imagery to condemn illegitimate worship at cultic sites. Proverbs 3:3 and 7:3 refer to the tablet of the heart, on which the divine commandments are inscribed. Yet in Jeremiah 17:1, those tablets are inscribed with the guilt of Judah instead. Such a heart symbolizes disobedience to God in Ezekiel 2:4 and 3:7. Eventually, God will make a new covenant, one inscribed on the hearts of the people (Jeremiah 31:31-34). For now, however, repentance is not an option. The sins of Judah, not the reparation blood (Leviticus 4:1-7, 13-20), are on the stones of the altar.
2 Kings 22-23 tells of the religious reformation of King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.). One may read Jeremiah 17:1-4 and surmise that 17:1-4 predates those reforms or that his four successors presided over a rollback of those reforms. Either option is feasible. The second option may be more likely.
God is faithful and forever. Even the most pious and benevolent people, those who keep the covenant, are not forever. The Book of Jeremiah focuses on God and on those who are neither pious nor benevolent, though.
Returning to the imagery of the human heart in 17:9-10, we read that the human heart is crooked and deceitful. The germane Hebrew word, suggestive of deceit, means “crooked.” The human heart is the most crooked thing, we read. This is a spiritual and moral pathology.
Jeremiah 17:11 speaks for itself.
Jeremiah’s desire for vengeance (17:18) was predictable. I have known the same desire under less severe circumstances. Maybe you have, also, O reader.
The Deuteronomic perspective in the Book of Jeremiah and other Hebrew prophetic books teaches that the (northern) Kingdom of Israel and the (southern) Kingdom of Judah declined and fell because of persistent, unrepentant, collective disregard for the moral mandates of the Law of Moses. This is the perspective written into much of the Old Testament, from the perspective of the editors after the Babylonian Exile. Jeremiah 17:19-27 singles out violations of the Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:14)–especially commercial transactions–as being emblematic of widespread, systemic disregard for the covenant.
Sabbath-keeping has long been a feature of Judaism and Christianity. Keeping the Sabbath–a sign of freedom in the Law of Moses–has been a way of emulating God. On the seventh day, in mythology, God created the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3). Sabbath-keeping has always been challenging, in practical terms. Stopping all work on that day (however one defines it) has always been impossible. Certain work has always been crucial to perform on the Sabbath, and members of the clergy have had to take their Sabbath some other time in the week. The Hasmoneans, zealous keepers of the Law of Moses, bowed to reality and engaged in defensive combat (1 Maccabees 2:31-48; 1 Maccabees 9:23-73; 2 Maccabees 15:1-19). If they had done otherwise, they would have lost battles and lives needlessly.
Sabbath-keeping works to the benefit of people. Everyone needs to take time off to live. One should work to live, not live to work. Structural economic factors may restrict one’s options in keeping the Sabbath as one would prefer to do. Also, the common good requires, for example, that public health and safety continue on the Sabbath. Time off is a mark of freedom. Slavery assumes many forms; one can be a wage slave.
The prophecy of the potter (Jeremiah 18:1-12) is familiar, and popular with lectionary committees. I have written about it while blogging through lectionaries. I bring your attention, O reader, to a key point: God, the Creator, is free to handle His creation as He sees fit. I am a piece of pottery, not the potter.
People kept plotting against Jeremiah. Had I been Jeremiah, I would have complained to God, too. I would have prayed to God to show no mercy on the plotters, also. I, too, may have rued the day of my birth. Jeremiah was only human. God knew that before calling Jeremiah to be a prophet.
Jeremiah made no allies by following God’s instructions in Chapter 19 and symbolically smashing a jug. That act led to a flogging and a brief incarceration. Jeremiah suffered intensely and briefly, but Passhur the priest was going to experience “terror all around.” Judah was failing; nobody could change that.
Many people in authority like to maintain their power. Some of them peacefully resign themselves to the realities of age, health, constitutional term limits, and election results; others do not. Many people in authority are servant leaders; others are tyrants or would-be despots. I suppose that nobody in authority wants to hear that the institution, nation-state, kingdom, empire, et cetera, is doomed. Yet how one handles that news is a test of character. Besides, power reveals a person’s character. And, as Heraclitus said,
A man’s character is his fate.
I wonder how Passhur the priest felt in 586 B.C.E., after the Fall of Jerusalem. I wonder if he remembered the words of Jeremiah and wept bitterly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 10, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES OF NISIBIS, BISHOP; AND SAINT EPHREM OF EDESSA, “THE HARP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK C. GRANT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR; AND HIS SON, ROBERT M. GRANT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF SAINTS OF GETULIUS, AMANTIUS, CAERAELIS, AND PRIMITIVUS, MARTYRS AT TIVOLI, 120; AND SAINT SYMPHROSA OF TIVOLI, MARTYR, 120
THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDERICUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF THOR MARTIN JOHNSON, U.S. MORAVIAN CONDUCTOR AND MUSIC DIRECTOR
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Above: Jonathan
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1, 2 AND 4 MACCABEES
PART XXV
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1 Maccabees 9:23-73
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Demetrius I Soter (Reigned 162-150 B.C.E.)
Alcimus, High Priest (In Office Before 162-159 B.C.E.)
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Jonathan, son of Mattathias and brother of Judas Maccabeus, led the Hasmonean Rebellion, starting in 160 B.C.E.
His story will occupy blog posts in this series through 1 Maccabees 13:30.
Times were perilous. Bacchides, as governor, was victorious. The Hasmoneans were on the run. A severe famine affected the land. After the abduction and murder of a brother (John Gaddi), Jonathan led a raid and avenged John Gaddi’s death. And again (see 1 Maccabees 2:29-41), Hasmoneans had to defend themselves on a Sabbath (1 Maccabees 9:43f). In the Seleucid/Hellenstic year 153 (159 B.C.E.), Alcimus died in agony (1 Maccabees 9:54-57). The theme of retribution, prominent in 2 Maccabees (see 4:38, 5:8-10, 13:3-8, and 15:28-36), played out in 1 Maccabees, too.
While Jonathan and his brother Simon worked together to rebuild fortifications, Bacchides continued to fight back. Yet the Hasmoneans were regaining momentum. Bacchides returned his prisoners of war and left Judea.
Taking up residence in Michmash, Jonathan began to govern the people and root the apostates out of Israel.
–1 Maccabees 9:73, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Nevertheless, King Demetrius I Soter remained on the Seleucid throne, at least for a little while longer. The Hasmonean Rebellion had not ended.
In purely human terms, Seleucid efforts against Jonathan failed because of the lack of effective Seleucid leadership. Conversely, Jonathan succeeded against the odds because, in part, he offered effective leadership. Also, Jonathan won enough popular support for the Hasmonean Rebellion. Well-armed military forces have failed throughout the past to control sufficiently mobilized populations. Populations that have made themselves ungovernable have triumphed over those–not always foreigners–who would govern them.
The anonymous author of 1 Maccabees added another point: God was on the side of the Hasmoneans. God may have been on their side. Assuming that was true, that point did not nullify or contradict my points in the previous paragraph.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 15, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015
THE FEAST OF BEN SALMON, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PACIFIST AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MICHAEL PRAETORIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND MUSICOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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