MJN.p2. At this time and for a few years after, many non-Jews would attend Jewish synagogues in search of a more spiritual life. A number of rabbis were eager missionaries among the Gentiles, seeking to win converts to Judaism. But, as Rome became increasingly militant against the Jews, proselytism was strongly discouraged.
Further, the Pharisees forbade Jews to accept Christ. This had the effect of ensuring that most Christians were Gentile, thus toppling the bridge of understanding that linked Gentile Christians with their Jewish forebears. And, the Jewish Christians who had been excommunicated from Jewish society by the Pharisees did not hide their feelings.
As Christianity caught fire among the Romans, despite ferocious attempts to suppress it, the new doctrine soon overshadowed Judaism, which was destined to remain in the wings socially.
These various pressures ensured that Judaism, as defined by the Pharisees, turned inward. Jews were taught to shun proselytism as a response to the hard facts of life under the Romans and later under the Christian kings and popes.
As this state of affairs lasted some two millenia, the unofficial ban on proselytism became a fixed point of Jewish culture in its various adaptations, and remains a fixed point today.
From a born-again person's perspective, proselytism by religions or denominations isn't of much value. The Savior is not a religion. He is the Savior, someone we must come to know on a personal basis.
MJN. rr1. Jesus is quoting Psalm 8:2 in the Septuagint Greek translation of Scriptures, a translation reportedly widely used among Palestinian Jews of the time period.
The children's shouting occurred in the courtyard known both as the Treasury and the Court of the Women, according to plausible reporting.
Leen Ritmyer
https://www.ritmeyer.com/2015/05/15/the-treasury-of-the-temple-in-jerusalem/
Bible History
https://www.bible-history.com/court-of-women/the_temple_treasury.html
MJN.rr2.
At this point, Matthew and Luke add that "whoever falls on this stone will be broken in pieces, but whomever it falls on will be pulverized and blown away." But not all ancient Matthean manuscripts have that verse. Whether Luke's writer included it originally, or whether an editor later added it, is difficult to say. I view the verse as a Christian commentary; we cannot say that the verse was intended as a direct quotation of Jesus, though that is a possibility.
MJN.rr3.
This story is recorded only by Matthew. It certainly sounds like something Jesus might have said, though we cannot be sure he spoke such a parable at that time. We may split hairs and point out that apparently dinner was kept waiting while the army attacked a city. But the Matthean writer was more interested in the point he was making, which is why the parable is placed shortly before Jesus' execution.
That point is that Judaism was about to be forsaken, with God's kingdom enjoyed by the poor and the wretched, whether Jew or Gentile. Worldly Jews, many of whom put on a pious front, would be excluded from the wedding feast. The Romans would come and destroy their city, Jerusalem. And the writer makes sure to get in a word about nominal Christians, whether false prophets or simple bench-warmers. Saying you are Christian is not enough. You must believe in your heart in Jesus as savior. Lip service will land you in outer darkness.
MJN.rr4.
Mark and Luke both have "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." I have found one Matthew version which indicates that the Greek has "God is not of the dead, but of the living." Though the Marcan verses are probably the earliest, we know that both Mark and Luke were addressing many Gentiles. But I suspect that it is possible that Matthew's writer, who spoke Aramaic, intuited the probable original words of Jesus. The more subtle reading of this Matthean variant might be read to imply that the realm of death is not of God. Where God is, there is life. Further, where death is, there is Satan. Before Satan brought about the Fall, there was no death.
In any case, we see that Jesus is rebuking the Sadducees for splitting hairs over a concept they know nothing about because they are playing logic games rather than trying to gain divine insight into what Scripture really means.
Once Jesus was resurrected, eternal life came to everyone who would trust him – with all the heart, mind and strength. That is their resurrection. Though other biblical passage may seem to contradict that point, I suggest that such mysteries will resolve as we progress in our walks with Jesus.
MJN.rr5.
Jesus was referring to the interpretation of Scriptures that point to a Deliverer of Israel who is to be a descendant of David.
Psalm 110 in its entirety presents a vision of a future Messiah king, one with enormous power. In addition that Messiah is to be a priest "after the order of Melchizedek," which refers to a priest king mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20.
The New Testament book of Hebrews points out that this means that the Messiah shows up abruptly, "out of nowhere" so to speak, and is not beholden to the Jewish priestly caste system. Interestingly, Melchizedek means something like My Lord is righteousness.
In any case, it is apparent that David required a Deliverer, who is the second lord mentioned.
The text that Jesus was probably quoting comes from the Septuagint, a translation of Hebrew Scriptures made by Jews residing in Alexandria, Egypt. For reasons of piety, they would not render the tetragrammaton, the four letters representing God's name, into a Gentile language. Thus where the Hebrew has YHVH (or YHWH) – which is often rendered Jehovah or Yahweh – the Greek simply has kyrios (= Lord).[See MJN.qx3 below.] The King James Bible handles this situation by using all uppercase letters in LORD, which tells the knowledgeable reader that the name Jehovah is meant.
But making the text read "Jehovah said to my lord" does not reduce the paradox noted by Jesus. Why would David call this mighty Messiah king lord if this awaited Messiah is to be one of David's descendants?
By this teaching, Jesus showed that the expected Messiah was to be more than God's man of the hour. He was already existing with God before being born among men. Nevertheless, Jesus did not boast to the crowd that he was the Messiah.
This teaching also shows that spiritual descent from God's chosen man, David, is what counts [see MJN.dc1 and MJN.dc2 below]. This is how the Messiah can be descended from David and David descended from the Messiah. Physical descent, which is of the flesh, matters a little, perhaps, but very little. Yet we note that at about a.d. 58, Paul, in Romans 3:1, uses the formula, "The gospel concerning [God's] son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh."
Moreover this teaching appears to challenge what may have been a common thought: that the son of David and the son of God were two different individuals.
MJN.rr6.
Matthew recalls other teachings that are appropriate:
When Jesus urges people to avoid accepting titles such as Rabbi (=Teacher), he is urging them to avoid the tendency to sanctimoniousness that such flattery encourages. Stay low. Jesus was often addressed as "rabbi/teacher," but he never gave himself that title, though he certainly fulfilled that role.
Ostentatious behavior had no appeal for Jesus. What is the point of wearing a sumptuous phylactery (leather box containing Hebrew texts)? The phylactery, as a reminder to keep the Mosaic law, is meant as an aid to spirituality, not as a means of flaunting wealth. Similarly, what is the reason for wearing clothing that shouts "I am rich!" to every passerby? The literal Matthean text says that these individuals "enlarged the borders of their garments." In a day when clothing was expensive (no industrial looms), large collars, cuffs and hem borders were a sign that the wearer had money to burn on the extra cloth – something that was far from true for the impoverished masses.
MJN.1.
Isaiah 62:11
MJN.x0.
Psalm 69:9
MJN.x1.
Isaiah 56:7
MJN.x2.
Jeremiah 7:11
MJN.w1. Psalm 118:22,23
MJN.w2. Wikipedia says of a denarius featuring Tiberius: The inscription on the obverse reads Ti[berivs] Caesar Divi Avg[vsti] F[ilivs] Avgvstvs ("Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus"), and the reverse reads Pontif[ex] Maxim[us] ("Highest Priest").
MJN.z1. From Pontius Pilate – Portraits of a Roman Governor by Warren Carter (Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier 2003).
MJN.r1. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
The Hebrew text translates as Yahweh Elohim Yahweh echad. The slogan lacks verbs and so can be understood in various ways, which, however, are all closely related.
For the early Hebrews, Elohim meant the gods. Yahweh (or Jehovah) was seen as the god that protected the Israelite tribespeople. Later, the tribes came to understand that Jehovah was the only God, that all others were illusions. So the plural term "gods" came to take on the idea of singularity. That is, though one literally said "gods," everyone heard "God." In modern American English, we make the word sports a singular, even though it was formerly a plural.
I believe the purpose of the slogan was to encourage monotheism among Hebrew tribespeople, many of whom were polytheistic. The slogan was probably devised when Deuteronomy was written, soon after the return of the exiles to Judaea in the Persian era. The exiles had evidently absorbed and adapted the monotheism of the Zoroastrians, and saw the polytheism of the pre-exilic tribes as a major reason for the national disaster at the hands of the Assyrian and the second Babylonian empires.
I take the slogan to have meant something close to: "Jehovah and the gods = Jehovah."
MJN.r2. Leviticus 19:18.
MJN.wz1. What Do We Know About Pontius Pilate? by Simon Webb (Langley Press 2018).
MJN.wz2. Nine years later Rome's resort city of Pompei was annihilated by an eruption of Vesuvius. Was this a case of Rome reaping what it had sown?
MJN. 1.
Psalm 110:1-7
MJN.qx2.
Hebrews 7:1-7
MJN.qx3.
Septuagint Psalm 109:1 (=our 110:1)
MJN.pf1. Did the author of Mark indeed compose his book in Rome for a Latin-speaking audience? It is interesting that Mark gives the value of the Greek lepton in terms of the Roman quadrans (literally, quarter), though the Greek word for quarter – kodrantes (as in quadrant) – is used. So we are left to wonder whether the book was first written in Latin and then translated into Greek for use in the Greek-speaking Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
MJN.tx1. King Herod had, 46 years earlier, greatly expanded the Second Temple, and its improvement had been continued since that time. In a.d. 70, the Romans destroyed it.
MJN.dc1. See Raymond E. Brown (Birth of the Messiah, Doubleday/Image 1979) below:
But Brown goes on to argue that relatives of Jesus would have thrown cold water on claims that Jesus was a Davidid if they were false. Would "James the Brother of Jesus," who led the Jerusalem church before his martyrdom in the sixth decade of the First Century, have permitted such talk? Brown wonders.
MJN.dc2. Brown says further in Appendix II of Birth of the Messiah:
Further, the Pharisees forbade Jews to accept Christ. This had the effect of ensuring that most Christians were Gentile, thus toppling the bridge of understanding that linked Gentile Christians with their Jewish forebears. And, the Jewish Christians who had been excommunicated from Jewish society by the Pharisees did not hide their feelings.
As Christianity caught fire among the Romans, despite ferocious attempts to suppress it, the new doctrine soon overshadowed Judaism, which was destined to remain in the wings socially.
These various pressures ensured that Judaism, as defined by the Pharisees, turned inward. Jews were taught to shun proselytism as a response to the hard facts of life under the Romans and later under the Christian kings and popes.
As this state of affairs lasted some two millenia, the unofficial ban on proselytism became a fixed point of Jewish culture in its various adaptations, and remains a fixed point today.
From a born-again person's perspective, proselytism by religions or denominations isn't of much value. The Savior is not a religion. He is the Savior, someone we must come to know on a personal basis.
MJN. rr1. Jesus is quoting Psalm 8:2 in the Septuagint Greek translation of Scriptures, a translation reportedly widely used among Palestinian Jews of the time period.
The children's shouting occurred in the courtyard known both as the Treasury and the Court of the Women, according to plausible reporting.
Leen Ritmyer
https://www.ritmeyer.com/2015/05/15/the-treasury-of-the-temple-in-jerusalem/
Bible History
https://www.bible-history.com/court-of-women/the_temple_treasury.html
MJN.rr2.
At this point, Matthew and Luke add that "whoever falls on this stone will be broken in pieces, but whomever it falls on will be pulverized and blown away." But not all ancient Matthean manuscripts have that verse. Whether Luke's writer included it originally, or whether an editor later added it, is difficult to say. I view the verse as a Christian commentary; we cannot say that the verse was intended as a direct quotation of Jesus, though that is a possibility.
MJN.rr3.
This story is recorded only by Matthew. It certainly sounds like something Jesus might have said, though we cannot be sure he spoke such a parable at that time. We may split hairs and point out that apparently dinner was kept waiting while the army attacked a city. But the Matthean writer was more interested in the point he was making, which is why the parable is placed shortly before Jesus' execution.
That point is that Judaism was about to be forsaken, with God's kingdom enjoyed by the poor and the wretched, whether Jew or Gentile. Worldly Jews, many of whom put on a pious front, would be excluded from the wedding feast. The Romans would come and destroy their city, Jerusalem. And the writer makes sure to get in a word about nominal Christians, whether false prophets or simple bench-warmers. Saying you are Christian is not enough. You must believe in your heart in Jesus as savior. Lip service will land you in outer darkness.
MJN.rr4.
Mark and Luke both have "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." I have found one Matthew version which indicates that the Greek has "God is not of the dead, but of the living." Though the Marcan verses are probably the earliest, we know that both Mark and Luke were addressing many Gentiles. But I suspect that it is possible that Matthew's writer, who spoke Aramaic, intuited the probable original words of Jesus. The more subtle reading of this Matthean variant might be read to imply that the realm of death is not of God. Where God is, there is life. Further, where death is, there is Satan. Before Satan brought about the Fall, there was no death.
In any case, we see that Jesus is rebuking the Sadducees for splitting hairs over a concept they know nothing about because they are playing logic games rather than trying to gain divine insight into what Scripture really means.
Once Jesus was resurrected, eternal life came to everyone who would trust him – with all the heart, mind and strength. That is their resurrection. Though other biblical passage may seem to contradict that point, I suggest that such mysteries will resolve as we progress in our walks with Jesus.
MJN.rr5.
Jesus was referring to the interpretation of Scriptures that point to a Deliverer of Israel who is to be a descendant of David.
Psalm 110 in its entirety presents a vision of a future Messiah king, one with enormous power. In addition that Messiah is to be a priest "after the order of Melchizedek," which refers to a priest king mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20.
The New Testament book of Hebrews points out that this means that the Messiah shows up abruptly, "out of nowhere" so to speak, and is not beholden to the Jewish priestly caste system. Interestingly, Melchizedek means something like My Lord is righteousness.
In any case, it is apparent that David required a Deliverer, who is the second lord mentioned.
The text that Jesus was probably quoting comes from the Septuagint, a translation of Hebrew Scriptures made by Jews residing in Alexandria, Egypt. For reasons of piety, they would not render the tetragrammaton, the four letters representing God's name, into a Gentile language. Thus where the Hebrew has YHVH (or YHWH) – which is often rendered Jehovah or Yahweh – the Greek simply has kyrios (= Lord).[See MJN.qx3 below.] The King James Bible handles this situation by using all uppercase letters in LORD, which tells the knowledgeable reader that the name Jehovah is meant.
But making the text read "Jehovah said to my lord" does not reduce the paradox noted by Jesus. Why would David call this mighty Messiah king lord if this awaited Messiah is to be one of David's descendants?
By this teaching, Jesus showed that the expected Messiah was to be more than God's man of the hour. He was already existing with God before being born among men. Nevertheless, Jesus did not boast to the crowd that he was the Messiah.
This teaching also shows that spiritual descent from God's chosen man, David, is what counts [see MJN.dc1 and MJN.dc2 below]. This is how the Messiah can be descended from David and David descended from the Messiah. Physical descent, which is of the flesh, matters a little, perhaps, but very little. Yet we note that at about a.d. 58, Paul, in Romans 3:1, uses the formula, "The gospel concerning [God's] son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh."
Moreover this teaching appears to challenge what may have been a common thought: that the son of David and the son of God were two different individuals.
MJN.rr6.
Matthew recalls other teachings that are appropriate:
Call no one on earth your father. For you have one father,Of course, Jesus would not have added "the Messiah." But he may have said that we have only one master, meaning God. Later, Christians realized that since Jesus represents God in every respect, then the Messiah (=Christ) is to be our master (the one who is in control).
your heavenly father.
Don't be called masters, for one is your master: the Messiah.
When Jesus urges people to avoid accepting titles such as Rabbi (=Teacher), he is urging them to avoid the tendency to sanctimoniousness that such flattery encourages. Stay low. Jesus was often addressed as "rabbi/teacher," but he never gave himself that title, though he certainly fulfilled that role.
Ostentatious behavior had no appeal for Jesus. What is the point of wearing a sumptuous phylactery (leather box containing Hebrew texts)? The phylactery, as a reminder to keep the Mosaic law, is meant as an aid to spirituality, not as a means of flaunting wealth. Similarly, what is the reason for wearing clothing that shouts "I am rich!" to every passerby? The literal Matthean text says that these individuals "enlarged the borders of their garments." In a day when clothing was expensive (no industrial looms), large collars, cuffs and hem borders were a sign that the wearer had money to burn on the extra cloth – something that was far from true for the impoverished masses.
MJN.1.
Isaiah 62:11
Behold, the Lord has proclaimed out to the limits of the world, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass.
MJN.x0.
Psalm 69:9
For the zeal of your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen on me.
MJN.x1.
Isaiah 56:7
I will I bring [foreigners] to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar – for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people
MJN.x2.
Jeremiah 7:11
Does this house, which bears my name, look to you like a cave of robbers? But that is what I see, says Jehovah.
MJN.w1. Psalm 118:22,23
MJN.w2. Wikipedia says of a denarius featuring Tiberius: The inscription on the obverse reads Ti[berivs] Caesar Divi Avg[vsti] F[ilivs] Avgvstvs ("Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus"), and the reverse reads Pontif[ex] Maxim[us] ("Highest Priest").
MJN.z1. From Pontius Pilate – Portraits of a Roman Governor by Warren Carter (Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier 2003).
MJN.r1. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
The Hebrew text translates as Yahweh Elohim Yahweh echad. The slogan lacks verbs and so can be understood in various ways, which, however, are all closely related.
For the early Hebrews, Elohim meant the gods. Yahweh (or Jehovah) was seen as the god that protected the Israelite tribespeople. Later, the tribes came to understand that Jehovah was the only God, that all others were illusions. So the plural term "gods" came to take on the idea of singularity. That is, though one literally said "gods," everyone heard "God." In modern American English, we make the word sports a singular, even though it was formerly a plural.
I believe the purpose of the slogan was to encourage monotheism among Hebrew tribespeople, many of whom were polytheistic. The slogan was probably devised when Deuteronomy was written, soon after the return of the exiles to Judaea in the Persian era. The exiles had evidently absorbed and adapted the monotheism of the Zoroastrians, and saw the polytheism of the pre-exilic tribes as a major reason for the national disaster at the hands of the Assyrian and the second Babylonian empires.
I take the slogan to have meant something close to: "Jehovah and the gods = Jehovah."
MJN.r2. Leviticus 19:18.
MJN.wz1. What Do We Know About Pontius Pilate? by Simon Webb (Langley Press 2018).
MJN.wz2. Nine years later Rome's resort city of Pompei was annihilated by an eruption of Vesuvius. Was this a case of Rome reaping what it had sown?
MJN. 1.
Psalm 110:1-7
1 Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
2 Jehovah shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion: you are to rule in the midst of your enemies.
3 Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: you have the dew of your youth.
4 Jehovah has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
5 Jehovah at your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
MJN.qx2.
Hebrews 7:1-7
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
MJN.qx3.
Septuagint Psalm 109:1 (=our 110:1)
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυΐδ. - ΕΙΠΕΝ ὁ Κύριος [kyrios, or lord] τῷ Κυρίῳ [kyrio, or lord] μου· κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.
MJN.pf1. Did the author of Mark indeed compose his book in Rome for a Latin-speaking audience? It is interesting that Mark gives the value of the Greek lepton in terms of the Roman quadrans (literally, quarter), though the Greek word for quarter – kodrantes (as in quadrant) – is used. So we are left to wonder whether the book was first written in Latin and then translated into Greek for use in the Greek-speaking Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
MJN.tx1. King Herod had, 46 years earlier, greatly expanded the Second Temple, and its improvement had been continued since that time. In a.d. 70, the Romans destroyed it.
MJN.dc1. See Raymond E. Brown (Birth of the Messiah, Doubleday/Image 1979) below:
But Brown goes on to argue that relatives of Jesus would have thrown cold water on claims that Jesus was a Davidid if they were false. Would "James the Brother of Jesus," who led the Jerusalem church before his martyrdom in the sixth decade of the First Century, have permitted such talk? Brown wonders.
MJN.dc2. Brown says further in Appendix II of Birth of the Messiah:
No comments:
Post a Comment