revised New
Jerusalem
Bible
New Testament and Psalms With study notes
rNJB
Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd 1 Spencer Court, 140-142 Wandsworth High Street London SW18 4JJ Revised New Jerusalem Bible: New Testament and Psalms, with study notes first published 2018 Biblical text © Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd 2018 Translated by Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB Notes and Introductions © Dom Henry Wansbrough 2018 Psalms reprinted from The Revised Grail Psalms Copyright © 2010, Conception Abbey/The Grail, admin by GIA Publications, Inc., www.giamusic.com. All rights reserved. The Revised Grail Psalms were confirmed by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on March 19, 2010 (Prot. N. 172/09/L). Editions of the Revised New Jerusalem Bible published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd are not to be sold to or in the USA, Canada or the Philippine Republic. For these territories the copyright is controlled by The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. ISBN: 978-0-232-53361-3
Text and cover designed by Judy Linard. Stained glass created by Mary Anne Constance/www.pewtermoonsilver.co.uk Typeset by Kerrypress, St Albans AL3 8JL. Printed and bound by Bell & Bain, Glasgow. The publisher would like to thank the following people for their contributions to the preparation of this edition: Abbott Gregory Polan OSB, Professor Francis J. Moloney SDB, Andrew Carter, Karen Wilson, Lauren Darby, Accuracy Matters, Lisa-Jayne Lewis, Mary Anne Constance. Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd: David Moloney (Editorial Director), Will Parkes (Marketing Director), Helen Porter (Managing Editor), Ken Ruskin (Production Director).
FOREWORD
O
ver the course of the years the English language has changed. When The Jerusalem Bible was published in 1966 it was the first full translation of the Bible into modern English. It was hailed also for the extensive introductory material and notes, drawn by Alexander Jones and his team from the Bible de JĂŠrusalem. In 1985 The New Jerusalem Bible presented a revised edition of the biblical text with some changes also to the introductions and notes. However the supporting material was not thoroughly revised until the CTS New Catholic Bible in 2008; this revision is the basis of the supporting material here offered. The biblical text here presented is a wholesale revision of the Jerusalem Bible text, chiefly under two guiding principles. Attention has been given to rendering the language and imagery of the original languages accurately rather than by dynamic equivalence. Every attempt has also been made to show that the message of the Bible is directed to women and men equally, despite the inbuilt bias of the English language. To make it more intelligible to current readers, ancient systems of measuring and timing have also been replaced by modern, metric equivalents. Praise and thanks are due especially to Frank Moloney, who read through the whole script of the New Testament, to Karen Wilson, who copy-edited the whole, and to Andrew Carter, who made valuable suggestions for the Psalms. All these made substantial improvements. We would also like to thank Abbot Gregory Polan for making available to us the text of the New Grail Psalter, and generously allowing us to make some changes in the text. My special thanks are due also to David Moloney, Editorial Director of Darton, Longman and Todd, who has worked tirelessly in preparing this volume for publication. Henry Wansbrough Ampleforth Abbey, York June 2017
CONTENTS Foreword Preface Abbreviations
v ix x
THE NEW TESTAMENT
1
The Gospel according to Matthew The Gospel according to Mark The Gospel according to Luke The Gospel according to John
3 63 105 167
Acts of the Apostles
229
The Pauline letters Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians
289 291 319 345 361 371 381 389 399 405
The Pastoral Epistles 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews
409 411 419 425 429 433
CONTENTS
The letters to all Christians James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude
453 455 463 473 479 495 497 499
503
The Revelation to John
THE PSALMS
533
535
The Psalms
PREFACE Italics Italics indicate a quotation from the Old Testament. Marginal References The source of an italicised quotation in the text is always given first. Introductions and Notes It is assumed that a reader consulting the Notes will already have read the Introduction to a Book, so that material given in the Introductions is not normally repeated in the Notes. In the synoptic gospels the priority of Mk is assumed as a working hypothesis, so that notes given to a passage in Mk are not repeated in the parallel passages of Mt or Lk. For a passage parallel in Mt and Lk, notes given in Mt are not repeated in Lk. Abbreviations in the Notes and References Ch. Chapter Gk Greek Hebr. Hebrew ms, mss
manuscript(s)
NT
New Testament
OT
Old Testament
Past
Pastoral Letters (1-2 Tim, Ti)
v., vv.
verse(s)
+ further marginal references are given at the reference so marked =
parallel passage within the same Book
//
parallel passage in another Book
ďƒ
passage later used or quoted at the reference given
ix
ABBREVIATIONS THE OLD TESTAMENT
Gn Genesis Ex Exodus Lv Leviticus Nb Numbers Dt Deuteronomy Jos The Book of Joshua Jg The Book of Judges Rt The Book of Ruth 1 S The First Book of Samuel 2 S The Second Book of Samuel 1 K The First Book of Kings 2 K The Second Book of Kings 1 Ch The First Book of Chronicles 2 Ch The Second Book of Chronicles Ezr The Book of Ezra Ne The Book of Nehemiah Tb Tobit Jdt Judith Est Esther 1 M The First Book of Maccabees 2 M The Second Book of Maccabees Jb Job Ps The Psalms Pr The Proverbs Qo Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth Sg The Song of Songs Ws The Book of Wisdom Si Ecclesiasticus/Ben Sira Is Isaiah Jr Jeremiah Lam Lamentations Ba Baruch Ezk Ezekiel x
ABBREVIATIONS
Dn Daniel Hos Hosea Jl Joel Am Amos Ob Obadiah Jon Jonah Mi Micah Na Nahum Hab Habakkuk Zp Zephaniah Hg Haggai Zc Zechariah Ml Malachi
THE NEW TESTAMENT
Mt The Gospel according to Matthew Mk The Gospel according to Mark Lk The Gospel according to Luke Jn The Gospel according to John Ac Acts of the Apostles Rm Romans 1 Co 1 Corinthians 2 Co 2 Corinthians Ga Galatians Ep Ephesians Ph Philippians Col Colossians 1 Th 1 Thessalonians 2 Th 2 Thessalonians 1 Tm 1 Timothy 2 Tm 2 Timothy Tt Titus Phm Philemon Heb Hebrews Jm James 1 P 1 Peter 2 P 2 Peter 1 Jn 1 John 2 Jn 2 John 3 Jn 3 John Jude Jude Rv The Revelation to John xi
THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel according to
MATTHEW Introduction The first gospel comes second t Augustine seems to have been responsible for putting the Gospel of Matthew first in the order of the four gospels, and it is always printed at the head of the gospels. In the early Church it seems to have been the most popular and widespread of the gospels, and until the 1967 reforms of the Lectionary it was the gospel read most frequently in the liturgy. However, it was almost certainly the second gospel to be written, for it uses and expands on Mark, expressing Matthew’s own particular angle on the good news of Jesus. It contains far more of the teaching of Jesus than does Mark. Most scholars think that Matthew and Luke both drew this teaching from a collection of Sayings of the Lord which has since disappeared, though some attribute the elaboration to Matthew’s own work.
S
Matthew and Judaism Matthew is the most Jewish of the gospels, insisting on every page that Jesus fulfils the promises of the old Law. Jesus is a second David, adopted by Joseph into the House of David (1:18–25), addressed frequently as ‘son of David’ (1:1; 9:27; 15:22), and hailed as the messianic king of David’s line (21:9). Matthew also depicts him as a second Moses (2:20, compare Ex 4:19), who forms a new people of God, just as Moses formed the people of God in the Old Testament (16:18). In Mark Jesus re-interpreted the Law; in Matthew Jesus gives a whole new interpretation of the Law in the Sermon on the Mount (5:17–20), which perfects the old, bringing it to completion by interpreting it in accordance with the scriptural principle, ‘My pleasure is in mercy, not sacrifice’ (Ho 6:6; Mt 9:13; 12:7; cf. 23:23). So it is the old Law read in a new way. 3
Matthew
Nevertheless, Matthew is deeply Jewish in his thinking. He is much less absolute than Mark on the abolition of such Jewish practices as the Sabbath and the prohibitions of eating certain foods (compare Mk 7:19 with Mt 15:17). He shows Jesus acting always carefully in accordance with scriptural precedent (12:5, 11). With habitual Jewish reverence he avoids using the name ‘God’, speaking of ‘the kingdom of Heaven’ rather than ‘the kingdom of God’, with very rare exceptions. Yet at the same time there is stern criticism of current Judaism, especially Pharisaic Judaism as it was lived in Matthew’s own day. The Jewish leaders, the scribes and Pharisees are heavily criticised for their concept of righteousness (5:20), for their hypocrisy (23:1–36) and for their performance in public of the three classic good works of Judaism – fasting, prayer and almsgiving (6:1–18). Right at the beginning the Jewish King Herod is sharply contrasted with the gentile Magi, when he attempts to kill Jesus and they bring their gifts to the newborn child (2:1–18). Of the centurion of Capernaum Jesus says, ‘in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this’ (8:10). In his parables Matthew’s Gospel underlines that the Jewish leaders are no longer the custodians of the vineyard of Israel (21:43), and that their city is doomed to be destroyed (22:7). A hint of why this may be is occasionally given: they will ‘scourge you in their synagogues’ (10:17) suggests a background of persecution of Christians by Jews – or rather, in Matthew’s situation, of Christian Jews by Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Christ (11:21–24). They had failed to accept that one greater than Solomon (12:42), one greater than the Temple was present (12:6). Such a background of persecution and mutual hostility goes far to account for the terrible saying which has been at the root of so much Christian anti-Semitism, ‘his blood be on us and on our children!’ (27:25). The exalted Christ More clearly than in Mark, Jesus is an exalted figure, as though he were already the risen Christ. In some of the miracle-stories the crowd scenes have melted away to leave a solemn and solitary confrontation between Jesus and the sufferer (compare Mk 1:29–31 with Mt 8:14–15; Mk 5:27 with Mt 9:20). His exalted status cannot remain hidden. At the final judgement it will be Jesus enthroned with his holy angels who exercises the divine prerogative of judgement (25:31). Far sooner than in Mark, human beings recognise Jesus as ‘Son of God’, Peter confessing him as such when in Mark the disciples are still utterly puzzled (14:33; 16:16; compare Mk 4
Matthew
6:51–52). As Mark is the story of the gradual understanding of the meaning of Jesus as ‘Son of God’, so Matthew goes one step further and is the revelation of what it means that through Jesus God is with us. At the outset the child is to be named ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God-is-with-us’ (1:23), and at the end the risen Christ promises to be always with his people (28:20, bracketing the gospel at beginning and end). In the great chapter on the community he promises that when two or three are gathered together, there he is in the midst of them (18:20). This promise is the source of their authority, which makes the decisions of the community binding also in heaven. Just as in the Old Testament the people of God is made holy by the presence of God among them, at first in the Tent of Meeting and later in the Temple, so the new people of God is made holy by the presence of Christ. Matthew on the community While in Mark all the emphasis is on the arrival in Jesus of the Sovereignty or kingdom of God, Matthew makes far more provision for the permanence of this community of the Church. In Mark Jesus makes little or no provision for the future of his community, as though the world might come to an end at any moment. In Matthew the promise of Christ’s divine presence in the Church brings with it provision for a structure of authority, a machinery for achieving reconciliation (18:15–17), an authority for making decisions, conferred both on the community and on Peter himself (16:18; 18:18). Jesus’ chosen Twelve will have a position of judgement, sitting on twelve thrones (19:28), though this does not contradict the fact that all are still brothers in the Church (23:8–12). This may be the reason why Matthew quietly omits much of the criticism of the Twelve which occurs in Mark. There is a whole chapter on how missioners should behave and how they should be received (10:1–42). The need for continuing good works is emphasised: good works are like a wedding garment (22:11), like oil prepared for long-burning lamps (25:7), and will finally be the criterion on which all people will be judged (25:45). Matthew’s poetry Much of Matthew’s power comes from what can only be described as his poetry. The rhythm of the sayings is beautifully balanced, often with a neat double opposition: ‘grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles’, (7:16); ‘the harvest is rich but the labourers are few’ (9:37). The same balance is seen in the parables. While Mark’s parables are all about nature (seed, growth, harvest), all the long 5
Matthew
parables in Matthew are about people, contrasting good and bad in a black-and-white opposition: building a house on rock or sand (7:24–27); the ten wedding attendants (25:1–13); the sheep and the goats (25:31–46). Matthew is a skilled teacher. He likes to use memorable and repeated formulas, ‘You have learnt how it was said…, but I say this to you…’ (5:21–48), or the formula with which he fourteen times introduces an Old Testament quotation. The teaching of Jesus is easier to assimilate because it is gathered together into five great discourses arranged symmetrically: entry into the Kingdom (chapters 5–7, the Sermon on the Mount); external relations (10, the Mission Discourse); parables of the Kingdom (13); internal relations (18); final judgement in the Kingdom (24–25). His imagery helps to make the sayings memorable, for example the use of animals as symbols of qualities (cunning as snakes, harmless as doves, 10:16), and he delights in pairs of images, often contrasting (wide road and narrow gate, 7:13–14, bird’s-nest and foxhole, 8:20). The author Who, then, was the author of this gospel? All the gospels were originally anonymous but this one, ‘according to Matthew’, has been associated with the apostle Matthew, one of the Twelve, since the beginning of the second century. It is true that the name ‘Matthew’ is substituted for ‘Levi’ in Mark’s story of the call of the apostle (Mt 9:9, Mk 2:14), but it is hard to believe that anyone would recount his own call by Jesus in the words of another. This apostle would also have been of a great age when it came to the detailed task of composing this finely-honed work, for it must have been written well after Mark (ad 65). Perhaps Matthew sponsored the gospel as the authentic message of Christ; perhaps it is merely the gospel in which the story about Matthew occurs. The question must remain open; the name of the author is not of paramount importance. At least the attitude to Judaism fits the relationship of Judaism and Christianity right at the end of the first century. It has been suggested that the place of composition was Antioch on the Syrian coast, a great city which contained an important Jewish colony, a significant number of whom became Christians. It is the only gospel quoted by St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, in his letters written around the time ad 108.
6
Matthew
Plan of the gospel I II III IV V VI
The birth and infancy of Jesus The kingdom of Heaven is announced The kingdom of Heaven is proclaimed The mystery of the kingdom of Heaven The Church, first-fruits of the Kingdom The approaching advent of the kingdom of Heaven VII Passion and resurrection
1–2 3–7 8–10 11:1–13:52 13:53–18:35 19–25 26–28
Note: Comments on material which Mt shares with Mk are given under the parallel passage of Mk. The footnotes of Mk should therefore be consulted.
7
The Gospel according to
MATTHEW I. THE BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS The ancestry of Jesusa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
Roll of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse; and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
a. The purpose of Mt 1 is to show that Jesus was the son of David. He was adopted into the house of David by Joseph not on Joseph’s own initiative but at the behest of the angel. The genealogy connects Jesus with the great figures of
the promise and of Israel’s history. The names are divided, with some juggling, into three series of 2 x 7 names. All four mothers included entered the line through some extraordinary circumstance.
9
1:10 Matthew Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah; and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.
10
After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.
12
Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation, and from the Babylonian deportation to the Messiah fourteen generations.
11
13
14
15
16
17
Joseph adopts Jesus as his son
The birth of Jesus the Messiah happened like this. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph;b but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. •Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to disgrace, decided to dismiss her quietly.c •He had this in mind when suddenly an angel of the Lordd appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ •All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:e Look, the virgin f is with child and will give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
Is 7:14
b. Betrothal could be dissolved only by an act of repudiation. c. Two explanations are given. 1 Joseph thinks the child was engendered by another man, but does not want to expose Mary to shame. 2 Knowing that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Joseph thinks himself unworthy to proceed, until the angel informs him of his task of adopting Jesus by naming him.
10
d. Angels and dreams occur frequently in Mt and Lk as vehicles of a divine message. e. This and similar formulae will be frequent in Mt, who presents each section of his infancy narrative as a fulfilment of scripture. f. The Hebr. has only ‘young woman’; the Gk has ‘virgin’, which enables Mt to see Mary’s virginal conception as a fulfilment of scripture. The NT normally quotes from the Gk version of the OT.
18 19 20
21 22
23
24 25
Matthew
2:13
which means ‘God-is-with-us’. •When Joseph woke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took her as his wife. •He had not had intercourse with her when she gave birthg to a son, and he named him Jesus.
The visit of the wise men
1 2 3 4 5
6
2
After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the time of King Herod,a suddenly some wise men from the eastb came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.’ •When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and the whole of Jerusalem with him. •He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. •They told him, ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea, for this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.’
Mi 5:1
Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and made certain from them the exact time when the star had appeared,c •and sent them on to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and find out accurately about the child, and when you have 9 found him, report back to me, so that I too may go to worship him.’ •When they had heard the king, they set out. And see, the star they had seen at its rising went before them until it halted over the place where the child was. 10 11 Seeing the star, they rejoiced with very great joy, •and going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and falling down they worshipped him. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold and 12 frankincense and myrrh.d •But having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by a different way. 7 8
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents 13
After they had left, see, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up. Take the child and his mother, flee into Egypt and stay
g. This suggests nothing about future sexual relations between Mary and Joseph. By naming the child, Joseph accepts him as his son, for only a father names a son (Lk 1:63). a. King Herod the Great’s attempt to kill Jesus echoes Pharaoh’s attempt to kill Moses, for Jesus is presented in Mt as a second Moses, a second lawgiver and leader of the people of God, cf. 4:2a, 5:2. Such infanticide was quite consonant with Herod the Great’s brutality. b. There is also a strong contrast between the rejection of Jesus by the Jews and his acceptance by the gentile wise men (echoed later in the rejection
by Caiaphas and acceptance by Pilate). The east is the legendary home of wise men, cf. Jb 2:11. c. The appearance of a star is recorded at the birth of other great men. It also fulfils Nb 24:17. It is futile to look for a natural explanation. d. The wealth and perfumes of Arabia, Jr 6:20; Ezk 27:22. It fulfils also the homage paid by the nations to the God of Israel, Nb 24:17; Ps 72 (Gk 71):10–15; Is 60:5.
11
2:14 Matthew there until I tell you, for Herod intends to search for the child to destroy him.’ •So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother by night, left for Egypt •and stayed there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
14 15
I called my son out of Egypt.
Ho 11:1
Then Herod, seeing that he had been fooled by the wise men, was furious, and sent and killed in Bethlehem and its surrounding district all the male children who were two years old or less, according to the time he had been careful to ask the wise men. •Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:e A voice was heard in Ramah, lamenting and much weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they are no more.
Jr 31:15
16
17
18
Return to Nazareth Ex 4:19–20
When Herod had died, see, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt •saying, ‘Get up. Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ •So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother, went to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelausf was king of Judaea in place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there, and, being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. •There he settled in a town called Nazareth so that what had been spoken through the prophets should be fulfilled:
19 20 21 22 23
‘He will be called a Nazarene’.g
II. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ANNOUNCED A. Narrative section //Mk 1:1–8; //Lk 3:1–18 Mk 1:4
The proclamation of John the Baptist
3
In those days, John the Baptist came, proclaiming in the desert of Judaea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heavena has drawn near.’ •This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said:
e. Originally this text depicted Rachel weeping for the people of the northern kingdom, massacred and deported by Assyria. But Rachel’s tomb was located near Bethlehem, Gn 35:19. f. Herod’s eldest son, ethnarch of Judaea from 4 bc till he was deposed in ad 6.
12
g. This is not from any known scripture. It may be an attempt by Mt to combine a popular etymology of the place-name with the nazir of Jg 13:5, 7. a. Expression normally used by Mt for the more usual ‘kingdom of God’, Mk 1:15j, to avoid use of the divine name.
1 2 3
Matthew
3:17
A voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’ 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12
Is 40:3
John himself wore a garment of camel-hair with a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. •Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole region around the Jordan district kept going out to him, •and they were baptised by him in the River Jordan as they confessed their sins. •But seeing many of the Phariseesb and Sadduceesc coming for baptism he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrathd to come? •Produce fruit worthy of repentance, •and do not be satisfied with saying to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. •Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so any tree failing to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. •I baptise you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. •His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that never goes out.’
Jesus is baptised 13 14 15 16
17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. •John tried to prevent him,e saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and yet do you come to me?’ •But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it for the time being; for so it is fitting that we should fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he allowed him. •And when Jesus had been baptised he at once came up from the water, and see, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.f •And see, a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.’
b. The Pharisees (the word is probably derived from ‘separate’) were scrupulous observers of the Law and the traditions of the elders. Their elaborate casuistry could sometimes lead to hypocrisy and frustration of the true purpose of the Law. Numerous clashes arose between them and Jesus over attitudes to and interpretation of the Law, though they took no part in the death of Jesus, Mk 12:13b. Paul is proud of his Pharisaic heritage, Ac 23:7b; Ph 3:5. After the destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70, the Pharisees were almost the only branch of Judaism to survive, and the bitterness between Judaism and Christianity is frequently reflected in NT criticism of the Pharisees, Mt 15:1–20; Mk 8:15; Jn 8:44e. c. The Sadducees rejected the oral tradition and many recent developments in theology, e.g. angels and the doctrine of a final resurrection, 22:23; Ac 23:8. They were more a political than a religious
group, often linked to the great priestly families and the Temple, Ac 4:1; 5:17. They disappeared in the Fall of Jerusalem in ad 70. d. John’s purpose was to prepare a community of repentance, ready for the coming of the Messiah. His message was stern and threatening. Although he pointed out Jesus as God’s messenger, Jn 1:29– 34, he was puzzled by Jesus’ activity, Mt 11:2a. e. Jesus’ submission to John at the baptism shocked the earliest Christians. Lk removed John from the baptismal account, Lk 3:20. Jn has no account of the baptism of Jesus. Mt inserts this little dialogue, the purpose of which is to show that the baptism was a joint action of John and Jesus to ‘fulfil all righteousness’, two of Mt’s theological keywords, see 5:17b. f. In Mk the apocalyptic scene is a private experience of Jesus. In Mt it is a public declaration.
13
Am 5:18c
//Mk 1:9–11; //Lk 3:21–22
Ezk 1:1 Is 11:2
4:1 Matthew //Mk 1:12–13; //Lk 4:1–13
Testing in the desert
4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. •He fasted for forty days and forty nights,a after which he was hungry, •and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’ •But he replied, ‘It is written:
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the parapet of the Temple, •and said to him, ‘If you are Son of God throw yourself down, for it is written: Ps 90 (Gk 89):10–12
3 4
5 6
He will give his angels orders about you, and they will carry you in their hands in case you trip on a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is also written:
7
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Dt 6:16
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. •And he said to him, ‘These shall all be yours if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ •Then Jesus replied, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written:
8 9 10
The Lord your God shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’
Dt 6:13
Then the devil left him, and see, angels appeared and looked after him.
1:22e
2
A human lives not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Dt 8:3
//Mk 1:14–15; //Lk 4:14
1
11
Return to Galilee
Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, •and leaving Nazara he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. •This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
Is 8:23–9:1
14
Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations!
15
The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light;
16
a. Like Moses, Ex 24:18; 34:28; Dt 9:18, and Elijah, 1 K 19:8, Jesus prepares by forty days and forty nights in the desert. He is the second Moses, Mt 2:1a, and in Mt the temptations climax in his seeing all the earth from the high mountain, as
14
12 13
Moses did, Dt 34:1–4. The temptations by which he is tested are the same as those of Israel in the desert, Dt 8:3; 6:16, 13. Each is repulsed in a rabbinic-style scriptural argument, fitting to Mt’s Jewish background.
Matthew
5:5
on those who lived in a country and shadow of death a light has dawned. 17
18 19 20 21 22
23 24
25
From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’
The first four disciples are called
//Mk 1:16–20; //Lk 5:1–11
Jesus proclaims the message and heals the sick
=9:35; //Mk 1:39; //Lk 4:14–15
As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. •And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ •And at once they left their nets and followed him. •Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. •And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him. He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people. •His fame spread throughout Syria, and they brought to him all those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis,b Jerusalem, Judaea and beyond the Jordan.
//Mk 3:7–8; //Lk 6:17–18
B. The Sermon on the Mounta The beatitudes
1 2
3 4 5
//Lk 6:20–23
5
Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain.b And when he was seated his disciples came to him. •Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them: ‘Blessed c are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Blessed are the gentle,d for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
b. A group of ten Hellenistic cities, mostly on the east side of the Jordan, and as far north as Damascus. a. The first of five discourses in Mt, composed from sayings pronounced on various occasions. The discourses are arranged concentrically: 1 the Sermon on the Mount, chs 5–7, on conditions for belonging to the Kingdom, balances 5, rewards and punishments, chs 24–25; 2 balances 4, ch. 10 and ch. 18 respectively, on the community; central is 3, images of the Kingdom in parables, ch. 13.
b. Jesus gives his new law enthroned on a mountain as a second Moses. c. On such beatitudes see Ps 1:1a. These eight beatitudes balance neatly, enclosed by the kingdom of Heaven, v. 3 and v. 10. The last in each quatrain is defined by righteousness, v. 6 and v. 10. In Gk each quatrain contains the same number of words. Unlike Lk’s four beatitudes, Lk 6:20–23, in Mt they are concerned primarily with spiritual attitudes. d. This attitude is the opposite of pompousness, best exemplified by Jesus’ entry in simplicity as king into Jerusalem, 21:5.
15
Zp 2:3a Gn 13:15; Ps 36 (Gk 35):11
5:6 Matthew Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful,e for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of righteousness, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
5:20h
‘Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. •Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you. //Mk 9:50; //Lk 14:34–35 //Mk 4:21; //Lk 8:16; =11:33
6 7 8 9 10
11 12
Salt and light
‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is no longer good for anything, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot. •You are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. •No one lights a lamp and puts it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. •In the same way your light must shine for people, so that they may see your good works and give praise to your Father in heaven.
13 14 15 16
The perfection of the Law
‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete.f •Ameng I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one dot, not one little stroke, will pass from the Law until everything is achieved. •Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven; but anyone who keeps them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.
17 18 19
The new standard surpasses the old
‘For I tell you, if your righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven.h
e. This is the quality by which all legal observance must be tempered and judged, according to Mt, see 9:13c. It mirrors the divine mercy. f. Mt sees the way of Jesus as the fulfilment of the OT and the completion of the Law. How this is the case becomes clearer and clearer in the course of the gospel. The examples of 5:21–46 are especially important. ‘Righteousness’ is a translation of the Gk dikaiosune, which also means ‘justice’, i.e. observance of the Law. For Mt the follower of Christ must obey the Law, but in Jesus’ own more perfect way, 7:21; 9:13c; 28:20. g. This Aramaic word amen was clearly a feature of Jesus’ speech (doubled, according to Jn 1:51
16
etc.). It comes from the root denoting firmness, fulfilment and stability, cf. 2 Co 1:17–20, where there is word-play on this notion and on Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s promises. h. A typical rabbinic teaching method was to give a heading, v. 20, followed by examples, vv. 21–48. So also 6:1, 2–18. Similarly, ‘You have heard it said…but I say this to you’ is a typical rabbinic way of introducing a new teaching. There is no simple formula for the novelty of Jesus’ interpretations of ‘righteousness’ here: some are stricter, some more interior, some more generous, some more universally demanding.
20
21 22
23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
31 32
33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Matthew
5:44
‘You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, “You shall not murder”; and whoever murders must answer for it before the court. •But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother or sister “idiot”i will answer for it before the assembly; and anyone who calls a brother or sister “fool” will answer for it in hell fire. •So then, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, •leave your gift there before the altar, go and first be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. •Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court together, or your opponent may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the attendant, and you will be thrown into prison. •Amen I say to you, you will not get out till you have paid the last coin. ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” •But I say this to you, anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. •If your right eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; for it is better for you to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. •And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; for it is better for you to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body go to hell. ‘It has also been said, “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal.” •But I say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of an illicit marriage, makes her commit adultery; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. ‘Again, you have heard how it was said to the ancients, “You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.” •But I say this to you, do not swear at all,j either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; •or by earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. •Let your word be, “Yes, yes”, “No, no”; anything more than this comes from the Evil One. ‘You have heard how it was said: “Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.” •But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked.k On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; •if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. •And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. •Give to anyone who asks you, and do not turn away from one who wants to borrow from you. ‘You have heard how it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy”.l •But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those i. The Aramaic raqa is extremely insulting. There is not necessarily a gradation between the two halves of the verse; both lead on to v. 23. j. Jesus teaches that there should be such an atmosphere of truth and sincerity that mere assertion suffices without invoking the divinity. k. Ex 21:24 limited the right of vengeance; this teaching abolishes it and demands a response of generosity. Jesus is a charismatic teacher, forming
attitudes, not a legislator constructing a legal code. l. The second half of this command occurs nowhere in scripture, though Si 12:4–7 is quite similar. The point of Jesus’ teaching, however, is that his followers may exclude no one from their love, just as God excludes no one. The six antitheses begin with a prohibition of hate, and end with a demand for love as perfect as the Father’s love.
17
//Lk 12:58–59
=18:8–9
Dt 24:1a; =19:9b
Ex 20:7
Ex 21:24
Lv 19:18 //Lk 6:27–36
5:45 Matthew who persecute you; •so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil as well as the good, and sends down rain on the righteous and the wicked alike. •For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your brothers and sisters, are you doing anything exceptional? •Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
45 46 47 48
Good works done in secret
6
‘Be careful not to parade your righteousness before others to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.a •So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. Amen I say to you, they have had their reward. •But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing, •so that your almsgiving may be in secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like hypocrites: they love to pray standing in the synagogues and at street corners for people to see them. Amen I say to you, they have had their reward. •But whenever you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. •In your prayers do not babble as gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. •Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. •Pray, then, like this:b ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily c bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One.d
//Lk 11:2–4
//Mk 11:25
‘For if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; •but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
a. First the principle, then the application, 5:20h, each time with the same formulae, to the three classic good works of Judaism, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. b. In Mt’s more elaborate form the Lord’s Prayer has 7 petitions, a favourite number with Mt: 2 x 7 generations (1:17), 7 parables (13:3– 50), forgiveness not 7 but 77 times (18:22), 7 accusations against the Pharisees (23:13–32). It
18
contains several formulae beloved of Mt: ‘Father in heaven’, ‘your will’, ‘earth as in heaven’. The first three petitions are all for the coming of the Kingdom, the latter four for human needs. c. The Gk word is obscure; it may also mean ‘necessary’ or ‘for tomorrow’. d. Or ‘from evil’. Some mss add, ‘For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen’, possibly through liturgical influence.
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18
Matthew
7:4
‘Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy look as hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to show others they are fasting. Amen I say to you, they have had their reward. •But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, •so that you may not seem to others to be fasting but only to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
True treasures
19 20 21
‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy and thieves break in and steal. •But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys and thieves do not break in and steal. •For where your treasure is, there will your heart be too.
//Lk 12:33–34
The eye, lamp of the body 22 23
‘The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. •But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If, then, the light within you is darkness, what darkness will that be!
//Lk 11:34–35
God and money
24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
‘No one can be the slave of two masters: a person will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.
//Lk 16:13
Trust in providence
//Lk 12:22–31
‘Therefore I tell you not to worry about your life, what you should eat, nor about your body, what you should wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! •Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? •Can any of you, by worrying, add one single cubit to your span of life? •And why worry about clothing? Learn from the grasses of the fields, how they grow; they neither work nor spin, •yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. •Now if God so clothes the grasses of the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more clothe you, who have so little faith? •So do not worry; do not say, “What should we eat? What should we drink? What should we wear?” •It is the gentiles who strive for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. •Strive first for his kingdom, and righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. •So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Do not judge
1 2 3 4
7
‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; •because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. •Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the log in your own? •And will you say to your brother, “Let me take that splinter out of your eye,” when, see, there is a log in your 19
//Lk 6:37–42 //Mk 4:24
7:5 Matthew
//Lk 11:9–13
own? •Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. ‘Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or the pigs may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. ‘Ask, and it will be given to you;a search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. •Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; to everyone who knocks the door will be opened. •Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, would give a stone? •Or, if your child asks for a fish, would give a snake? •If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Conclusion //Lk 6:31 //Lk 13:24; Dt 30:15; Ps 1; Pr 4:18–19
=12:33; //Lk 6:43–44
//Lk 6:46–49
=11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1 //Mk 1:22
‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you;b that is the Law and the Prophets. •Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; •but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. •You will know them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? •In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree bad fruit. •A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. •Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. •Indeed, you will know them by their fruits. ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of Heaven, only the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. •On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, do many deeds of power in your name?” •Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, evil-doers! •Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible person who built a house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. •But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid person who built a house on sand. •Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, •because he taught them as one having authority, not like their scribes.
a. The passives here are ‘theological passives’, i.e. to avoid using the divine name. They could be phrased, ‘Knock and God will open the door to you’ etc.
20
b. This maxim was widespread in the ancient world in the negative form, e.g. Tb 4:15. The positive form is more demanding. Mt uses it to sum up the teaching of the Sermon before his concluding pairs of contrasting images.
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Matthew
8:17
III. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS PROCLAIMED
A. Narrative section: ten wondersa Cure of a man with leprosy
1 2 3 4
8
After he had come down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And see, a leper came up and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.’ •Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, ‘I am willing. Be cleansed.’ And at once his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence to them.’b
Cure of the centurion’s servant
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed and in terrible pain.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I will come myself and cure him.’ •The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. •For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, “Go,” and he goes; to another, “Come,” and he comes; to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ •When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘Amen I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. •And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feastc in the kingdom of Heaven; •but the children of the kingdomd will be thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ •And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back; let this be done for you, as you have believed.’ And the servant was cured at that hour.
Cure of Peter’s mother-in-law 14 15 16 17
And going into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law e lying down and feverish. •He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. •That evening they brought him many who were possessed by demons. He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. •This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases. a. Mt assembles ten stories of wonders (in three groups), which show Jesus’ power and compassion, the dawning of the messianic age. They show him overcoming sickness, fear, alienation, death and the power of evil. Mt often shortens the stories he finds in Mk . He especially stresses the faith in Jesus’ power to save, which the wonders presuppose, 8:10, 13, 26; 9:2, 22, 29; 14:31; 15:28; 17:20; 21:21, and confirm. b. By omitting the final verse of the Markan story Mt leaves the emphasis on Jesus’ instructions
//Mk 1:40–45; //Lk 5:12–16
Lv 14:1–32 //Lk 7:1–10; //Jn 4:46–53
//Lk 13:28–29
8:1a
//Mk 1:29–31; //Lk 4:38–39
//Mk 1:32–34; //Lk 4:40–41
1:22e; Is 53:4
to obey the Law of Moses. c. The messianic banquet, Is 25:6, or wedding-feast, features repeatedly in the teaching of Jesus, 22:2–14a; 26:29a; Mk 2:19a, cf. Jn 2:1–12; Rv 3:20; 19:9. d. The due subjects of the kingdom are the Jews, the natural heirs of the promises to Abraham. e. Mt’s simplification of this story leaves a direct and solemn confrontation between Jesus and the sick person. See also 9:20–22.
21
8:18 Matthew //Lk 9:57–60
Mk 2:10c
//Mk 4:35–41; //Lk 8:22–25
//Mk 5:1–20; //Lk 8:26–29
Mk 3:11b
//Mk 2:1–12; //Lk 5:17–26
Many curesf
When Jesus saw many crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. •One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ •Jesus said, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another man, one of the disciples, said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ •But Jesus said, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’
18 19 20 21 22
The calming of the stormg
And when he got into the boat his disciples followed him. •And see, a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. •And they went up to him and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us, we are lost.’ •And he said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, you who have so little faith?’ Then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. •They were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?’
23 24 25 26 27
The demoniacs of Gadarah
When he reached the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – they were so dangerously violent that nobody could pass along that way. •Suddenly they shouted, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ •Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, •and the demons pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ •And he said to them, ‘Go!’ and they came out and made for the pigs; and suddenly the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. •The herdsmen ran off and made for the city, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. •Now the whole city set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave their neighbourhood.
28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Cure of a paralytic
9
He got back in the boat, crossed the water and came to his home town. And suddenly some people brought him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take comfort, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ •And now some scribes said to themselves, ‘This man
f. The three groups of ten wonders in Mt are punctuated by sayings on the demands of discipleship. To Jewish family sensibilities v. 22 is particularly shocking. g. In Mt’s version of this incident the disciples are less lacking in faith. Their approach to Jesus is confident, not, as in Mk, where it is sarcastic or reproachful. Accordingly, Jesus’ rebuke is gentler.
22
Mt has turned the story into a parable of the community, praying to the risen Lord amid the storms of life. h. Mt drastically simplifies Mk’s lively account. He also doubles the demoniac, as the blind men in 9:27 and 20:30. The variation in place name brings the incident closer to the lake, for Gadara is only 15km away – still a long run for a pig.
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8
Matthew
9:20
is blaspheming!’ •Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? •Now, which of these is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? •But to prove to you that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – then he said to the paralytic – ‘get up, pick up your bed and go off home.’ •And the man got up and went home. •A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they glorified God for giving such authority to humans.a
The call of Matthew 9 10 11 12 13
14 15
16 17
18 19 20
As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthewb sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. •Now while he was at table in the house it happened that see, a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. •When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ •When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. •Go and learn what this means, My pleasure is in mercy, not sacrifice.c And indeed I came to call not the righteous, but sinners.’
//Mk 2:13–14; //Lk 5:27–28
//Mk 2:15–16; //Lk 5:29–32
Ho 6:6; =12:7; 23:23
A discussion on fasting
//Mk 2:18–22; //Lk 5:33–39
Cure of a woman with a haemorrhage The official’s daughter raised to life
//Mk 5:21–43; //Lk 8:40–56
Then John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ •Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. •No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and a worse tear happens. •Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’d
While he was speaking to them, suddenly one of the officials came up, who worshipped him and said, ‘My daughter has just died,e but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.’ •Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. •Then suddenly from behind him came a woman, who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the
a. The plural shows that Mt envisages not only Jesus’ own power to forgive sin, but the power he entrusted to Peter and to the community, 16:19; 18:18. b. In Mk and Lk the story is the call of Levi. Mt merely changes the name. c. This quotation, inserted by Mt into Mk’s story, gives the principle of love, by which Jesus brings the Law to fulfilment. It is repeated at 12:7; cf. 23:23.
d. By this addition to the saying in Mk, Mt expresses the importance of preserving also the old wine of Judaism. e. In Mk’s story the girl is not yet dead when the story starts. Mt simplifies the story. He also makes the father, president of the synagogue in Mk, simply an ‘official’; Mt baulks at a wonder worked for a representative of official Judaism. The crowd is also suppressed, leaving Jesus in dignified isolation.
23
9:21 Matthew 8:14e
fringe of his tunic, •for she was thinking, ‘If only I can touch his tunic I shall be saved.’ •Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.’ And from that hour the woman was saved. •When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute players, with the crowd making a commotion, he said, • ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead; she is asleep.’ And they ridiculed him. •But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took her by the hand; and she stood up. And the news of this spread all round the countryside.
21 22 23 24 25 26
Cure of two blind men
As Jesus went on from there two blind menf followed him crying out, ‘Have mercy on us, son of David.’g •And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up to him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Yes, Lord.’ •Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘According to your faith, let it be done to you.’ •And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one knows about this.’ •But when they had gone away, they talked about him all over the countryside. =12:22; //Lk 11:14–15
//Mk 3:22
27 28 29 30 31
Cure of a deaf demoniac
They had only just left when suddenly a deaf demoniac was brought to him. And when the demon had been driven out, the deaf man spoke and the people were amazed and said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of demons that he drives out demons.’
32 33 34
The distress of the crowds =4:23
//Lk 10:2; //Jn 4:35–38
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. •And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. •Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.’
35 36 37
B. Instructions for apostlesa //Mk 3:13–15; //Lk 9:1 //Mk 3:16–19; //Lk 6:13–16
The mission of the Twelve
10
He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, with power to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. •These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee,
f. The cure seems to duplicate that of the blind man at Jericho, 20:29–34, or perhaps Mk’s story of the blind man of Bethsaida, Mk 8:22–26. All the stress is on their faith, 8:1a. g. In Mk, Jesus is hailed as son of David only at Mk 10:47. Mt makes much of this noble Jewish
24
title, 2 S 7:1a; Mt 1:1a; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9, 15. a. Mt’s second discourse, 5:1a, treats the mission of Jesus’ disciples, as the fourth will treat their relationship together. Their primary mission is to the people of Israel, 10:6, 23.
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Matthew
10:27
and his brother John; •Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; •Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer. • These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Do not go into gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. •And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. •Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. You received without charge, give without charge. •Keep no gold or silver, not even copper in your belts,b no bag for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or staff, for the labourer deserves his keep. •Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay there until you leave. •As you enter the house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. •And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. •Amen I say to you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. •See, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as snakes, yet innocent as doves.
Persecution of missionersc 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25
‘Be prepared for people to hand you over to assemblies and scourge you in their synagogues. •You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles. •But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, •because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death. •You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. •When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Amen I say to you, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes. ‘A disciple is not superior to the teacher, nor a servant to the master. It is enough for disciple to grow to be like teacher, and servant like master. If they have called the master of the house “Beelzebul”, how much more the members of his household?
Open and fearless speech 26 27
‘So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. •What I say to you in
b. Kit allowed for the mission varies slightly from the first mission, vv. 5–16. Mt speaks of scourging one gospel to another, but the message remains the in ‘their’ and ‘your’ synagogues, v. 17; 23:34, persame: urgency permits no excess baggage. haps differentiated from ‘our synagogues’. c. vv. 17–39, part of which is found in Mk’s eschatological discourse, suppose a later situation than
25
//Mk 6:8–11; //Lk 9:3–5; 10:3–12
=11:24
//Mk 13:9–13; //Lk 21:12–19
=24:9, 13
//Lk 6:40; //Jn 13:16; 15:20
//Mk 4:22; //Lk 12:2–9
10:28 Matthew
//Mk 8:38; //Lk 9:26; 12:8–9
//Lk 12:51–53 Mi 7:6 //Mk 8:34–35; //Lk 9:23–24; 14:26–27
//Mk 9:37, 41; //Lk 9:48; //10:16; //Jn 12:44–45
the dark, tell in the light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops. •Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. •Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? And yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father. •Of you, even the hairs on your head have been counted. •So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. •Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me in the presence of others, I will acknowledge in the presence of my Father in heaven. •But whoever denies me in the presence of others, I will deny in the presence of my Father in heaven. •Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: I have come to bring not peace but a sword.
28 29 30 31 32 33 34
The cost of discipleship
‘For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-inlaw against mother-in-law; •a person’s enemies will be the members of that person’s own household. •No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me. •Anyone who does not take the cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds life will lose it; anyone who loses life for my sake will find it. •Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. •Anyone who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will have the reward of a righteous person. Anyone who gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little onesd as a disciple, Amen I say to you, will most certainly not go without the reward.’
35 36 37 38 39 40 41
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IV. THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
A. Narrative section 7:28+
//Lk 7:18–28
11
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and proclaim the message in their towns.
1
The Baptist’s questiona
Now John had heard in prison what the Messiah was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, •‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ •Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see; •the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor;
d. In this context the ‘little ones’ are to be understood as the missioners. a. John’s message was one of divine retribution and fiery judgement, 3:7–12. When Jesus does
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not fulfil this, he questions whether Jesus can be the Messiah. Jesus’ reply gives the interpretation of his healing wonders: they are the messianic fulfilment of the prophecies of Is 35:5; 61:1.
2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
Matthew
11:23
and blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of stumbling.’ •As the men were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John, ‘What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? •Then what did you go out to see? Someone wearing fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in royal palaces. •Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. •This is the one of whom it is written: Look, I am going to send my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way before you.
11 12 13 14 15
Ml 3:1
‘Amen I say to you, of the children born to women, none has been raised up greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. •Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm.b •For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John the Baptist; •and he, if you will accept it, is Elijah who was to come.c •Anyone who has ears should listen!
17:11–13; //Lk 16:16
Parable of the playing children 16 17 18 19
20 21
22 23
‘With whom can I compare this generation? It is like children shouting to the others as they sit in the marketplace, •“We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t beat your breasts.” •For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” •The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.’d
//Lk 7:31–35
Lament over the lake-towns
//Lk 10:13–15
Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his works of power had been done, because they did not repent. •‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the works of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,e they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. •Only I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you. •And as for you, Capernaum, would you be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the works of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained till this day.
b. Various interpretations of this violence have been suggested: 1. praiseworthy violence, the self-sacrifice of those striving for the Kingdom; 2. misguided violence of those attempting to establish an earthly kingdom; 3. tyrannical violence of the powers of evil, hampering the advance of the Kingdom. c. In this passage, and Mk 9:12, Jesus identifies the Baptist with the Elijah of Ml 3:23. John himself
does not see himself in this role, Jn 1:21. In one sense Jesus is the herald of the Day of the Lord; in another sense he brings it himself and John was the herald. d. Jesus is seen as Wisdom also 11:28–30; 12:42; Jn 6:35e; 1 Co 1:17g. e. The archetypes of wickedness duly punished, Is 23; Ezk 26–28; Am 1:9–10; Zc 9:2–4.
27
Is 14:13, 15
11:24 Matthew =10:15
//Lk 10:21–22
Jr 6:16
//Mk 2:23–28; //Lk 6:1–5
Ho 6:6; Mt 9:13c; 23:23 //Mk 3:1–6; //Lk 6:6–11
//Lk 14:5
Only I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.’
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Good news revealed to the simple
At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the wise and the clever and revealing them to infants. •Yes, Father, for that was your good pleasure. •Everything has been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.f •Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,g and I will give you rest. •Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. •For my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
25 26 27
28 29 30
Picking grain on the Sabbatha
12
At that time Jesus went through the cornfields one Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of grain and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is not permitted on the Sabbath.’ •But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry – how he went into the house of God and they ate the loaves of the offering, although neither he nor his followers were permitted to eat them, but only the priests? •Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the Temple priests break the Sabbath without committing any fault? •Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. •And if you had understood the meaning of the words, My pleasure is in mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. •For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.’
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cure of a man with a withered handb
He moved on from there and went to their synagogue; •now a man was there with a withered hand. They asked him, ‘Is it permitted to cure somebody on the Sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. •But he said to them, ‘Which of you who had only one sheep and it fell down a hole on the Sabbath, would not get hold of it and lift it out? •How much more important is a human being than a sheep? So it follows that it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good.’ •Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it
f. The claim of knowledge of and intimacy with the Father and the invitation to discipleship recall the invitations of divine Wisdom, Pr 8:22–36; Si 24:1–22; Ws 9:9–12. Here, in the synoptic tradition, then, the divinity of Jesus is stated in terms more usual in Jn, see Jn 5:19e; 8:24b. g. The burden and yoke of the Law are common rabbinic images, Si 51:26. Jesus’ Law offers a different yoke. a. By stressing the disciples’ hunger Mt presents more clearly the legal issue of whether harvesting
28
corn in this way was permissible on the Sabbath. In v. 5 he also offers a closer precedent for Sabbath-work than Mk, completing the legal argument in v. 6. A second argument comes in v. 7, cf. 9:13c, and a third in v. 8, cf. Mk 2:10c. b. By inserting in Mk’s account the saying of vv. 11–12, Mt gives a legal argument for Jesus’ action. In fact some casuists held that the trapped sheep could be fed on the Sabbath, but not lifted out.
9 10 11 12 13