First Sunday of Lent
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Getting Back on Track
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030506.shtml
Reflection:
The first thing we notice as we break open the reading from Genesis is the reminder of our covenant with God. The covenant, not born out of the waters of the great flood as was God's Covenant with Noah, but formed through our Baptism into the life and death of Christ. Peter reminds us of that connection when he says; "This prefigured baptism, which saves you now."
In the ancient tradition of the covenant our baptismal covenant contained gifts and promises. God gave us the gift of his Holy Spirit to dwell within us. He gave us the gift of his grace through which he opened his mind to us, that we might understand his love for us. He washed away all our sin and created us anew, a new creation clothed in his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Through his Son, he gave us the gift of salvation.
On our part, promises were made. We (or our parents standing as our proxy) promised to follow God's law. We promised to build up His body, the Church though faith and example. We promised to love the Lord our God and to turn from the glamour and evil of sin.
And when these gifts had been given and the promises made, also as in ancient tradition, the covenant was sealed with a sacrifice. Because this covenant was so vast, so complete and so critical to God, the sacrifice that sealed our covenant with him was his only Son, Jesus who is the Christ. St. Peter confirms this amazing fact as he tells us; "Christ suffered or sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God."
We are reminded of promises made in Baptism and then shown, through Christ's own example in the Gospel, how, after his own baptism; he was driven into the desert and tempted by the evil one – the devil. Oh that we could be as successful as he was in denying sin and the glamour of it. It is our failure in these instances that our Lenten journey now reviews. We now remember out past failures and pledge to change, to repent, to turn and make a better path toward the Lord who is our light in the darkness.
I know my reflection above was more stilted and formal than usual, but I speak to myself and today I needed a stern talking to. Lent is a time for decisions about our future road and the only way we can improve is to recognize our mistakes and change what we do going forward. Getting back on track takes a new meaning, that track leads to God. Pax
If you wish to comment and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture[1] from Gn 9:8-15
Jerome Biblical Commentary[2]
(1) The Covenant with Noah (9:1-17) (P).
The first epoch in division of world history according to
P ended with the flood. The ideal conditions of that epoch, marked by an implicit covenant with the first man (cf. 1:28-30), no longer obtained. The second epoch, marked by the covenant with Noah, supposes the theological disorder caused by sin and introduces as normal those adverse conditions of life that every man encounters. Highly reflective and profoundly religious, the passage presents an important stage in the P theology of history.
8 God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
9 "See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you
10 and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.
8-10. In fulfillment of his promise (cf. 6:18; note the completely thought-out presentation in P), God makes a covenant with Noah, the first explicitly mentioned. For P, covenants mark the succession of world epochs. This covenant with Noah requires nothing on man's part (unilateral), is extended to all creation (vv. 9-10), and its sign is a natural phenomenon (vv. 13-16). The covenant with Abraham presupposes his personal commitment to God, is extended only to his descendants, and its sign is circumcision (Gn 17). The covenant with Israel requires continuing loyalty (Ex 24:7-8), is restricted to the nation, and its sign is the Sabbath observance (Ex 31:16-17). For P, therefore, the meaning of history is greatly determined by a covenant theology describing the varying and successively more intimate relationships between God and man.
11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
11. The content of the covenant is God's merciful permission of history's continuance. There will never again be a flood that has the theological significance of indicating the end of a world epoch.
12 God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:
13 I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,
15 I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.
12-17. The visible sign of this covenant, for both man and God, is the rainbow. For the ancient pagans, this natural phenomenon was considered a divine bow used by the gods to inflict punishment on man. Its appearance in the sky signified the divine appeasement. This ancient concept has been taken by P and given new meaning in the context of his theology. The anthropomorphisms (cf. v. 15, God "remembers"'; v. 16, God "sees and recalls") are unusual for P and reveal profound convictions.
[1] All biblical references -New American Bible United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000 December 09, 2002 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
[2] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968
Scripture from Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Jerome Biblical Commentary
4 Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths.
5 2 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. For you I wait all the long day, because of your goodness, LORD.
6 Remember your compassion and love, O LORD; for they are ages old.
7 Remember no more the sins of my youth; remember me only in light of your love.
8 Good and upright is the LORD, who shows sinners the way,
9 Guides the humble rightly, and teaches the humble the way.
2 [5] Because of your goodness, LORD: these words have been transposed from the end of 7 to preserve the pattern of two lines per letter of the Hebrew alphabet in the acrostic poem.
Ps 25. An individual lament in acrostic style.
The psalmist is a sinner (7) who is hated by enemies; he prays for deliverance and guidance. Structure: 1-7, a series of requests, with themes to induce Yahweh to intervene (3, 6-7); 8-15, a teaching about the "way" (8) and fear of the Lord (12); 16-21, another series of requests for help, followed in 22 by an apparent addition referring to the community. 4. Although the poem is a complaint, the key idea is "your ways," which the author asks to know and to observe; this concept is taken up again in 8-15, in which a strong wisdom influence can be seen, especially 12-14.
1 Pt 3:18-22 (Due to the length of commentary on this section, the scripture will be laid out in front of the applicable commentary instead of side by side as I customarily do.)
18 (b) THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST AND THE EFFECT OF BAPTISM (3 :I8-22). This section adds an exhortation of consolation as a reason for what is recommended in 3:I7. The exhortation is based on the example of Christ and the effect of baptism. A comparison is made between the suffering of the Gentile Christians and the suffering of Christ. Just as he triumphed, so will they. Their baptism is the pledge of their triumph, for it gives them a share in his resurrection. For he was put to death as far as his earthly existence (sarki) was concerned, yet he was made to live spiritually (pneumati). In this condition he proclaimed his triumph, even to the disobedient spirits of the period of Noah. Just as Noah was saved by passage through the waters of the flood, so the Christian will be saved by passage through the waters of baptism-its anti type.
The fifth article of the Creed ("he descended into hell") is based on such NT passages as Rom 10:6-7; Eph 4:8-10; Heb I3:20; Acts 2:24,3I; Mt I2:40. But it is quite another question whether this passage in 1 Pt deals with the "harrowing of Hell"; it has often been so interpreted and has supplied imaginative details for what Christ did during the Triduum mortis. However, it is not at all certain that Peter refers to this.
19 The main interpretations of this passage fall into five classes: (I) The Bowyer Greek Testament (I763) and J. Rendel Harris emended 3:I9 to introduce Enoch into the text (reading en ho kai as haplography for en ho Enoch kai); see E. J. Goodspeed's translation, "In it Enoch went and preached." (2) Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 6.6; GCS I5.454-55): Christ's soul went to Hades to preach conversion to the sinners of the. generation of the flood, who were detained there. (3) Robert Bellarmine (De controversiis 2.4, I3): Christ's soul went to announce release to the just in Limbo (the sinners of Noah's time who repented before the flood). (4) Augustine (Ep. I64; CSEL 44, 52I-4I): Christ in his divine pre-existence preached through Noah to the sinners of his generation, not in Hades but on earth. (5) F. Spitta (Christi Predigt an die Geister [Gottingen, I 890]), E. G. Selwyn, B. Reicke, W. J. Dalton-all with varying nuances: The Risen Christ proclaimed his triumph to the imprisoned spirits as he passed through the heavens to h: exaltation.- We follow this opinion.
18 For Christ also suffered 5 for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.
20 18. Christ too died: Some mss. read "suffered'
(epathen), which is more suited to the context, but is suspect because it is influenced by 2 :21. Peter propose Christ's example as a motive of patience in the persecutor But he also emphasizes the unique character of his death in view of man's redemption (cf. Rom 6:10; Heb 9:28 Eph 3:12). an upright man: The early Church's epithet for Jesus (cf. Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14) brings out th vicarious character of Christ's suffering; it is an allusion to Is 53:11. to bring you near to God: Christ's death was not only a model (2:21), but also gave men new access to God (Rom 5 :1-2). By taking away sin (2:24), Chris broke down the barrier between God and man (cf. Eph 3 :12; Col I :22). put to death in his flesh: That is, in his physical, earthy condition in which he resembles all other men (Rom 8:3; Eph 2: 14). The word sarx here does no mean "body" (in contrast to his soul), nor even "humanity" (in contrast to his divine pre-existence), but Christ' earthly human condition (contrasted with his risen state) made to live in the Spirit: At the resurrection, Chris became pneuma. Raised by the Father's glory (doxa, Rom 6:4), Christ was endowed with a power (dynamis, Phl 3 :10) making him a "vivifying Spirit' (1 Cor IS :45) The sarx-pneuma contrast used here is found also in Rom 1 :3-4; 1 Tm 3 :16. The pneuma does not just meat: Christ's "soul" or his "divine pre-existence."
19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 6
19. in it. Or "with it," i.e., the Spirit. The phrase is best understood instrumentally; however, it is possibly temporal ("in this situation"), referring not immediately to pneuma, but to the whole preceding sentence (v. 18b). It has nothing to do with Enoch. he [Christ] went: Not to "Hades," but "to heaven," as the direction is specified in 3 :22, where the same participle (poreutheis) is used. Christ, exalted in his ascension, passed through "all the heavens" (Eph 4:10); en route he proclaimed his triumph. The imagery implied here is that of the Seven Heavens (see T. Levi, 2 :7-3 :8; 2 Enoch 3-20; 3 Baruch; cf. R. H. Charles, APOT 2,433). This imagery is reflected in the NT, too (2 Cor 12:2; Eph 1:3,20; Heb 4:14; 7:26). Christ is depicted as mounting in triumphant procession to the abode of God in the seventh heaven, as in Col 2:15. preached: Or better, "announced." No object of the vb. ekeryxen is given, and it has often been interpreted in terms of eueggelisthe (4:6, see comment). But there is no reason to introduce "gospel," or even "conversion," or "release" into this context. It would be more consonant with Col 2:15 to introduce a proclamation of Christ's triumph to the imprisoned spirits who are passed along the way. imprisoned spirits: These are not the "dead" (nekroi) of 4:6. They are rather the well-known angelic spirits imprisoned in the second heaven (cf. 2 Enoch 7:1-5 [APOT 2, 433]; Enoch 6-36; esp.21:6; 67:4; Jub 10). Christ's proclamation to them is merely a way of asserting his triumph (see 3:22). It is in the long run a minor detail, not at all crucial in the consolation Peter offers to his readers.
20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.
20. disobeyed long ago: See Gn 6:1-5. In late Judaism, human wickedness was explained as derived from the miscegenation of the angels and daughters of men, and the angels were themselves branded as disobedient. Their "disobedience" is found in Josephus, Ant. 1.3, I § 73; Enoch 15:1-11; Jub 5. In Gn 6 it precedes the Noah story and thus is related to his epoch in the intertestamental literature. God's patience waited: Peter alludes to the interval in the Gn account between God's resolve (Gn 6:6) and the execution of it (Gn 7:11). The supposition is that Noah ("the preacher of uprightness," 2 Pt 2:5) announced God's resolve during the time spent building the ark. eight persons: Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives (Gn 7:13). through the water: This awkward phrase-Noah was not really saved "through the water" is so formulated in view of the comparison with baptism to be made in the next verse.
21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God 7 for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
21. baptism: The salvific effects of this passage through water are ascribed at the end of the verse to Christ's resurrection. its counterpart: Lit., "antitype," i.e:, that which corresponds to (or is set over against) the "type" preceding it. Note that the type is not the ark, but the "passage through water." Noah's passage, effected in the ark, meant the saving of Noah and his family from the flood; for the Christian, the baptismal passage means eternal salvation and association with the triumph of the Risen Christ. not as a mere removal of physical dirt: It is not just a washing, but signifies far more. a. pledge of a good conscience: The Gk word eperotema most likely means the same as it does in contracts, the "agreement" or "consent" to their essential stipulations. It equals homologia and connotes that the baptized person professes thereby a faith in God (see Rom 10:9-10). through the resurrection: Cf 1:3; Rom 6:3-9; CoI 2:11.
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
22. gone to heaven: See comment on 3 :19 (cf. Eph 1:21; Acts 1 :10; Heb 1 :4). God's right hand: The imagery is derived from ancient Near Eastern (especially Egyptian) customs of depicting the king as seated at the right hand of a god. It denoted both his divinity and his function as the god's vicegerent to whom all authority and power were entrusted. The image entered Christian conception by way of Ps 110:1, which is applied to Christ in Acts 2:33-35; Rom 8:34; Heb 8:1; Mt 22:44. with angels.. .made subject to him: The spirits otherwise known from Phil 2:10; 1 Cor 15:24,27; Rom 8:38; CoI 2:10,15; Eph 1:21; 3 :10; 6:12. Christ has gone to the seventh heaven, where God is, and thus is in triumph over all that represents disobedience, rebellion, and persecution.
(Dalton, W.]., "Proclamatio Christi spiritibus facta," VD 42 [1964] 225-40; Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits: A Study of 1 Peter 3: 18-4:6 [AnalBib 23; Rome, 1965]. Gschwind, K., Die Niederfahrt Christi in die Unterwelt[NT Abh 2/3-5; Munster, 19II]. Reicke, B., The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism [K0benhavn, 1946].)
5 [18] Suffered: very many ancient manuscripts and versions read "died." Put to death in the flesh: affirms that Jesus truly died as a human being. Brought to life in the spirit: that is, in the new and transformed existence freed from the limitations and weaknesses of natural human life (cf 1 Cor 15:45).
6 [19] The spirits in prison: it is not clear just who these spirits are. They may be the spirits of the sinners who died in the flood, or angelic powers, hostile to God, who have been overcome by Christ (cf 1 Peter 3:22; Genesis 6:4; Enoch 6-36, especially 1 Peter 3:21:6; 2 Enoch 7:1-5).
7 [21] Appeal to God: this could also be translated "pledge," that is, a promise on the part of Christians to live with a good conscience before God, or a pledge from God of forgiveness and therefore a good conscience for us.
Mk 1:12-15 (Once again, very dense commentary forces me to place the scripture text in front of the commentary.)
12 7 At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert,
(D) The Temptation (1:12-13). The account in Mk is so brief compared to those in Mt 4:I-II and Lk 4:I-I3 that certain commentators believe that in Mt and Lk the Marcan story has been expanded with material from Q, or that Mk is an abbreviation of a longer account. There is no evidence, however, that the Q version is an amplification of Mk, or that the Evangelist knew of the Matthaean and Lucan nuances of the temptations. Hence one should resist the inclination to interpret this scene by the fuller accounts in Mt and Lk. The Marcan version, moreover, is complete in itself when seen against the background of the current Jewish belief that in the last days the evil spirit would be conquered in a great contest of strength (1QS 3 :I3-4:26; cf. T. A. Burkill, Mysterious Revelation, 20-23). The temptation is thus a mythologized picture of Jesus' redeeming work: as Son of God and bearer of the Holy Spirit (1:10-I2) he overthrows Satan's empire.
12. the Spirit drove him out: There is a nuance of compulsion or violence in this word, which is usually used of Jesus' expulsion of demons (1:34,39,43; 3 :I5,22). into the desert: Although Mt and Lk clearly draw an analogy between Jesus' temptations and the 40 years' testing of
Israel in the desert (Dt 8:2), this parallelism is all but absent from Mk. Rather, the mention of the desert reflects the belief that the wilderness was the habitat of evil spirits (Str-B 4, 5I5-I6). Similarly, the 40 days simply denote a more or less prolonged period, without any allusion to Dt 8:2.
13 and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
13. tempted by Satan: The notion of temptation is connected with the view that a state of war existed in the world between good and evil powers, in which the believer was constantly exposed to the devil's attacks.
Unlike Mt and Lk, Mk does not indicate the nature of Jesus' temptation, or even that it may have been occasioned by hunger. he was with the wild beasts: This may perhaps symbolize the beginning of the Messianic age as paradise regained (Is 11:6-9; 65:25; Hos 2:I8). The wild beasts, however, may also symbolize the evil with which Jesus contends (cf. Ps 22 :13-22; Is 13 :21-22; Ez 34:5,8,25). and the angels ministered to him: Namely, in his struggle with Satan. The QL portrays the angels as an army fighting on God's side against the evil spirits (1QM 1:10-11; 12:8,9; 13:10; 17:6). Although Mk does not clearly indicate the outcome of Jesus' struggle, this is clearly stated in 3:27, and the implications of Satan's defeat are spelled out in Jesus' exorcisms.
(Best, E., The Temptation and the Passion [Cambridge, 1965] 3-27. Dupont,]., "L'origine du recit des tentations de Jesus au desert," RB 73 [1966] 30-76. Feuillet, A., "L'episode de la tentation d'apres l'Evangile de S. Marc," EstBib 19 [1960] 49-73. Kuhn, K. G., "New Light on Temptation, Sin, and Flesh in the NT," The Scrolls and the NT led. K. Stendahl; N.Y., 1957] 94-II3. Seitz, 0., "Praeparatio evangelica in the Markan Prologue," JBL 82 [1963] 201-6.)
12 (II) The Mystery of the Messiah (1:14 8:33). Having shown that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God, Mk now begins the story of how he gradually unfolded the mystery of his identity during his ministry.
(A) Jesus and the Crowds (1:14-3:6).
(a) INTRODUCTION (1 :14-20).
(i) Summary of Jesus' preaching (1:14-15). Mk
is punctuated by similar summaries (1 :39; 3 :7-12; 6 :6b), many of which appear to be pre-Marean units (cf. C. H. Dodd, ExpT 43 [1931-32] 396-400), although comparison with Mt shows that the Evangelist edited them in line with his own theological preoccupations. This is especially true of 1:14-15.
14 After John had been arrested, 8 Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
14. after John had been handed over: A foreshadowing of Jesus' fate (9:31; 10:33; I4:10,11,44). Galilee: The Galilean ministry is central in Mk; the Evangelist probably introduced this locale systematically less for informational than for theological reasons: it is not only the scene
of Jesus' earthly ministry, but also the meeting-place of the Risen Lord (16 :7). Mark may be exhorting the Jerusalem church to turn its sights on this "Galilee," recognizing in the locale of Jesus' earthly ministry the scene of his impending parousia (W. Marxsen, Markus, 33-77; F-B 64-65). proclaiming God's good news: Possibly Jesus himself called his message "the good news," alluding to Is 61 :1-2; 40:9; 52 :7. However, the expressions "proclaim the good news" and "God's good news" are Christian terms found in Paul (Gal 2 :2; Col 1:23; 1 Thes 2 :9). It is thus more likely that this notice is an editorial addition giving a programmatic summary of Jesus' preaching in specifically Christian terms (see 1:1).
Similarly "believe in the good news" (1:15b) is a compendium and characterization of the Risen Christ's message.
15 "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
15. God's reign is at hand; repent: Cf. Mt 4:17, "Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand." By inverting this order and starting with "the appointed time [of God's saving act] is fulfilled," Mk emphasizes the eschatological nature of Jesus' presence in Galilee (cf. Ez 7:12; Dn 12:4,9; Zeph 1:12; 1QS 4:18-20; Gal 4:4). (On the reign [ or kingdom] of God, ? Aspects NT Thought, 78 :99-101; cf. F. Mussner, TTZ 66 [1957] 257-75.)
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Getting Back on Track
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030506.shtml
Reflection:
The first thing we notice as we break open the reading from Genesis is the reminder of our covenant with God. The covenant, not born out of the waters of the great flood as was God's Covenant with Noah, but formed through our Baptism into the life and death of Christ. Peter reminds us of that connection when he says; "This prefigured baptism, which saves you now."
In the ancient tradition of the covenant our baptismal covenant contained gifts and promises. God gave us the gift of his Holy Spirit to dwell within us. He gave us the gift of his grace through which he opened his mind to us, that we might understand his love for us. He washed away all our sin and created us anew, a new creation clothed in his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Through his Son, he gave us the gift of salvation.
On our part, promises were made. We (or our parents standing as our proxy) promised to follow God's law. We promised to build up His body, the Church though faith and example. We promised to love the Lord our God and to turn from the glamour and evil of sin.
And when these gifts had been given and the promises made, also as in ancient tradition, the covenant was sealed with a sacrifice. Because this covenant was so vast, so complete and so critical to God, the sacrifice that sealed our covenant with him was his only Son, Jesus who is the Christ. St. Peter confirms this amazing fact as he tells us; "Christ suffered or sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God."
We are reminded of promises made in Baptism and then shown, through Christ's own example in the Gospel, how, after his own baptism; he was driven into the desert and tempted by the evil one – the devil. Oh that we could be as successful as he was in denying sin and the glamour of it. It is our failure in these instances that our Lenten journey now reviews. We now remember out past failures and pledge to change, to repent, to turn and make a better path toward the Lord who is our light in the darkness.
I know my reflection above was more stilted and formal than usual, but I speak to myself and today I needed a stern talking to. Lent is a time for decisions about our future road and the only way we can improve is to recognize our mistakes and change what we do going forward. Getting back on track takes a new meaning, that track leads to God. Pax
If you wish to comment and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture[1] from Gn 9:8-15
Jerome Biblical Commentary[2]
(1) The Covenant with Noah (9:1-17) (P).
The first epoch in division of world history according to
P ended with the flood. The ideal conditions of that epoch, marked by an implicit covenant with the first man (cf. 1:28-30), no longer obtained. The second epoch, marked by the covenant with Noah, supposes the theological disorder caused by sin and introduces as normal those adverse conditions of life that every man encounters. Highly reflective and profoundly religious, the passage presents an important stage in the P theology of history.
8 God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
9 "See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you
10 and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.
8-10. In fulfillment of his promise (cf. 6:18; note the completely thought-out presentation in P), God makes a covenant with Noah, the first explicitly mentioned. For P, covenants mark the succession of world epochs. This covenant with Noah requires nothing on man's part (unilateral), is extended to all creation (vv. 9-10), and its sign is a natural phenomenon (vv. 13-16). The covenant with Abraham presupposes his personal commitment to God, is extended only to his descendants, and its sign is circumcision (Gn 17). The covenant with Israel requires continuing loyalty (Ex 24:7-8), is restricted to the nation, and its sign is the Sabbath observance (Ex 31:16-17). For P, therefore, the meaning of history is greatly determined by a covenant theology describing the varying and successively more intimate relationships between God and man.
11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
11. The content of the covenant is God's merciful permission of history's continuance. There will never again be a flood that has the theological significance of indicating the end of a world epoch.
12 God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:
13 I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,
15 I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.
12-17. The visible sign of this covenant, for both man and God, is the rainbow. For the ancient pagans, this natural phenomenon was considered a divine bow used by the gods to inflict punishment on man. Its appearance in the sky signified the divine appeasement. This ancient concept has been taken by P and given new meaning in the context of his theology. The anthropomorphisms (cf. v. 15, God "remembers"'; v. 16, God "sees and recalls") are unusual for P and reveal profound convictions.
[1] All biblical references -New American Bible United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000 December 09, 2002 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
[2] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968
Scripture from Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Jerome Biblical Commentary
4 Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths.
5 2 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. For you I wait all the long day, because of your goodness, LORD.
6 Remember your compassion and love, O LORD; for they are ages old.
7 Remember no more the sins of my youth; remember me only in light of your love.
8 Good and upright is the LORD, who shows sinners the way,
9 Guides the humble rightly, and teaches the humble the way.
2 [5] Because of your goodness, LORD: these words have been transposed from the end of 7 to preserve the pattern of two lines per letter of the Hebrew alphabet in the acrostic poem.
Ps 25. An individual lament in acrostic style.
The psalmist is a sinner (7) who is hated by enemies; he prays for deliverance and guidance. Structure: 1-7, a series of requests, with themes to induce Yahweh to intervene (3, 6-7); 8-15, a teaching about the "way" (8) and fear of the Lord (12); 16-21, another series of requests for help, followed in 22 by an apparent addition referring to the community. 4. Although the poem is a complaint, the key idea is "your ways," which the author asks to know and to observe; this concept is taken up again in 8-15, in which a strong wisdom influence can be seen, especially 12-14.
1 Pt 3:18-22 (Due to the length of commentary on this section, the scripture will be laid out in front of the applicable commentary instead of side by side as I customarily do.)
18 (b) THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST AND THE EFFECT OF BAPTISM (3 :I8-22). This section adds an exhortation of consolation as a reason for what is recommended in 3:I7. The exhortation is based on the example of Christ and the effect of baptism. A comparison is made between the suffering of the Gentile Christians and the suffering of Christ. Just as he triumphed, so will they. Their baptism is the pledge of their triumph, for it gives them a share in his resurrection. For he was put to death as far as his earthly existence (sarki) was concerned, yet he was made to live spiritually (pneumati). In this condition he proclaimed his triumph, even to the disobedient spirits of the period of Noah. Just as Noah was saved by passage through the waters of the flood, so the Christian will be saved by passage through the waters of baptism-its anti type.
The fifth article of the Creed ("he descended into hell") is based on such NT passages as Rom 10:6-7; Eph 4:8-10; Heb I3:20; Acts 2:24,3I; Mt I2:40. But it is quite another question whether this passage in 1 Pt deals with the "harrowing of Hell"; it has often been so interpreted and has supplied imaginative details for what Christ did during the Triduum mortis. However, it is not at all certain that Peter refers to this.
19 The main interpretations of this passage fall into five classes: (I) The Bowyer Greek Testament (I763) and J. Rendel Harris emended 3:I9 to introduce Enoch into the text (reading en ho kai as haplography for en ho Enoch kai); see E. J. Goodspeed's translation, "In it Enoch went and preached." (2) Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 6.6; GCS I5.454-55): Christ's soul went to Hades to preach conversion to the sinners of the. generation of the flood, who were detained there. (3) Robert Bellarmine (De controversiis 2.4, I3): Christ's soul went to announce release to the just in Limbo (the sinners of Noah's time who repented before the flood). (4) Augustine (Ep. I64; CSEL 44, 52I-4I): Christ in his divine pre-existence preached through Noah to the sinners of his generation, not in Hades but on earth. (5) F. Spitta (Christi Predigt an die Geister [Gottingen, I 890]), E. G. Selwyn, B. Reicke, W. J. Dalton-all with varying nuances: The Risen Christ proclaimed his triumph to the imprisoned spirits as he passed through the heavens to h: exaltation.- We follow this opinion.
18 For Christ also suffered 5 for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.
20 18. Christ too died: Some mss. read "suffered'
(epathen), which is more suited to the context, but is suspect because it is influenced by 2 :21. Peter propose Christ's example as a motive of patience in the persecutor But he also emphasizes the unique character of his death in view of man's redemption (cf. Rom 6:10; Heb 9:28 Eph 3:12). an upright man: The early Church's epithet for Jesus (cf. Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14) brings out th vicarious character of Christ's suffering; it is an allusion to Is 53:11. to bring you near to God: Christ's death was not only a model (2:21), but also gave men new access to God (Rom 5 :1-2). By taking away sin (2:24), Chris broke down the barrier between God and man (cf. Eph 3 :12; Col I :22). put to death in his flesh: That is, in his physical, earthy condition in which he resembles all other men (Rom 8:3; Eph 2: 14). The word sarx here does no mean "body" (in contrast to his soul), nor even "humanity" (in contrast to his divine pre-existence), but Christ' earthly human condition (contrasted with his risen state) made to live in the Spirit: At the resurrection, Chris became pneuma. Raised by the Father's glory (doxa, Rom 6:4), Christ was endowed with a power (dynamis, Phl 3 :10) making him a "vivifying Spirit' (1 Cor IS :45) The sarx-pneuma contrast used here is found also in Rom 1 :3-4; 1 Tm 3 :16. The pneuma does not just meat: Christ's "soul" or his "divine pre-existence."
19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 6
19. in it. Or "with it," i.e., the Spirit. The phrase is best understood instrumentally; however, it is possibly temporal ("in this situation"), referring not immediately to pneuma, but to the whole preceding sentence (v. 18b). It has nothing to do with Enoch. he [Christ] went: Not to "Hades," but "to heaven," as the direction is specified in 3 :22, where the same participle (poreutheis) is used. Christ, exalted in his ascension, passed through "all the heavens" (Eph 4:10); en route he proclaimed his triumph. The imagery implied here is that of the Seven Heavens (see T. Levi, 2 :7-3 :8; 2 Enoch 3-20; 3 Baruch; cf. R. H. Charles, APOT 2,433). This imagery is reflected in the NT, too (2 Cor 12:2; Eph 1:3,20; Heb 4:14; 7:26). Christ is depicted as mounting in triumphant procession to the abode of God in the seventh heaven, as in Col 2:15. preached: Or better, "announced." No object of the vb. ekeryxen is given, and it has often been interpreted in terms of eueggelisthe (4:6, see comment). But there is no reason to introduce "gospel," or even "conversion," or "release" into this context. It would be more consonant with Col 2:15 to introduce a proclamation of Christ's triumph to the imprisoned spirits who are passed along the way. imprisoned spirits: These are not the "dead" (nekroi) of 4:6. They are rather the well-known angelic spirits imprisoned in the second heaven (cf. 2 Enoch 7:1-5 [APOT 2, 433]; Enoch 6-36; esp.21:6; 67:4; Jub 10). Christ's proclamation to them is merely a way of asserting his triumph (see 3:22). It is in the long run a minor detail, not at all crucial in the consolation Peter offers to his readers.
20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.
20. disobeyed long ago: See Gn 6:1-5. In late Judaism, human wickedness was explained as derived from the miscegenation of the angels and daughters of men, and the angels were themselves branded as disobedient. Their "disobedience" is found in Josephus, Ant. 1.3, I § 73; Enoch 15:1-11; Jub 5. In Gn 6 it precedes the Noah story and thus is related to his epoch in the intertestamental literature. God's patience waited: Peter alludes to the interval in the Gn account between God's resolve (Gn 6:6) and the execution of it (Gn 7:11). The supposition is that Noah ("the preacher of uprightness," 2 Pt 2:5) announced God's resolve during the time spent building the ark. eight persons: Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives (Gn 7:13). through the water: This awkward phrase-Noah was not really saved "through the water" is so formulated in view of the comparison with baptism to be made in the next verse.
21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God 7 for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
21. baptism: The salvific effects of this passage through water are ascribed at the end of the verse to Christ's resurrection. its counterpart: Lit., "antitype," i.e:, that which corresponds to (or is set over against) the "type" preceding it. Note that the type is not the ark, but the "passage through water." Noah's passage, effected in the ark, meant the saving of Noah and his family from the flood; for the Christian, the baptismal passage means eternal salvation and association with the triumph of the Risen Christ. not as a mere removal of physical dirt: It is not just a washing, but signifies far more. a. pledge of a good conscience: The Gk word eperotema most likely means the same as it does in contracts, the "agreement" or "consent" to their essential stipulations. It equals homologia and connotes that the baptized person professes thereby a faith in God (see Rom 10:9-10). through the resurrection: Cf 1:3; Rom 6:3-9; CoI 2:11.
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
22. gone to heaven: See comment on 3 :19 (cf. Eph 1:21; Acts 1 :10; Heb 1 :4). God's right hand: The imagery is derived from ancient Near Eastern (especially Egyptian) customs of depicting the king as seated at the right hand of a god. It denoted both his divinity and his function as the god's vicegerent to whom all authority and power were entrusted. The image entered Christian conception by way of Ps 110:1, which is applied to Christ in Acts 2:33-35; Rom 8:34; Heb 8:1; Mt 22:44. with angels.. .made subject to him: The spirits otherwise known from Phil 2:10; 1 Cor 15:24,27; Rom 8:38; CoI 2:10,15; Eph 1:21; 3 :10; 6:12. Christ has gone to the seventh heaven, where God is, and thus is in triumph over all that represents disobedience, rebellion, and persecution.
(Dalton, W.]., "Proclamatio Christi spiritibus facta," VD 42 [1964] 225-40; Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits: A Study of 1 Peter 3: 18-4:6 [AnalBib 23; Rome, 1965]. Gschwind, K., Die Niederfahrt Christi in die Unterwelt[NT Abh 2/3-5; Munster, 19II]. Reicke, B., The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism [K0benhavn, 1946].)
5 [18] Suffered: very many ancient manuscripts and versions read "died." Put to death in the flesh: affirms that Jesus truly died as a human being. Brought to life in the spirit: that is, in the new and transformed existence freed from the limitations and weaknesses of natural human life (cf 1 Cor 15:45).
6 [19] The spirits in prison: it is not clear just who these spirits are. They may be the spirits of the sinners who died in the flood, or angelic powers, hostile to God, who have been overcome by Christ (cf 1 Peter 3:22; Genesis 6:4; Enoch 6-36, especially 1 Peter 3:21:6; 2 Enoch 7:1-5).
7 [21] Appeal to God: this could also be translated "pledge," that is, a promise on the part of Christians to live with a good conscience before God, or a pledge from God of forgiveness and therefore a good conscience for us.
Mk 1:12-15 (Once again, very dense commentary forces me to place the scripture text in front of the commentary.)
12 7 At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert,
(D) The Temptation (1:12-13). The account in Mk is so brief compared to those in Mt 4:I-II and Lk 4:I-I3 that certain commentators believe that in Mt and Lk the Marcan story has been expanded with material from Q, or that Mk is an abbreviation of a longer account. There is no evidence, however, that the Q version is an amplification of Mk, or that the Evangelist knew of the Matthaean and Lucan nuances of the temptations. Hence one should resist the inclination to interpret this scene by the fuller accounts in Mt and Lk. The Marcan version, moreover, is complete in itself when seen against the background of the current Jewish belief that in the last days the evil spirit would be conquered in a great contest of strength (1QS 3 :I3-4:26; cf. T. A. Burkill, Mysterious Revelation, 20-23). The temptation is thus a mythologized picture of Jesus' redeeming work: as Son of God and bearer of the Holy Spirit (1:10-I2) he overthrows Satan's empire.
12. the Spirit drove him out: There is a nuance of compulsion or violence in this word, which is usually used of Jesus' expulsion of demons (1:34,39,43; 3 :I5,22). into the desert: Although Mt and Lk clearly draw an analogy between Jesus' temptations and the 40 years' testing of
Israel in the desert (Dt 8:2), this parallelism is all but absent from Mk. Rather, the mention of the desert reflects the belief that the wilderness was the habitat of evil spirits (Str-B 4, 5I5-I6). Similarly, the 40 days simply denote a more or less prolonged period, without any allusion to Dt 8:2.
13 and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
13. tempted by Satan: The notion of temptation is connected with the view that a state of war existed in the world between good and evil powers, in which the believer was constantly exposed to the devil's attacks.
Unlike Mt and Lk, Mk does not indicate the nature of Jesus' temptation, or even that it may have been occasioned by hunger. he was with the wild beasts: This may perhaps symbolize the beginning of the Messianic age as paradise regained (Is 11:6-9; 65:25; Hos 2:I8). The wild beasts, however, may also symbolize the evil with which Jesus contends (cf. Ps 22 :13-22; Is 13 :21-22; Ez 34:5,8,25). and the angels ministered to him: Namely, in his struggle with Satan. The QL portrays the angels as an army fighting on God's side against the evil spirits (1QM 1:10-11; 12:8,9; 13:10; 17:6). Although Mk does not clearly indicate the outcome of Jesus' struggle, this is clearly stated in 3:27, and the implications of Satan's defeat are spelled out in Jesus' exorcisms.
(Best, E., The Temptation and the Passion [Cambridge, 1965] 3-27. Dupont,]., "L'origine du recit des tentations de Jesus au desert," RB 73 [1966] 30-76. Feuillet, A., "L'episode de la tentation d'apres l'Evangile de S. Marc," EstBib 19 [1960] 49-73. Kuhn, K. G., "New Light on Temptation, Sin, and Flesh in the NT," The Scrolls and the NT led. K. Stendahl; N.Y., 1957] 94-II3. Seitz, 0., "Praeparatio evangelica in the Markan Prologue," JBL 82 [1963] 201-6.)
12 (II) The Mystery of the Messiah (1:14 8:33). Having shown that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God, Mk now begins the story of how he gradually unfolded the mystery of his identity during his ministry.
(A) Jesus and the Crowds (1:14-3:6).
(a) INTRODUCTION (1 :14-20).
(i) Summary of Jesus' preaching (1:14-15). Mk
is punctuated by similar summaries (1 :39; 3 :7-12; 6 :6b), many of which appear to be pre-Marean units (cf. C. H. Dodd, ExpT 43 [1931-32] 396-400), although comparison with Mt shows that the Evangelist edited them in line with his own theological preoccupations. This is especially true of 1:14-15.
14 After John had been arrested, 8 Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
14. after John had been handed over: A foreshadowing of Jesus' fate (9:31; 10:33; I4:10,11,44). Galilee: The Galilean ministry is central in Mk; the Evangelist probably introduced this locale systematically less for informational than for theological reasons: it is not only the scene
of Jesus' earthly ministry, but also the meeting-place of the Risen Lord (16 :7). Mark may be exhorting the Jerusalem church to turn its sights on this "Galilee," recognizing in the locale of Jesus' earthly ministry the scene of his impending parousia (W. Marxsen, Markus, 33-77; F-B 64-65). proclaiming God's good news: Possibly Jesus himself called his message "the good news," alluding to Is 61 :1-2; 40:9; 52 :7. However, the expressions "proclaim the good news" and "God's good news" are Christian terms found in Paul (Gal 2 :2; Col 1:23; 1 Thes 2 :9). It is thus more likely that this notice is an editorial addition giving a programmatic summary of Jesus' preaching in specifically Christian terms (see 1:1).
Similarly "believe in the good news" (1:15b) is a compendium and characterization of the Risen Christ's message.
15 "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
15. God's reign is at hand; repent: Cf. Mt 4:17, "Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand." By inverting this order and starting with "the appointed time [of God's saving act] is fulfilled," Mk emphasizes the eschatological nature of Jesus' presence in Galilee (cf. Ez 7:12; Dn 12:4,9; Zeph 1:12; 1QS 4:18-20; Gal 4:4). (On the reign [ or kingdom] of God, ? Aspects NT Thought, 78 :99-101; cf. F. Mussner, TTZ 66 [1957] 257-75.)
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