First Testament: Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
Psalm: Luke
1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 (Isaiah 61:10b)
Epistle: 1
Thessalonians 5:16-24
Commentary
While John the Baptist announced the presence of the Messiah, the
Baptist also denounced the fact that Herod had married his brother’s wife. Such a denunciation, prioritizing truth over
politics, brought down the wrath of Herod’s wife upon the Baptist. Similarly, those Faithful who do not regard
Obama as a murderer, confront the possibility of the religious wrath of the
Roman Catholic hierarchy concerned with procured abortions. Civil wrath killed the Baptist; religious
wrath killed Jesus. There is no easy
“prudent” way out.
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Annotated
Bibliography
Material above the double line
draws from material below the double line.
Those uninterested in scholarly and tangential details should stop
reading here. If they do, however, they
may miss some interesting scholarly details.
Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
Isaiah 61:1-9
Margaret Barker, The Great High Priest: The
In Luke, Jesus
proclaims that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 61. Barker explains, “the concept of Jubilee
gives hope to the dispossessed who had been deprived of their rights and their
inheritance when the exiles returned from
Isaiah 61:1-2
Richard Clifford, S.J. and Khaled Anatolois, "Christian Salvation: Biblical and Theological Perspectives" [2]
Isaiah 61:1-2 (LXX) portray salvation according to the “prophetic” model, in which human instruments effect salvation within history. Clifford and Anatolois observe, “Strikingly, Jesus speaks no word of his own, proclaiming instead a lengthy passage from Isaiah 61:1-2 (LXX), and declaring, `Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
Isaiah 61:1-2
Talbert disagrees with Fuller and argues,
…
when the Lucan Jesus uses Isa 61:1-2 [which the Lectionary presents] and
58:6 in Luke 4:18-19 to announce his mission, the image of proclaiming release
to the captives in this context is understood as casting out demons (4:31-37),
setting at liberty those who are oppressed is viewed as healing (4:38-39;
5:12-15; 5:17-26); and preaching good news to the poor is taken to be the good
news of the kingdom breaking in in [sic] Jesus’ ministry (4:43-44). The divergences are so great that one is left
to wonder if a description of the restoration of
Isa 61:1-2a, 10-11
Matthew
J. Lynch, "
Lynch divides his article into five parts:
I.
Salient
Features of
II.
The First Warrior Panel (Isaiah 59:15b-21)
III.
The
Second Warrior Panel (Isaiah 63:1-6)
IV.
Yhwh’s
Kingship and Royal Decrees in Isaiah 60-62
V.
Conclusions
Lynch concludes,
These traditions are employed by
Trito-Isaiah to counter the increasing darkness of Israel’s exilic rebellion,
failed dreams, and foreign domination, and to illuminate the surprising glories
of Zion’s future—a future made secure only by the intervention and return of
Zion’s warrior and king.
Isa 61:1
Garrett argues,
The
most important and obvious instance of this Lucan tendency [to draw from
Isaiah] is the depiction of the sermon in
Isaiah 61:1
As mentioned last week, Bridge writes,
Isaiah’s considerable influence is demonstrated by the ways in which the NT authors repeatedly draw upon his prophecies to validate, shape and infuse content into their writings. In the Gospels, Isaiah’s oracles appear at crucial moments of Jesus’ life. They validate and explain his virgin birth (Isa 7:14, his forerunner (40:3-5 [used here]) …
Isaiah 61:1
John J. Collins, review of Alex P. Jassen, Mediating the Divine:
Prophecy and Revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism[7]
Jassen argues that the Dead Sea Scrolls are innovative in “the use of the term `anointed ones’ to refer to prophets. The new usage is grounded in an interpretation of Isa 61:1.” The reviewer, Collins, concludes, “We [still] need terminology that does justice to the transformation and variety as well as to the continuity” from ancient texts to the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 (Isaiah
61:10b)
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
These Notes said enough about the
Greek in 2005.
1 Thess 5:16-24
Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament: An
Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern
Textual Criticism, 2nd ed., Erroll F. Rhodes, tr.[8]
Part of Thessalonians, dating from about 200,
is at the
1 Thess 5:17
The Bishops use this verse in Chapter 35, “God Calls Us To
Pray.” The Bishops quote, pray without ceasing to assure the
Faithful that, “The Holy Spirit guides the Church at prayer through her reading
of Scripture, her celebration of the liturgy, and the practice of faith, hope,
and love.” I would add that reading Scripture
requires study, such as these Notes, to find the meaning needed to read
it well. In addition, the Bishops devote
a whole page and a half section to “Pray Always (1 Thes 5:17).”
The Bishops are confusing when first, under “Meditative
prayer,” they write, “Most prominent
among these [methods of meditation] are the Lectio
Divina of St. Benedict, the radical simplicity of Franciscan spirituality,
the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.”
Then, two pages later, the Bishops add, “Within our Church, spirituality
movements, including traditional schools of spirituality such as Benedictine,
Carmelite, Franciscan, and Ignatian, stress the importance of liturgical and
meditative prayer.” Evidently, Carmelite
spirituality, as found in my Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, is of a lesser
order. Really?
Finally, the Bishops include pray without ceasing in the section of the chapter labeled
“Doctrinal Statements.” Since the
Bishops do not cite the Council of Trent, I do not know quite what they mean by
Doctrinal. In any event, it is nice to see Sacred
Scripture quoted directly as something Doctrinal.
1 Thess 5:23
Alan
C. Mitchell, review of Chris VanLandingham, Judgment and Justification in Early Judaism and the Apostle Paul[10]
Mitchell does not find VanLandingham convincing.
VanLandingham believes that the topic of behavior in 1 Thessalonians
3:13; 5:23 [used here]; 1 Corinthians 1:8; and Philippians 1:10 and 2:15
regarding the Day of the Lord concerns what is moral and ethical rather than
any forensic sense of a judicial pronouncement on God’s part.
Isaiah 61:1 (cited in Luke 4:18)
John 1:6-8, 19-28
There are two difficult Greek words in the
manuscripts for this Lectionary reading.
If I understand the apparatus correctly, the first difficulty is in
verse 21. Are they asking John the
Baptizer who or what are you?
Lectionary (1998) What
are you?
The Vulgate (circa 410) Quid
ergo?
Douay-Rheims (1582-1610) Who
are thou?
King
Catholic RSV (1969) What
then?
New American (
New Jerusalem (1985) Who are you?
The different
translations reflect the difficulty.
The second difficulty is in verse 26,
whether the word standing belongs in
the phrase, there is one among you.
Lectionary (1998) there
is one among you
The Vulgate (circa 410) medius
vestrum stat
Douay-Rheims (1582-1610) among
you stands
King
Catholic RSV (1969) there
hath stood one in the midst of you
New American (
New Jerusalem (1985) standing among you
Again, the
different translations reflect the difficulty with the original Greek. The
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament: An
Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern
Textual Criticism, 2nd ed., Erroll F. Rhodes, tr.[11]
The Alands write that the Bodmer papyri,
which became known only in the 1950s, contain fourteen of the twenty-one
chapters of John, without almost any omissions.
The Bodmer papyri date from the beginning of the Third Century. They are in Cologny, outside of
The Sinaitic Syriac manuscripts preserve
these verses in John. The Sinaitic New
Testament may date from as early as 160-180.[13] These Notes often refer to these
manuscripts, which are currently being made available on the internet.
The Alands cite a verse identification
system designed by Eusebius (263-339?), the Father of Church History. Eusebius used his system to develop his
interest in textual criticism.[14]
John 1:19—2:12
Alice L. Laffey, review of Maurizio Marcheselli, "Avete qualcosa da mangiare?” Un pasto, il Risorto, la comunità[15]
Laffey writes,
John 21, designed to resonate with 1:19—2:12, contains both verbal and structural similarities; a parallelism emerges between the person and role of John the Baptist in the context of the Messiah’s manifestation to Israel and the figure and role of the Beloved Disciple. Both are individuals who carry out a function for the group.
Laffey finds Marcheselli convincing and helpful.
John 1:1-17
Craig R. Koester, review of Francisco Lozada, Jr., and Tom Thatcher (eds.), New Currents through John: A Global Perspective[16]
One of the contributors to this collection, Yak-hwee Tan, “explores the way the image of the vine and branches develops a sense of Christian identity (John 1:1-17) in relation to a hostile world (15:18-27).” Koester concludes that the contributors “invite readers to a conversation in progress, with the Fourth Gospel at the center of attention.” The conversation is about “rethinking the Gospel’s [of John] relationship; to Judaism and the Roman imperial system, as well as the need to take up some of the book’s less-visited theological themes.”
John 1:19-34
Craig
R.
This time Koester writes, “I have not been persuaded that the chronologies of the Gospels can be reconciled in this way.” Koester illustrates what Kostenberger argues, “For example, the ministry of John the Baptist in 1:19-34 occurs in the summer or fall of 29 C.E. and the cleansing of the temple in 2:13-22 occurs on April 7, 30 C.E.”
[1]
[2] Theological Studies, Vol. 66, No. 4 (December 2005) 746.
[3]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 3 (July 2007) 580.
[4]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 2 (July 2008) 244-263.
[5]
the Catholic Biblical
Quarterly,
Vol. 52, No. 4 (July 1990) 661.
[6]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (July 2007) 190.
[7]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 3 (July 2008) 573.
[8] Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989, 99.
[11] Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989,
57, 96, 100, 101, 120, 126, 250, 252.
[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodmer_Papyri 081026.
[13] http://www.bible-researcher.com/syriac-isbe.html 081026.
[15]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 1 (July 2008) 160.
[16]
the Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 1 (July 2008) 203.
[17]
the Catholic Biblical
Quarterly, Vol.
68, No. 1 (July 2006) 150.