God’s Lament Over His People (v. 34-36)
The text continues with a “therefore”, but the way it appears here in Matthew it is not clear what the context is. Luke’s version is more detailed: “Therefore, God’s wisdom says”. Apparently this is a well-known quote, whose origin we know nothing about. It is about what God will do with his people, and it says what many prophets already had said. God constantly sends new messengers to his people and the people kill them. The words are applicable also to Jesus and those whom he sends. It will continue like this until the end. Then the accounts will be settled and the blood of the martyrs will come on “this generation”. This could mean this generation or this people. And every sin against the witnesses of God, all the way from Abel to Zechariah, that is from the first to the last martyr in the Old Testament, will be accounted for. Zacharias is the Greek form for Zechariah, the last of the twelve minor prophets, who was Berekiah’s son (Barachias). However, there was another prophet named Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, who was killed in the outer court of the temple, as it is told in 2 Chronicles (24:20f), which at that time was the last book in the Jewish bible. Luke only talks about “Zacharias” and one of the oldest manuscripts does not here mention “Berekiah’s son” either. Apparently there has been some uncertainty concerning whom Jesus was talking about. Yet, the meaning is clear - in all its seriousness.
You Would Not (v. 37-39)
Why does any human being have to be damned? Why is not everyone saved? Even Jesus has been asked this question. Here he gives us the answer. God wanted everyone to be saved. He sent his Son to save man from the disaster that was threatening - as the hen gathers the brood under her wings when the hawk is approaching. But they would not.
“Your house is left to you desolate” most likely means that God will leave his temple. He will take his hand off that place which he had chosen. It might also mean: your home will be desolate and stand as ruins. Then no more prophets and messengers will be sent to Israel. God’s people will not see their Messiah before he comes in the clouds of heaven. They had greeted him when he rode into Jerusalem with the old words from the Psalm: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” If they rejected him now, they would not get a new opportunity to say this before his last coming.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Giertz on Advent IV
The Savior’s Birth (v. 18-25)
Among Jews, betrothal was a solemn act with legally binding consequences, just as the wedding ceremony is to us (or betrothal in the old times; therefore this might be a justification for using the old word “betrothal”). After the betrothal the couple was called husband and wife, even though the woman still lived with her parents. The wedding meant that the husband “took his wife”, so that they formed their own home and lived together. If the husband died during the betrothal, the wife was considered to be a widow. It was adultery if a betrothed woman gave herself to another man. This could bring severe punishment and in any case shame. Joseph wanted to protect his betrothed from this and thus planned to divorce her quietly. In a dream he then sees an angel, who tells him that Mary is innocent and that the child that she carries has been conceived in a way which no other child in the world has. Joseph is therefore to take his wife and name the child Jesus, because this Jesus “will save his people from their sins”. This statement does not have a real meaning in Swedish (or Greek), unlike Hebrew or Aramaic. The name Jesus (which is the same name as Joshua in the Old Testament) means “The Lord saves”. Jewish names had more meaning than ours do. They often contained a confession or a motto. They were considered to bear the innermost essence of a person. Therefore, there was a proclamation and a promise from God in the name Jesus itself.
There is also a special meaning in the words “save his people from their sins“. It was a general Jewish belief that Messiah was to save his people, but he would do it by freeing them and overthrowing their enemies. The words of the angel give another picture of Messiah, a picture which Matthew will draw on in his gospel. It is a picture of a suffering Savior, one who is persecuted and rejected, but precisely in this way he wins forgiveness of sins for his people.
All this happened, Matthew says, so that the words of Scripture would be fulfilled, and then he quotes Isaiah’s word about the virgin who would give birth to a son (Is 7:14). He quotes the Greek translation, which was commonly used among Jews (and is called the Septuagint). In the Hebrew text a word which can mean both virgin and young woman is used for “virgin”. Our current church bible “young woman” is used in Isaiah, but the word “virgin” is used in this passage, in the same way as the Greek translation did.
In the future, we will continue to meet this thought over and over again in Matthew, that the Scripture (that is, the Old Testament) has been fulfilled in Christ. In this Matthew often uses a way of quoting and interpreting of the Scripture, which may seem a bit strained to us, but this way of reading and explaining the Scripture was widely accepted in this time. While modern scholars today take it for granted that one should try to determine what the authors of the Bible themselves meant with their statements, the Jews - and also Jesus - were convinced that there is more to the words of the Bible than that meaning, which the words may have had in a particular historic situation. For they were convinced that God spoke to them through these words and that he had enclosed inexhaustible riches in them, which were possible to find through an attentive study. To “examine the Scriptures” was therefore to compare one passage with another, to pay attention to the bigger picture in Scripture, and to find hints and reference to that, which happened both previously and later. They entered deeply into all the details in the texts, were mindful of both pronunciation, as they had learned it, and the written text, which consisted of consonants with vowels and thus opened up for other pronunciations and new meanings.
Here we have an example of this way of reading. Isaiah says that the son of the virgin is to be called Immanuel. This, Matthew now says, has been fulfilled when Mary’s son was named Jesus. This conclusion makes no sense if one has not - as Matthew - realized that both these names mean the same thing. For “the Lords saves” means that “God is with us”. That God who should be against us, shows that he makes our lost cause his when he sends us his Son as a Savior. He comes to us and will never abandon us. This idea is prevalent through the whole gospel of Matthew, even to its last verse: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Now one may of course ask: How did Matthew know what he here tells about Jesus’ birth? It is understandable that many have wanted to explain away this as legend, since it goes against everything that we usually count on. Fifty years ago it was often claimed that the legend about Jesus’ supernatural birth arose on Hellenistic soil. Among the Greeks there were many myths about sons of gods, who had lived on earth, and it was not strange if they had similar thoughts about Jesus. However, that theory does not stand up to scrutiny. It is namely possible to show that the narratives about Jesus’ birth (as we have them in the first two chapters in Matthew and in another version in Luke) must have had its origin among people, who knew and spoke Aramaic and knew the Hebrew Bible. Thus, they must have originated on Jewish soil, in Palestine or Syria. That changes the whole issue. To a Jew it was by no means natural, but rather offensive to think that Messiah would be born in this way. Among the Jewish Christians in Palestine and Syria, the first church in Jerusalem had a entirely dominant position until 70 AD, when the city was destroyed. In the first church Jesus’ own brother Jacob was the leading figure until his death (ca 62 AD). Relatives of Jesus were among the Christians in Palestine at least until 130 AD. It therefore seems strange if legends could have occurred in these circles, when their leaders knew that they were unfounded. However, the process becomes understandable, assuming that stories which went back to those who were closest to Jesus, had been preserved in the first church. What Matthew here tells is the sequence of events as it may have been told by Joseph, while the other version, which Luke tells, give us the events as they should have seemed from Mary’s point of view.
Among Jews, betrothal was a solemn act with legally binding consequences, just as the wedding ceremony is to us (or betrothal in the old times; therefore this might be a justification for using the old word “betrothal”). After the betrothal the couple was called husband and wife, even though the woman still lived with her parents. The wedding meant that the husband “took his wife”, so that they formed their own home and lived together. If the husband died during the betrothal, the wife was considered to be a widow. It was adultery if a betrothed woman gave herself to another man. This could bring severe punishment and in any case shame. Joseph wanted to protect his betrothed from this and thus planned to divorce her quietly. In a dream he then sees an angel, who tells him that Mary is innocent and that the child that she carries has been conceived in a way which no other child in the world has. Joseph is therefore to take his wife and name the child Jesus, because this Jesus “will save his people from their sins”. This statement does not have a real meaning in Swedish (or Greek), unlike Hebrew or Aramaic. The name Jesus (which is the same name as Joshua in the Old Testament) means “The Lord saves”. Jewish names had more meaning than ours do. They often contained a confession or a motto. They were considered to bear the innermost essence of a person. Therefore, there was a proclamation and a promise from God in the name Jesus itself.
There is also a special meaning in the words “save his people from their sins“. It was a general Jewish belief that Messiah was to save his people, but he would do it by freeing them and overthrowing their enemies. The words of the angel give another picture of Messiah, a picture which Matthew will draw on in his gospel. It is a picture of a suffering Savior, one who is persecuted and rejected, but precisely in this way he wins forgiveness of sins for his people.
All this happened, Matthew says, so that the words of Scripture would be fulfilled, and then he quotes Isaiah’s word about the virgin who would give birth to a son (Is 7:14). He quotes the Greek translation, which was commonly used among Jews (and is called the Septuagint). In the Hebrew text a word which can mean both virgin and young woman is used for “virgin”. Our current church bible “young woman” is used in Isaiah, but the word “virgin” is used in this passage, in the same way as the Greek translation did.
In the future, we will continue to meet this thought over and over again in Matthew, that the Scripture (that is, the Old Testament) has been fulfilled in Christ. In this Matthew often uses a way of quoting and interpreting of the Scripture, which may seem a bit strained to us, but this way of reading and explaining the Scripture was widely accepted in this time. While modern scholars today take it for granted that one should try to determine what the authors of the Bible themselves meant with their statements, the Jews - and also Jesus - were convinced that there is more to the words of the Bible than that meaning, which the words may have had in a particular historic situation. For they were convinced that God spoke to them through these words and that he had enclosed inexhaustible riches in them, which were possible to find through an attentive study. To “examine the Scriptures” was therefore to compare one passage with another, to pay attention to the bigger picture in Scripture, and to find hints and reference to that, which happened both previously and later. They entered deeply into all the details in the texts, were mindful of both pronunciation, as they had learned it, and the written text, which consisted of consonants with vowels and thus opened up for other pronunciations and new meanings.
Here we have an example of this way of reading. Isaiah says that the son of the virgin is to be called Immanuel. This, Matthew now says, has been fulfilled when Mary’s son was named Jesus. This conclusion makes no sense if one has not - as Matthew - realized that both these names mean the same thing. For “the Lords saves” means that “God is with us”. That God who should be against us, shows that he makes our lost cause his when he sends us his Son as a Savior. He comes to us and will never abandon us. This idea is prevalent through the whole gospel of Matthew, even to its last verse: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Now one may of course ask: How did Matthew know what he here tells about Jesus’ birth? It is understandable that many have wanted to explain away this as legend, since it goes against everything that we usually count on. Fifty years ago it was often claimed that the legend about Jesus’ supernatural birth arose on Hellenistic soil. Among the Greeks there were many myths about sons of gods, who had lived on earth, and it was not strange if they had similar thoughts about Jesus. However, that theory does not stand up to scrutiny. It is namely possible to show that the narratives about Jesus’ birth (as we have them in the first two chapters in Matthew and in another version in Luke) must have had its origin among people, who knew and spoke Aramaic and knew the Hebrew Bible. Thus, they must have originated on Jewish soil, in Palestine or Syria. That changes the whole issue. To a Jew it was by no means natural, but rather offensive to think that Messiah would be born in this way. Among the Jewish Christians in Palestine and Syria, the first church in Jerusalem had a entirely dominant position until 70 AD, when the city was destroyed. In the first church Jesus’ own brother Jacob was the leading figure until his death (ca 62 AD). Relatives of Jesus were among the Christians in Palestine at least until 130 AD. It therefore seems strange if legends could have occurred in these circles, when their leaders knew that they were unfounded. However, the process becomes understandable, assuming that stories which went back to those who were closest to Jesus, had been preserved in the first church. What Matthew here tells is the sequence of events as it may have been told by Joseph, while the other version, which Luke tells, give us the events as they should have seemed from Mary’s point of view.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Giertz on Advent III
The Baptist’s Question (v. 2-6)
A legation comes from the Baptist. He himself is in prison. He has now heard about “the works of Christ”. One could also translate it “Christ works” or “Messiah works”. That was what Jesus did. The prophets had said it: When God came to his people, then “the blind receive their sight...and the deaf hear”. Then shall “the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Is 35:5f). Yet it was not exactly the kind of works, which John had expected. He had talked about the winnowing fork and the fire, where the chaff would be burned. What happened to these?
Thus John asks his question: Are you the one who would come? And Jesus asks the disciples to tell about what they had seen and heard themselves. This is the evidence: the word and the works. This is evidence enough for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. He is able to see that Messiah has come and that the Kingdom is here. That is why disease and death now has to retreat. Greatest of everything that God is now doing is this: The poor have good news preached to them. The poor are those whom Jesus turned to in his sermon on the mount. This is the greatest miracle of all: that God makes these poor his children. This has to be enough evidence for the Baptist. And Jesus adds: Blesses is the one who is not offended by me. The one who does not see nor understand when God works in this way, he will never understand. The one who is offended that God revels himself in this way and not in overwhelming power and glory, he will never get to know God. This is a warning, that Jesus is probably not directing to the Baptist, but maybe rather to his messengers and surely to the people who are standing around listening.
Who Is The Baptist? (v. 7-15)
Now Jesus is turning to the people. He is talking about the Baptist. Who did they really think that he was? Surely they did not go into the wilderness to see a cautious politician, who stuck his finger in the air to see where the wind was blowing? Surely they did not expect a well-dressed and bowing servant of the king’s house? They all knew what they were waiting to see. They wanted to meet a prophet, a real prophet. And that is what the Baptist really was, Jesus says. Even more than a prophet. He was the greatest in a long line of men of God who had lived on earth until now. And yet - so great was this new time, that now was breaking in, that the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven (in other words, the kingdom of God) is greater than this the greatest of all the prophets. It cannot be said any clearer, that the kingdom of God comes with something that is completely new, something that did not exist in the old covenant, something that not even the Forerunner, the great Baptist owned. This was what Jesus brought. This only existed in him and with him.
The shocking thing is now, Jesus continues, that people think that they will be able to prevent the Kingdom by force. They have thrown John in jail. They will continue in the same way. Jesus only touches slightly on the subject, but one senses that he is looking forward to his own suffering. Violent men want to steal the kingdom. All the prophets and the law - that is the whole Scripture - had borne witness about what would come. Thus people should know better. But now that Elijah had come, as it had been said, then he was treated like this!
Here Jesus intentionally talks in cryptic words all the time. Only the one who understands the mystery of the kingdom of heaven will understand. Therefore he adds, as in so many other occasions: He who has ears to hear, let him hear! And the scholars still argue today about what he really meant. The words as they are in Greek can lingustically be translated in a different way. In the Swedish Bible from 1917 they are translated as “the kingdom of heaven advances with power and people rush ahead to snatch it”. But both linguistically and in fact this translation seems to be less likely.
A legation comes from the Baptist. He himself is in prison. He has now heard about “the works of Christ”. One could also translate it “Christ works” or “Messiah works”. That was what Jesus did. The prophets had said it: When God came to his people, then “the blind receive their sight...and the deaf hear”. Then shall “the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Is 35:5f). Yet it was not exactly the kind of works, which John had expected. He had talked about the winnowing fork and the fire, where the chaff would be burned. What happened to these?
Thus John asks his question: Are you the one who would come? And Jesus asks the disciples to tell about what they had seen and heard themselves. This is the evidence: the word and the works. This is evidence enough for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. He is able to see that Messiah has come and that the Kingdom is here. That is why disease and death now has to retreat. Greatest of everything that God is now doing is this: The poor have good news preached to them. The poor are those whom Jesus turned to in his sermon on the mount. This is the greatest miracle of all: that God makes these poor his children. This has to be enough evidence for the Baptist. And Jesus adds: Blesses is the one who is not offended by me. The one who does not see nor understand when God works in this way, he will never understand. The one who is offended that God revels himself in this way and not in overwhelming power and glory, he will never get to know God. This is a warning, that Jesus is probably not directing to the Baptist, but maybe rather to his messengers and surely to the people who are standing around listening.
Who Is The Baptist? (v. 7-15)
Now Jesus is turning to the people. He is talking about the Baptist. Who did they really think that he was? Surely they did not go into the wilderness to see a cautious politician, who stuck his finger in the air to see where the wind was blowing? Surely they did not expect a well-dressed and bowing servant of the king’s house? They all knew what they were waiting to see. They wanted to meet a prophet, a real prophet. And that is what the Baptist really was, Jesus says. Even more than a prophet. He was the greatest in a long line of men of God who had lived on earth until now. And yet - so great was this new time, that now was breaking in, that the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven (in other words, the kingdom of God) is greater than this the greatest of all the prophets. It cannot be said any clearer, that the kingdom of God comes with something that is completely new, something that did not exist in the old covenant, something that not even the Forerunner, the great Baptist owned. This was what Jesus brought. This only existed in him and with him.
The shocking thing is now, Jesus continues, that people think that they will be able to prevent the Kingdom by force. They have thrown John in jail. They will continue in the same way. Jesus only touches slightly on the subject, but one senses that he is looking forward to his own suffering. Violent men want to steal the kingdom. All the prophets and the law - that is the whole Scripture - had borne witness about what would come. Thus people should know better. But now that Elijah had come, as it had been said, then he was treated like this!
Here Jesus intentionally talks in cryptic words all the time. Only the one who understands the mystery of the kingdom of heaven will understand. Therefore he adds, as in so many other occasions: He who has ears to hear, let him hear! And the scholars still argue today about what he really meant. The words as they are in Greek can lingustically be translated in a different way. In the Swedish Bible from 1917 they are translated as “the kingdom of heaven advances with power and people rush ahead to snatch it”. But both linguistically and in fact this translation seems to be less likely.
(translated by Kristina)
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