Matthew 3:1-12

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.’ ”

⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ⁹ Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

3:1-12 Story About John the Baptist 

Matthew 3: 1-12 (Year A Second Sunday of Advent) is story about John the Baptist. 

Historical information about John the Baptist is sparse, both within and outside of the Bible. The only non-New Testament reference is in Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chapter 5, Section 2.

2. Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.

 

Applied to today, we might consider that the evangelical address of the church is in the situation and function of John the Baptist, which is also a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, and baptizing with water. The church is not worthy to unloose the shoes of its Lord. The church has the duty of summoning people to knowledge of Christ and readiness for baptism with the Spirit.[1]

Verses 1-6 (Mark 1:1-6, Luke 3:4-6) John preached that the end of the age was at hand and called on people to repent.[2] John the Baptist came to the desolate and hilly region of Judea, stretching from the ridge of Palestine to the Jordan valley and the Red Sea, urging people to repent (Μετανοεῖτε) for the kingdom of heaven has come near (ἤγγικεν). His message underscores the significance of his appearance. However, this significance is not because of his call to repent, which the prophets and even King Solomon urged upon people (I Kings 8:46-53; Isaiah 1:27; Ezekiel 14:6; 18:30). Such repentance involves renunciation of sin, regret over a past life that leads to a conversion to a new way of life. It involves turning around or a change of direction. These are the pre-conditions for receiving the salvation offered through the rule of God. The kingdom of heaven expresses the Jewish in the first century to refer to God. The distinctiveness of John's proclamation resides in the reason for repenting. Here we more likely find the significance is more likely in the timing of the arrival of the rule of God. The rule of God is no longer a future event that remains somewhere off in the distance. Instead, the perfect tense of the verb suggests that John's announcement reveals for the first time that the "kingdom of heaven" is a present reality; consequently, he calls all to repent. Matthew invites us to view the arrival of John as a fulfillment of the words of one of the greatest prophets of Israel in Isa 40:3. John is preparing the people for the coming of the Lord, which for Matthew and his readers would mean the coming of Jesus. John reminds us that the advent of the Lord is a revelation of who we are and the consequences of character and conduct that await us. Matthew intentionally uses common phrases for the essence of the message John preached. In Zech 13:4 prophets had “a hairy mantle,” while II Kings 1:8 describes Elijah the Tishbite as a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist. Malachi 4:5-6 looks forward to the expectation that Elijah would return at the end of the age. Everything about John reflects the fulfillment of scripture related to the eschatological appearing of Elijah. John's concern for his own basic needs was so insignificant that he was content to subsist on whatever he could lay his hands on in that open country. Bedouins also eat such food. John represents a wilderness ascetic movement of this time prior to 30 AD. The apocalyptic fervor of the day fueled his preaching. He may have had some connection with the Essenes, a Jewish sect that authored and housed the Dead Sea Scrolls, texts that combined apocalyptic thought and an ascetic way of way of life. People came from Jerusalem, Judea, and along the Jordan River, responding to the moral summons to turn away from sin (ἁμαρτίας) by receiving baptism in the Jordan, receiving washing, cleansing, and new life. Such a response requires the honesty of admitting sin, wandering, and lying. Sin is missing the mark, although at its heart, it is a refusal to become fully human. It is anything that interferes with the opening of the whole heart to God, to others, to creation, and to the self. Sin is estrangement, disconnection, sterility, and disharmony. Such honesty discloses consciousness of darkness within. 

Why is John baptizing at all? Such baptism was a ritual lustration with roots already established within Jewish practice. Ritual washings in mikva'ot (immersion baths or pools) were commonplace, and people believed that this practice cleansed the body of its chronic profanity and sanctified it for worship of God.  Ritual purification with water was an important feature of Israelite religion, particularly regarding the impurity associated with various aspects of sexuality (e.g., intercourse and childbirth; see, e.g., Leviticus 15:18; Numbers 19:13). Ritual practices were widespread in Greco-Roman religion also, especially in cults associated with healing deities. Immersion in water, of either the whole body or parts, was a widely practiced means of ritual purification. Such rituals were part of the daily practice of the Essene community, and other groups used them more restrictively to mark significant transitions in life. There is also evidence that other groups in the region of the Jordan Valley were practicing forms of ritual immersion during this period, as well as evidence that a Jewish practice of proselyte baptism as part of an initiation ritual began sometime in the first century of the Common Era. Josephus suggests that people understood John’s baptism as precisely this kind of ritual purification, specifically of the body, because the soul had already been purified by righteous conduct.^[3] Therefore, while the practice of ritual purification with water did not originate with John the Baptist. 

However, John invited the Jewish people to submit to his baptism.[4] Submitting to baptism was a concrete expression of the act of repentance. It initiated people into a new community. Such confession took place before or during baptism. It involves a form of surrender, acknowledging you are on the wrong track, and ready to start a new life.[5]

Verses 7-10 (Luke 3:7-9) involves a procession of Pharisees and Sadducees approaching John. John opposed the same religious groups that would set themselves against Jesus, Matthew incorporating John into the gospel story. Pharisees were rigid observers of the law and attached themselves to oral tradition.  Paul is proud of his heritage as a Pharisee and Jesus did have several friends among them.  Jesus' looseness with the law and association with sinners made them natural enemies.  The Sadducees were less devout than the Pharisees and more politically minded. These two theologically diverse groups felt they represented a kind of elite corps within the Jewish community. When they came near, John swiftly painted both groups with the same insulting brush-off.[6] They are a brood of vipers. Of the more than 30 species of snakes found in Israel, more than half a dozen of them are venomous, and six of these are in the class of vipers. All can deliver fatal bites, which is one of the principal reasons for their appearance in the biblical text as metaphors for surprising treachery and danger (e.g., Gen 49:17; Job 20:16; Ps 140:3; Isa 30:6; 59:5; Matt 12:34; 23:33). In only one instance (Acts 28:3), the word viper appears in its literal zoological sense. The image may make several rhetorical points simultaneously. He emphasizes the collective nature of the opposition to John’s ministry and, with that collectivity, he points to the strength that comes in numbers; he points to the colluding nature of the opposition parties; and he points forward to the idea of offspring, which follows immediately. 

John wonders who warned them to flee the wrath to come, which those baptized hope to escape,[7] the retribution of the day of the Lord inaugurating the messianic era. “The Judge of all the earth” (Gen 18:25) has a will for that earth and its inhabitants which is not morally neutral: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you” (Amos 5:14). Here is the key to understanding the purpose of the baptism of John. John used baptism to gather those who were prepared to repent into the eschatological people of God, saving them from condemnation at the last judgment. He set aside trust in the prerogatives of Israel. His summons to repent, be baptized, and be saved led to a great movement of repentance and revival. Crowds gathered in the deserted Jordan valley where he baptized.[8] From its earliest days, Israel understood itself to be a religious and social community constituted and maintained by the gracious favor of its God, whose will for righteous behavior placed Israel, no less than are any of its neighbors, under divine judgment. The poles of divine favor and divine judgment played alternating prominent roles in Israel’s history, and John’s attack on the people’s smug self-confidence in their birthright has the intent of challenging the excessive importance some members of the religious community had attached to their election as heirs of the promise made to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 17:4-8; 22:18). III Isaiah, writing during the Persian Exile, had already challenged the idea of exclusive privilege being the prerogative of those capable of participating through biological reproduction in the religious community. In a famous oracle addressed to eunuchs and foreigners (Isaiah 56:1-8), the prophet declared that those incapable of passing on the promise through physical progeny were nonetheless welcome members of the religious community based on their obedience to the commandments. Such a radical change in perception in Israelite religion played a key role in laying the foundation for such groups as the Essenes and early Christians, whose views on marriage and reproduction were in stark contrast to the dominant Pharisaic view (see, e.g., Matthew 19:12; 22:30; Acts 8:27-39). The qualified importance attached to children by the time of John is evident in this passage. Their status as the people of God will have no merit. Many scholars read the negative comments concerning the benefits of an Abrahamic genealogy as an indictment of the entire temple/cultus tradition.  Some scholars suggest it is a negative comment concerning the bankruptcy of Torah observance. John removes false securities.  An attempt to constrain God by magic, ritual, amulets, sacraments, or Law, is what religion tries to do.  In the minds of many Jewish people, God guaranteed the covenantal blessings through Abraham.

Instead of sinners seeking repentance, the Baptist portrays the rigorously righteous as a slither of snakes trying to slip out of a blazing field or a fiery future. In urging them to bear the fruit of worthy of repentance, he is expecting some type of visible change to adhere to those who underwent his baptism. He wants them to take their life with God seriously. Once more invoking their common past, the Baptist denies that an Abrahamic genealogy gives an individual any exclusive access to the kingdom now drawing near. John removes false securities.  He does so with the image of the proverbial worthlessness of the stone, from which God can cause to arise in or be born in history. The image is based upon Isa 51:1-2, where Abraham is compared with a rock, and his descendants with stones hewn out of the rock. However, this metaphor rejects with cutting severity the Jewish dogma that salvation depends on lineage. If those who are children of Abraham by racial descent refuse to repent, then God can again cause children of Abraham to come forth from the rock, that is, from the spiritually dead, which may hint at the promise to the Gentiles.[9] Thus, the axe is laying at the root of the tree, indicating the judgment process has already actually begun, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. No matter what one's pedigree, or how conscientious, "by‑the‑book," one's behavior, without "fruits," God's wrath is sure and God's judgment is imminent. The judgment process has already actually begun.  Thus, instead of boasting about your family tree, John preaches, look to the tips of your own branches. Do you see good fruit there? Is your life producing something useful? Does your life nourish others with its fruits? If not, John insists, no matter how deep and impressive the root system, no matter how lofty the lineage, a non-producing tree can look forward to only one fate: cut down and burned in a fire. God's judgment has overtaken those who feel secure.  Nevertheless, how are they to know salvation? He has shattered illusions.

Verses 11-12 (Luke 3:15-18 and Mark 1:7-8) refers to the one to come. We have a messianic saying, containing the only implicit denial of messiahship by John in the Synoptic Gospels. The attention shifts from the message of John to the identity of John, in which he clarifies that he is finding his identity in the coming One. John directs attention to the future. He identifies his baptism as with water for repentance. John animates his message with a poignant moving picture. Instead of waxing eloquent about the greatness of the One to come, John invokes the image of a relationship familiar to his listeners. In applying the saying about the mightier one to Jesus, it stresses the inferiority of John to Jesus.[10] He distinguishes his work with the mission of the one to come.[11] In the first-century world of master-teachers, revered rabbis and their schools of loyal students and disciples, a seriously devoted student would dog his teacher's steps, following him wherever he went. Every aspect of a great rabbi's life was worthy of observation and emulation by a truly dedicated student. However, a well-known rabbinical saying drew a distinct line in the sand between the actions expected of a zealous disciple and the labors accorded to a common body slave. This saying proscribed that "every work which a slave performs for his lord, a disciple must do for his teacher, except loosening his shoe." John, of course, promptly capitalizes on that very distinction. He not only declares himself unworthy to perform that slave-like function of loosening his successor's sandal, but also finds himself too unworthy even to "carry his sandals." The point of the saying is to measure John by the greatness of the one to come. His office is comparable to that of a slave. He does what he is under obligation to do.[12] The recurring fire image that has been flickering throughout John's discourse now bursts into full flame. John the Baptist's message is one of repentance in the face of harsh judgment. The final images in these verses offer a vision of God's future activity. Even the differences between John's baptism and the baptism offered by this "one to come" move from a water image to an image that combines the "Holy Spirit" with "fire." The preaching of John the Baptist proclaimed that the coming One would baptize with the Spirit and with fire, showing that the work of the Spirit stands related to the executing of judgment. Baptism with the Spirit contrasts with the baptism of John himself, which is with water.[13] The idea of baptism “with the Holy Spirit” plays a minor role in the gospels (appearing only in this passage and its parallels and John 1:33). However, spiritual baptism played a significant role in the early Christian church, with baptism with water was the outward sign of this prior spiritual change (i.e., repentance), e.g., Peter’s question concerning the Gentile converts in Acts 10:47: “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” The book of Acts is also the only place outside the gospels that refers explicitly to baptism with the Holy Spirit (1:5; 8:16 [by negative inference]; 11:16; compare I Cor 12:13). The preaching of John the Baptist proclaimed that the coming Son of Man would baptize with the Spirit and with fire, showing that the work of the Spirit stands related to the executing of judgment. As noted, baptism with the Spirit contrasts with the baptism of John himself, which is with water.[14] John takes an unremarkable image - the familiar rural Palestinian scene of a farmer scrupulously winnowing out the chaff from his wheat harvest and burning up that worthless residue - and couples it with a harrowing image of divine judgment that practices the same winnowing technique on the lives of both obedient and willful men and women. In threshing, workers toss the grain into the air.  The heavier kernels fall to the ground while the wind blows the chaff away.  The chaff image usually involves being blown away by the wind (e.g., Job 13:25; 21:18; Psalm 1:4; 35:5; 83:13; Isaiah 17:13; 29:5; Jeremiah 13:24; etc.). This is the only passage in the New Testament in which chaff appears. This chaff, however, will burn in unquenchable fire. "The fire that never goes out" (Isaiah 34:10, 66:29) fits the last judgment. Such unquenchable fire destroys that which resists the purifying effects of water and fire. Baptism is a summons to do right. The coming One will bring judgment, so those who hear this message are to fear being chaff.

The contrasting image of the wheat destined for safe storage with the chaff burned up in the fire is so graphic that we are apt to miss some of the subtlety of this text. First, we should note that the threshing floor is the object of the cleansing John describes -- not the wheat or the chaff. If the floor of the granary is the focus of the Messiah's attention, he has already separated the wheat and chaff. The tool referred to, ptuon, is a winnowing shovel--the instrument used to gather quickly the piles of wheat and chaff that workers have separated and left on the threshing room floor. A thrinaz, or true winnowing fork, would have been used previously -- lifting the wheat and chaff high into the air to let the worthless chaff fall free while holding on to the precious stalks of wheat.[15] The image suggests that claiming or rejecting the Baptist’s prior message of repentance has already designated his listeners as "wheat" or "chaff." The Messiah's task, as he clears the threshing floor, is to offer judgment (the all-consuming fire) or salvation (the haven of the granary) to those who stand before him. There was another One yet to come. To the listeners of John the Baptist, this reference meant eschatology, promising a time of both cleansing salvation and fiery judgment. The spirit of burning and judgment will cleanse Zion. The Lord will visit Israel like the flame of a devouring fire, their enemies becoming like small dust and flying chaff. The tongue of the Lord is like a devouring fire to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction.[16]

John's use of apocalyptic images has led some scholars to suspect John may have expected at this point a fiery "Day of the Lord" as had the prophet Malachi. Fire is often a reliable sign of the presence of God. God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush; a pillar of fire guides the people of Israel through the wilderness after their escape from Egypt; when Moses goes up on Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments from God, it looks to those down below as if the mountain fire is devouring it. This is not safe fire; it can still burn and kill. However, it is God’s own fire, the fire of God’s presence, fire that wants to speak to us, guide us, instruct us, save us. It is the fire of a potter who wants to make useful vessels out of damp clay. It is the fire of a jeweler who wants to refine pure gold from rough ore. It does not have to be the fire of destruction. It is the fire in which the coming One will baptize.[17]

Despite his harsh appearance and demanding message, John’s preaching appears to have been popular with many of his contemporaries (Mark 1:5; 11:32; Matt 3:5), and the Jewish historian Josephus reports that many Jewish people had a high regard John (Antiquities 18.5). John’s practice of baptism, moreover, made the ritual of initiation into the body of the elect available to women as well as to men (who, through the ritual of circumcision, had formerly been the only full members of the covenant). Prostitutes and tax collectors, as well as soldiers, were among those who responded to John’s call to repentance and baptism (Matt 21:32; Luke 3:12; 7:29). As radical as his message appeared, John rooted his message firmly in the prophetic tradition of ancient Israel. The teaching of John finds it parallel in many ways by the collection of oracles and writings in the book of Isaiah. Matthew also records that John, like Jesus after him, took an aggressively critical stance toward the Jewish leadership of the temple in Jerusalem (named in Matthew as the Pharisees and Sadducees, 3:7; but cf. Luke 3:7-14), who also came to John for baptism, provoking a scathing rebuke from John. There is no question, however, that John intended his message of repentance to extend to all segments of Judean society without distinction, including the king (Mark 6:18), which is why, at the start of this passage, John is in prison (v. 2). Matthew 14:3-4 record the reasons for John’s imprisonment. According to all three synoptic gospels (Matt 14:3-4; Mark 6:17-18; Luke 3:19-20), Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, had John imprisoned John because of his criticism of Herod. He was also tetrarch from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39 of Galilee and Perea (the area of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea centered around Jericho). From the complicated family history of the Herod's, the New Testament records that John had rebuked Herod for marrying (or desiring to marry) Herodias, wife of one Philip (but probably not Herod’s half-brother Philip, who was tetrarch of Batanea, Trachonitis and Auranitis, who was never married to Herodias). Herodias was the half-niece of Herod. Jewish law (Leviticus 18:6-16; 20:21) prohibited such a union. John’s repeated reminders of this fact (Matthew 14:4, “John had been telling him”) resulted in his imprisonment and eventual execution (Matthew 14:3-12 and parallels).

That John surrounded himself with a circle of disciples was neither remarkable nor unknown to the gospel writers (e.g., Matthew 14:12), and John’s lifestyle, including his disciples, may have been the model for Jesus’ own ministry later. The circle of John’s disciples may also have furnished some of Jesus’ disciples, and the similarities between the two leaders may have caused some confusion and even rivalry among their followers.

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[1] (Barth K. , Church Dogmatics, 2004, 1932-67)IV.3 [72.4] 854.

[2] Matthew differs from Mark to emphasizing geography and historical data, while Mark is more interested in John's message.

[3] (Antiquities 18.117 [cf.18.5.2])

[4] (see further, Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1:584).

[5] Lewis, C.S. "The perfect penitent." (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1960), 56-61. 

[6] (Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, 1921, 1931, 1958), 117, where the warning by the Baptist is ascribed to him from sayings current in the early Jewish-Christian church which could easily have been applied to Jesus, but were instead applied to John out of a desire to have some record of his preaching for repentance. 

[7] Stahlin, TDNT, V, 436-7.

[8] (Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus, 1971), 44-45, 173.

[9] Jeremias, TDNT, IV, 270-1.

[10] (Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, 1921, 1931, 1958)165.

[11] Grundmann, TDNT, III, 399

[12] Rengstorf, TDNT, III, 294.

[13] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991), Volume III, 623.

[14] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 1998, 1991), Volume III, 623.

[15] (For more on this distinction, see Robert L. Webb, "The Activity of John the Baptist's Expected Figure at the Threshing Floor," Matthew 3:12, Luke 3:17," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 43, 1991, 103-111.)  

[16] Isaiah 4:4; Isaiah 29:5-6; Isaiah 30:27-28.

[17] (Taylor, 1995) pp. 129–130.

Romans 15:4-13

Romans 15:4-13 (NRSV)

⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹ and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,

and sing praises to your name”;

¹⁰ and again he says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

¹¹ and again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples praise him”;

¹² and again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse shall come,

the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;

in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 15:4-13, part of a section that begins in verse 1, forms the conclusion to the ethical section that began in 12:1. In the first chapter, Paul announced the revelation of God’s salvation to both Jew and Gentile, and in Romans 15, Paul presents a glorious, eschatological vision of Jew and Gentile praising God together with one voice. In this section, he uses a catena of Scripture to demonstrate how Israel’s sacred texts have foretold of this vision, this inclusion of the Gentiles to glorify God. He also boldly tells this mixed congregation (although likely mostly Gentile church) that these words of Scripture were written for them in order that these words might bring hope. Since this is the vision that has driven Paul’s arguments throughout the letter, Romans 15:4-13 is both a fitting conclusion and a hopeful admonition.

⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness (ὑπομονῆς, etymologically related to abiding, dwelling, remaining) and by the encouragement (παρακλήσεως, etymologically related to advocate, comforter, counselor) of the scriptures we might have hope, with hope emerging from grace that equips us to be agents of grace to others. Such a verse confirms that the early Christians accepted the Jewish scripture as their own. Therefore, the “canon” was not open for them.^[1] Paul heavily relies upon Scripture throughout the letter to the Romans. His statement here, however, is bold. To be sure, this is not the first time that Paul has applied Israel’s Scriptures directly to Gentiles. Paul stresses that the Lord considered his faith as righteousness was not just a word for Abraham, but also a word for us who have faith in the same God of Abraham, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, whom his enemies handed over to death, but dying for our sins. Paul also refers to the wilderness wandering of Israel as an example, instructing us who have witnessed the turning-point of the ages (I Corinthians 10:11). Paul is claiming that Israel’s Scriptures are not just for Israel. In light of God’s revelation through Jesus, both Jew and Gentile find hope and encouragement in these sacred texts. Furthermore, Paul claims that God has always intended the Scriptures with both audiences in view. The Scriptures are “steadfast” and bring hope. One might find it difficult to understand why Paul would take this moment to explain his use of the Old Testament after using it so often.  The quotation has value because of the abiding value of the Old Testament.  We also know that God has inspired all scripture in a way that makes it useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (II Timothy 3:16). Thus, both texts lay down a view of the Old Testament to which we need to listen. 1) There is permanent value in the great moral and spiritual truths, and 2) the witness it has to Christ. Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase captures Paul’s meaning wonderfully well: “Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.”

Focusing on hope at the conclusion of the ethical portion of the letter shows its importance to Paul. Christ continues the divine promise and shows divine mercy. In 1:16-17, though Paul does not use the word, the word “salvation” is primarily future eschatological and is an object of patient waiting and hope in 8:24.  This idea dominates the central section of the letter in Chapters 5-8.  Chapter 8 ends the section with great hope.  Chapters 9-11 are an expression of hope, even though external circumstances are against it.  In ending the entire letter, he again reminds us of hope.  Paul’s view is not “gloomy,” although he portrays natural person realistically.  However, hope is not just future expectation, but also a present reality as a manifestation of the love of God. The hope is in the process of realization.  This is the heart of the epistle.[2] Paul’s emphasis on hope is significant in several respects. It connects the conclusion of the letter to earlier points of importance in his profession of faith. 

• the hope of Abraham (4:18)
• the hope of being justified by faith to share the glory of God (5:2)
• the hope of Christian character (5:4)
• the hope of experiencing God’s love poured into our hearts via the Holy Spirit (5:5)
• the hope that emerges from the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (8:20, 24, 25)
• the hope of life in the body of Christ (12:12).

 

In verses 5-6, Paul reveals a concern for unity. The context for this appeal for unity comes in chapter 14 where Paul addresses factions in the church. It is clear that some want to follow certain practices commonly associated with Jewish tradition while others do not believe that following such practices is necessary. These differences have created quarreling to the point that some even despise one another (14:10). He has just appealed to them to please others rather than themselves, pointing to Christ as the model for this behavior (verses 1-3). Paul now offers a prayer-wish. ⁵ May the God of steadfastness (ὑπομονῆς) and encouragement (παρακλήσεως) grant you to live in harmony with (τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν) one another (or, literally, to think the same thing with each other), in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that together you may with one voice (mouth)glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The power at work here in the judgment and transfiguration of the world is the Spirit of God, who will lead creatures to the eschatological praise of God. ^[3]His prayer desires that they unite with their minds and their mouths so that they might reveal their spiritual unity in praising God. Paul expresses this theme of united praise even more vividly in the next section. Christians are to live in accordance with the life and example of Christ. It means to be thoughtful for one another.  Paul relates hope to the steadfastness and encouragement of God that grants us “to live in harmony with one another.” 

In verses 7-13, hope has its basis, first, on the promises of Scriptures, and second on God's steadfastness and encouragement. Paul drives home his message with a powerful summation in verses 7-9a. Critical here is how the gracious action of Christ is the foundation and summons for Christians to act graciously toward others. Also important is how this part of the passage underscores the “no distinction” motif. ⁷ Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Paul now generalizes the principles of this section, so that the command is to the weak as well as the strong.  He will show this applies to the main division of that time - Jew and Gentile.  Paul will make several appeals to Scripture to demonstrate the need and purpose of their unity. First, though, he reminds them that Christ has welcomed each of them. The word translated “welcome” here connotes wholehearted acceptance. Because Christ has received them when they were less than worthy, they must extend the same welcoming spirit to one another.[4] ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs. The idea of Christ becoming a servant may have some reference to the relationship between the weak and the strong.  ⁹ And Christ became a servant in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. Jesus Christ is the basis of the hope of the community, as it looks ahead to the consummation that has yet to come, Christ newly putting into force the promises of God.^[5] The expanse of the grace of God in Christ overcomes such distinctions.  Moreover, Paul is clearly claiming that “no distinction” is grounded in the reality that Gentiles have been included all along in God’s purposes for Israel fulfilled in Christ. Chapters 9-11 make both Jew and Gentile rely on God’s mercy. As it is written in Psalm 18:49, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.” We see the confession begins with one person. Without explanation, Paul places the words of this psalm on the lips of Christ. This type of messianic psalm citation is common in the gospels (for example, see Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:46). There is also an acknowledgment of the “name” of God confessed and introduced among the Gentiles.  Therefore, let gentiles be merciful to their brothers and sisters in the faith.  ¹⁰ And again he says in Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” Where Moses calls on the Gentiles to rejoice over the salvation of Israel. In the second citation, the scripture invites the Gentiles as a whole to rejoice “with his people” or alongside Israel. We find Paul emphasizing the dependence of the Gentiles on the Abrahamic covenant.  There was a two-fold proposition.  Paul is saying this: 1) remind the Gentiles that it was through the Jews God called them, and 2) remind the Jews that their purpose was the calling of the Gentiles.  In its context, David was celebrating his victory over the Gentiles.  The main work of Jesus was among the Jews, though he welcomed gentiles.  The former showed fidelity to God's promise, the latter reveals God's mercy. ¹¹ And again in Psalm 117:1, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” The third citation widens the circle to “all the peoples” offering praise to the Lord. In context, we find an appeal to all nations to praise the Lord. What began with one person results in all peoples offering praise to the Lord of Hosts. These citations mark not only Israel’s gratitude for and trust in God’s faithfulness to deliver and fulfill promises. For in addition to the psalmist singing praises to God in the presence of the Gentiles (Psalm 18:49), the remaining three citations illustrate the Gentiles’ own gratitude and trust in relation to God. The people of Israel and Gentiles alike partake in and respond to the blessings of God. Paul further reinforces the authority of his viewpoint by presenting scriptural evidence from all three parts of the Old Testament canon — Torah, Prophets and Writings. ¹² And again Isaiah 11:10 says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” In context, we find a description of the Messianic kingdom, which will replace the Jewish kingdom God is about to destroy. Another dimension of hope is that of the Gentiles mentioned in 15:12. Here, in a manner akin to the past bolstering the present in 15:4, Paul places hope in the historical perspective of God’s messianic purposes. The work of one person provides the rationale for such praise. Isaiah 11 was a key text in the formation of messianism and people thoroughly connected it with messianic expectation. By employing this text, Jesus the Jewish Messiah becomes the source of hope for the Gentiles and the demonstration of God’s mercy to the nations and God’s faithfulness to his people. The quotation of Isaiah 11 also alludes to the gathering of the lost ones of Israel (see Romans 11) to join with the Gentiles around the one who rises to rule the nations (Isaiah 11:11-12). The rise of the root of Jesse to a place of honor (Isaiah 11:4) suggests that those who gather around him will also receive honor and will have cause to offer praise.

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. The last phrase of the previous verse quoted suggests this benediction. This blessing recalls the main themes of the letter of Paul. Hope is a present blessing from God that gives us the confidence to move into the future by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul prays that this eschatological vision of joint praise will offer the church hope. He has argued that all of Scripture testifies to this gospel of unity in Christ, and he ends this section with a prayer wish. To abound in this hope would entail an end to the quarreling. It would result in thinking the same way and speaking praises to God with one mouth (vv. 5-6). The Roman church is not at this point, but by reminding them of the gospel of unity in Christ, Paul hopes that they will share this vision of joint praise. In this sense, there is only one real problem in Christian theology, and that is the problem of the future, for the entire notion of God has the future as the essential nature of God, made known in the Exodus and in Israelite prophesy, the God who is always before us, who encounters us in the promises for the future, and therefore a God whom we cannot have, but can only await in active hope.[6]

Paul is concluding the ethical portion of this letter. I find it wise to remember that those of us who seek to be ethical and virtuous people need to exercise some care in how we are such in real life encounters. The statement by Elizabeth Taylor is one many of us know well. The problem with people who have no vices is that you can be quite sure they are going to have some annoying virtues. We are such profound and deep sinners that we can even turn the avoidance of vice and the practice of virtue into a vice!

The purpose of this passage was to amplify what it means to receive one another and to bear one another’s weaknesses.  He uses Christ as an example to show that it by service to one another that we can maintain hope, peace, and joy.  Paul is now nearing the end of this long and difficult letter.  One should expect that it is here Paul will expose his primary reason for writing this letter.

Paul concludes the ethical portion of the letter with reminding Jew and Gentile to welcome each other, even as Christ welcomed others. Jesus did so by calling a a representative group of the Jews of his time, people who naturally opposed each other. He welcomed the crowds, but especially the outcast. He did so by welcoming a diverse group of local followers as well. How well do we embody this part of the ethical life of being a follower of Jesus?

Imagine going to a library seeking information, but instead of checking out a book, you check out a person! That is the idea behind a project called the Human Library -- a place where real people are on loan to the library users. Those real people, because of the facts of their lives, represent categories such as Muslim, bipolar, single young mother, unemployed, HIV victim, autistic, sexually abused, convert, brain-damaged, molested, deaf and blind, soldier with PTSD, homeless, alcoholic, ADHD and so forth. They are typically available at a scheduled event that might run for several hours over one or more days. Borrowers go to the event and select a category they'd like to know more about. The human "book" then sits down for 30 minutes or so with the borrower and shares his or her story, and the borrower gets to ask questions. Want to know what it's like to be a refugee? There is likely a refugee in that human library ready to explain that experience to you. And the same with several other topics. The first occurrence of the Human Library was in Denmark in the spring of 2000. It ran for four days straight at a Copenhagen location and offered some 75 "titles," chosen to inform and to challenge stereotypes. More than 1,000 "readers" showed up, leaving organizers stunned at the impact of the project. The idea has since jumped the Danish borders, and Human Library events have now happened on every continent but Antarctica. At a Human Library happening in Rochester, New York, for example, borrowers got to hear from a Vietnam veteran, a martial artist, a British butler and a person paralyzed in a car accident, among many others.

What if people "borrowed" us? I like that idea. It could be a powerful image of the Christian life. It gives us an opportunity as followers of Jesus Christ to think about what people outside of our experience -- nonbelievers, people of other faiths, the curious, etc. -- would learn if they were to "borrow" us to "read" for a while. What would they read? What would they learn? 

Actually, this idea is not a new one. In an old gospel song called "The World's Bible," lyricist Annie Johnson Flint included these lines:

 

We are the only Bible

The careless world will read;

We are the sinners' gospel,

We are the scoffers' creed;

We are the Lord's last message,

Given in word and deed ... 

 

Actually, though, the idea goes back much farther. In the New Testament, Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, saying, 

"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (II Corinthians 3:2-3).

 

The world is in need of unselfish souls

Who would share their last morsel of bread,

Who would give of their love and give of their wealth,

And like seeds, their compassion they’d spread.

The world is in need of unselfish souls

Who would share of their God-given treasure,

With those who are weak and those who are tired, 

And do so in generous measure.

The world is in need of those generous souls

Who will give of their lives and their time,

To provide in this land a strong helping hand,

And help others to handle the climb.[7]

 

Another dimension of this conclusion is the reference to the Father, Son, and Spirit. In the year 325, there was a fight in the church. It was a major disagreement, one that threatened to split the Christian community in half. The division was not caused by the style of music or color of the carpet in the sanctuary. The fight was caused by a disagreement about the nature of Jesus Christ. Some considered Jesus to be a creation of God, made by the Creator before the beginning of time. Others said no — Jesus is God, and Jesus the Son is coeternal with God the Father. Because of this disagreement, the cities of the Roman Empire were disturbed by riots. Heated battles were breaking out between opposing sides. Bishops from the “Jesus is God” side were exiled from their posts and replaced by bishops from the “Jesus is not God” side. All of this made the emperor Constantine extremely nervous. He did not want a split in Christianity, so he called for a council to resolve this theological division. Church leaders gathered in Nicaea, a location in modern Turkey now called Iznik. 318 bishops deliberated on controversies on the nature of Christ, both human and divine, and agreed on a statement of faith still known today as the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is the oldest of our universal Christian statements of faith. It came out of the council of Nicaea, held exactly 1,700 years ago, and it defines God as one entity appearing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is not a creation of God, says the Nicene Creed. No, he is “begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.” And the Holy Spirit is equally God. The creed says that the Spirit is “the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.” Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. Today we call it “the Trinity.”

The bishops at Nicaea also established a date for Easter, which was very helpful for the churches around the world. The date for Christmas, December 25, was not set until a few years later, in the year 336. Until then, there could be no Christmas shopping season, since there was no formal celebration of the birth of Jesus. In addition, the council of Nicaea created 20 new church laws, one of which prohibited clergy from castrating themselves. It had become a bit of a fad. Then, at the end of the council, the leaders of the “Jesus is not God” group were sent into exile. 1,700 years have come and gone. Some things change — like self-castration. Some things remain the same, such as disagreement about the nature of Christ. 

So, what can we learn from the Nicene Creed? The Nicene Creed can also encourage us. The creed “is so darn beautiful!” says philosophy professor Phillip Cary. It tells us that the Father “has never been without a Son he loves. He has always given all of his divine essence to the Son. That’s gorgeous, and it’s also really important for Christian faith.” It is encouraging to discover that love and generosity are at the heart of who God is. Love and generosity are shown by the Father to the Son, and to us as well. In addition, the Nicene Creed can give us hope. Suzanne Nicholson, a professor at Asbury University, admits that the Trinity is hard to understand. But the creed gives us hope, because it shows us the beauty of God and draws us into a deeper relationship with God. The beauty of God “is revealed in the Trinity,” she says. “Why would I want to know less of that? I want to know more of God. We know more of God so we can glorify God more fully.” Instruction, encouragement and hope. All can be found in the Nicene Creed.

---

[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 212.

[2] John Knox (Interpreter’s Bible)

[3] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume III, 625.

[4] In Paul’s use of “truthfulness” and “mercy” in the next verse, one should not take it literally, but rather rhetorically. The NRSV captures the sense of Paul’s emphasis with the parallel use of “in order that” connecting verses 8-9a, which places the confirmation of promises to Israel’s patriarchs in direct association with Gentiles glorifying God. In the Greek, the presence of de at the opening of verse 9 signals the connotation that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised not only to confirm promises to the patriarchs, but also to give the Gentiles reason to glorify God for God’s mercy.

[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume III, 545.

[6] Moltmann, Theology of Hope, 16.

[7] —George Michael Leader, Healing Poems (Leader Publishing, 2001), 121.

Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

³ His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 

⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

⁹ They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea. 

¹⁰ On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; 

the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Isaiah 11:1-10 has the theme of the shoot from the stump of Jessie. Many scholars think it derives from 525-475 BC. In that case, it gives assurance for the restoration of Davidic kingdom. In the canonical context, once vain human striving for empire ends, described of Assyria in 10:28-34, a perfect king like will David will reign in Jerusalem, all the world will enjoy peace and equity. We need to read the Bible eschatologically, as a word of judgment and promise that places what “is” in this time and place on notice that it is a temporary arrangement. If we do, we will find our priorities strangely re-arranged.[1]  The test shows how God will fulfill the prophecy concerning Hezekiah in 9:2-7. In the crisis Judah faces, the Lord continues to offer assurances of the future reign of a righteous king. Micah 5:2-4 is a parallel. In context, then, Ahaz is the recipient of the prophecy. However, what makes the passage memorable is the promised Davidic heir who would restore hope to the nation.  The passage assumes judgment has already occurred upon the dynasty of the family of David.

In the canonical context in Isaiah, his prophesied destruction of Assyria in 10:33-34 leads to hopes centered in a new Davidic king. It is third section that concludes with the ideal king in the peaceful future. It is a messianic and eschatological prophecy. It shows how God will fulfill the prophecy concerning Hezekiah in 9:2-7, where a great light will shine, deliverance will come, because a child will be born for us, the government will rest on his shoulders, and he will have the name Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. His government and peace will have unlimited growth. He will uphold the throne of David with justice and righteousness. In the crisis Judah faces, the Lord continues to offer assurances of the future reign of a righteous king. Ahaz is the recipient of the prophecy. However, what makes the passage memorable is the promised Davidic heir who would restore hope to the nation. Isaiah, who had been a witness to the folly of Ahaz and who with all of the house of Judah watched the armies of Sennacherib approach the walls of Jerusalem, may have foreseen then as he clearly did later (see II Kings 20:16-18) that the ax was about to fall on the Davidic line. So feeling, he comforts Hezekiah saying "The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward" (II Kings 19:30) and then inscribes this poem as the surety to future generations of a coming king who would emerge as a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and rule with righteousness and inaugurate unparalleled peace.

The prophet will remind us that regardless of how war-like this present reality may become, we must not forget that our destiny is to live in peace with each other and with the nature. There will be no more struggles for existence and therefore slaughter between people and beast. The oracle anticipates a new king coming out of the line of the father of David, Jesse. House of David now rules a small and weak territory, but it promises the dynasty of David will continue. This king will be infused with the Spirit and will practice justice and righteousness toward the needy. He will rejuvenate the social process, heal creation, and cause the reconciliation of creation.

Egypt had lapsed into stagnation, punctuated by civil war. It had broken up into numerous small states. Assyrian kings looked with desire upon Egypt, so rich and so defenseless. Tiglath-pileser III advanced to its border. Assyria was in control of Gaza, the gateway to the land of the Pharaoh. Around 720, conditions changed. Ethiopia had become powerful. Its ruler Shalako invaded Egypt, seized the throne, set up a strong, unified government, and inaugurated the 22nd dynasty. Egypt carried on intrigues in the southern part of the Assyria Empire and sought to encourage the subjugated states to rebel against the enemy. The agents of the Ethiopian king instigated Philistines, Moab, Edom, and Judah to join Ashdod in a coordinated attack upon Assyria. They arrived in Jerusalem to induce Judah to join the alliance and promised military support.[2]

 

First, in verse 1-5, we find a focus on a promised future ruler. It describes the ideal age as manifested in jurisprudence. The king will be endowed with prophetic insight. A shoot shall come out from the stump (geza, which could refer to the trunk of a living tree, and thus not presuppose an exilic reference to the downfall of the dynasty, rather than the stump of a tree that has been cut down, which does presuppose the exile, noting also that the northern kingdom is a burned stump in 6:13) of Jesse, the only time the Old Testament refers to the father of David in this way. This is the only passage in the Bible that refers to the (ravaged) Davidic line by the name of David's father, and the prophet uses the image of a burned stump earlier (6:13) to describe the blighted remains of the holy commonwealth. Only rarely does the Old Testament identify David by his patronym ("son of ..."), sometimes in formulaic parallelism (e.g., I Samuel 25:10; II Samuel 20:1; I Chronicles 12:18; II Chronicles 10:16), sometimes in the ordinary use of the patronymic identification (e.g., I Chronicles 10:14, 29:26; Psalm 72:20). Interestingly, in the narrative of David's rise to power in Saul's court, Saul uses the patronymic without David's name as a contemptuous circumlocution for the too intimate relationship between his heir and son, Jonathan, and the aspiring shepherd from Bethlehem (e.g., 1 Samuel 20:27, 30 [especially], 31, 22:7, 8, 13). Further, a branch shall grow out of his roots. The image draws upon the previous oracle in this reference to the high trees that represent the pride of imperial Assyria being cut down, but real strength will emerge from the lowest part, the roots, of the humble tree representing the dynasty of David. The insistence of Isaiah upon humility and displeasure with human conceit determine the contrast between 10:33-34 and 11:1. The oracle makes it clear that hard times have fallen upon the dynasty, since it is already a stump. Enemies have ravaged the Davidic line. The ax of Assyria has brought judgment. However, out of the stump, life will come. This new life will come as result of the promise of the Lord. The prophet does not say that a Davidic king is no longer on the throne, but, recognizing that the presence of a Davidic king does not in itself guarantee the practice of righteousness (Ahaz is a case in point), a future king will emerge. ² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him. The phrase commonly designated the divine power that equipped Israel's early charismatic leaders in the period of the tribal league. The usual verbs to describe its appearance in a leader’s personality are "to come upon," "rest upon," or "be upon." For example, Judges 3:10, describing the spirit possession of Othniel, brother of Caleb, and one of Israel's minor judges, and Judges 11:29, describing the spirit possession of Jephthah; cf. also II Chronicles 20:14; Isaiah 61:1. Other, stronger verbs designating possession commonly describe the action of the spirit upon an individual.  For example, "took possession of" Gideon, Judges 6:34; "began to stir" the young Samson, Judges 13:25, although the usual verb to describe the spirit's action on Samson is "to rush," e.g., Judges 14:6, 19, 15:14; cf. also I Samuel 10:6, 16:13; I Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16, etc. By no means was possession by the spirit of the Lord predictable or altogether benign; this accounts for its gradual diminution in Israel's affairs as the monarchy sought to stabilize and regularize forms and modes of leadership other than charismatic outbreaks. The present oracle reflects that routinization of leadership by spelling out what the spirit of the Lord includes. That the spirit of Yahweh should rest upon the king, particularly a king of this sort of moral and spiritual stature is not surprising (see I Samuel 10:6,10; 11:6; 16:13,14; 19:9, 23). The spirit that rests on him invests the king with three pairs of royal charismata. First, the Spirit of the Lord shall give the future ruler the spirit of wisdom and understanding. Such secular values in leaders would be desirable, of course. In Israel, such received high esteem within the wisdom school. In fact, throughout this description we can see a heavy reliance upon values reflected in the wisdom school. The first pair of gifts bestowed upon the coming king contrasts sharply with the pride of the Assyrian king who had boasted: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding" (10:13). Wisdom and understanding come instead from the "spirit of the LORD." Second, the spirit of counsel (skill in diplomacy) and might (strength and firmness). His gift is the gift of planning, the ability to develop battle strategy if necessary. Third, the spirit of knowledge (discernment) and the fear (awe and reverent humility) of the Lord, the most important virtue of the divinely anointed ruler of the people of God, since the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7). He not only knows the will of God, but as a function of his fear, i.e., awe, reverence, intends to follow it. All these qualities, taken together, reflect the righteous Davidic leader par excellence. The passage has broader theological significance when we reflect upon the agency of the Spirit of God. Here is an occasion when “spirit,” which is usually a mysterious force in the Old Testament, is granting wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.[3] This passage emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the mystery of God's Trinitarian essence attaining its full profundity and clarity. The Holy Spirit is both the innermost secret of God, and in God's relationship with humanity the revelation of the unity and diversity of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the commission of the Father and of the Son, the good pleasure of the Father and the glory of the Son, coinciding in the decree that is the intra-divine beginning of all things. In that sense, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and so on in this passage.[4] ³ His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. We can see here the heightened value of the fear of the Lord in this list of qualities for the future ruler arising out of the Davidic line. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear. The Spirit of the Lord resting upon this future leader of the Davidic line will have the ability to discern motives. In the canonical context, a deficiency of Ahaz was his lack ability to discern the times. Ahaz (see II Kings 16) had the misfortune of being Judah's king during the Syro-Ephraimitic crisis, attempts to avert the subjugation of his country by the threatening armies of Syria (Aram) and Israel by forming an alliance with Assyria's Tiglath-pileser rather than accepting Yahweh's assurance of protection. In response, Yahweh says that as a sign to him, an almah ("young woman" [NRSV], "virgin" [NIV]) "is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel" (7:14). Before this child knows the difference between good and evil, the two powers about which Ahaz is fretting will no longer be a concern (7:16). The Assyrian armies, which God now brings down upon Judah as a tool of judgment, do in fact, destroy both Damascus and Samaria, i.e., the northern kingdom of Israel and Syria (ca. 722 B.C.). ⁴ But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth, and thus the messianic age will not be perfect, the difference laying in how the king responds to these problems, always rendering accurate and fair judgment where conflicts among nations continue and settle them nonviolently; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, a phrase unique to this passage, although Isaiah frequently uses the image of the chastening "rod" elsewhere (more often, in fact, than any book in the Hebrew Bible except Proverbs), but the meaning is usually straightforward physical punishment (e.g., Isaiah 9:4, 10:5, 15, 24, 14:29; 30:31). The promised future ruler will also strike the earth with the breath of his lips, a phrase unique to this passage, by which he shall kill the wicked. This promised king seeks justice. ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The Holy Spirit has a role in judgment. Righteousness and faithfulness shall be his belt.[5] What we have learned is that the future king places little stock in rank or station in life: He judges impartially and in fairness for the lowly and marginalized of society. He is fiercely hostile to the wicked. So strong is his spiritual presence that he wears righteousness and faithfulness like a belt, keeping him in a constant state of battle readiness against the enemies of justice. Clearly, expectations run high for this new king. The socio-political realm will experience radical change. Of course, in Israel, such expectations ran high with the ascension of a new king, as we see in Psalm 72. 

The heart of the oracle is less the portrayal of the ideal Davidic ruler and more the depiction of the harmonious state of nature. In this, the vision establishes a trajectory of redemption that will assume increasing importance in later apocalyptic writings. We see here the grand vision of the peaceable kingdom, one of the most enduring expressions of hope for the world. Thus, in verses 6-9, we find paradise elements and a new order as the messianic age manifests itself in nature.  The just social order affects the natural order, which expands our vision of the radical nature of the arrival of the new ruler involves. The Lord will alter the socio-political realm of human relations, and in a parallel universe of all living things, a paradise of unprecedented calm and peace will prevail. ⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together. Not only will the wolf consort peaceably with the lamb, an activity foreign to the nature of both, but also their very morphology will undergo transformation. And a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. As an example of the morphology of the animal undergoing transformation, the lion cannot survive by eating straw in the world as it is. ⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain. In fact, no harm shall come to any of those who live under the rule of the promised king. The reason no harm will come is simple: for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. With its emphasis upon the knowledge of God, such knowledge also brings a new human action corresponding to the divine. It reflects the alteration that the knowledge of God brings.[6] We need to pay attention to the result in this world when the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord. Yet, the heart of the oracle has more to do with the depiction of the harmonious state of nature in verses 6-9 (recycled in part in 65:25). This is attributable in part to the relative paucity of such detailed descriptions of animal behavior in the Bible (which focuses on human socio-historical realities), and in part to the vivid imagery that captures and holds the imagination. The image depends for its power on its juxtaposition of polar types in harmonious existence: the peaceful coexistence of wolf/lamb, leopard/kid, calf/lion, cow/bear, lion/ox, child/serpent. The image, often described as "paradisiacal," exceeds any description of Eden and is forward rather than backward looking. The peace achieved by God's ideal ruler is eschatological rather than protological, and its sweep encompasses not only human history but all of creation. In this, the vision establishes a trajectory of redemption that will assume increasing importance in later apocalyptic writings, including Paul's vision of the end of time with his "hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay" (Romans 8:20). Karl Barth, under the theme of respect for life, suggests that the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 already establishes harmony between creatures that sin disrupts. In the meantime, humanity lives under the divine command to eat animals. However, he says, this present reality must not make us forget that our destiny is to live in peace with other animals. There will be no more struggle for existence and therefore slaughter between people and beast. The animal can become the enemy of humanity, and vice versa, in this age. Creation and consummation are the boundaries of history. In this interim period, a time of human lordship over the animal, but also one in which animal threatens humanity.[7]  He also points out that this vision takes evil seriously. The battle between wolf and lamb in verse 6 is not one in which we can pretend to have a theodicy in which they are already, theoretically, domesticated. The wolf is not the lamb, and thus, the struggle continues.[8] He says that the killing of animals has its place in the sphere of sinful humanity. We find in the command given by Noah that God orders such sacrifice. In what he refers to as the post-historical era, which is the goal of history, God will bring redemption, perfection, and general peace, including peace between humanity and beasts, in accord with the original intent of creation.[9]

This text is the prophet Isaiah's great vision of the "peaceable kingdom," one of the world's most enduring expressions of hope. Succeeding generations have rendered into paintings, music, and the dramatic arts. People have pressed into service on behalf of everything from pet cemeteries to religious vegetarianism to Christian CDs to a film about a Quaker pacifist. Isaiah's vision of a time and place devoid of the besetting miseries afflicting his own historical period, and endemic throughout most of human history, remains one of the irreducible longings of the human heart.        

Finally, in verse 10, we return to the promised future ruler. The messianic age will manifest itself in the relationship Israel has with other nations. The canonical presentation suggests the theme of the promise of the restoration of Israel. However, some scholars think of verses 10-11 as post-exilic, while many think of Isaiah 11: 12-16 as from the 300s. Verse 10 would then be the third section of the oracle that began in verse 1. ¹⁰ On that day the root (once a stump and branch in verse 1) of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. He has become more than the outgrowth of David’s greatness. He will become the future source of David’s greatness, the king through whom David’s line achieves its highest potential. Nations come to Jerusalem to receive instructions. The David king will act as the prophetic conduit through whom responses to the inquires of the nations will come. 

It is no wonder that the prophecies of Isaiah 7-12 became so important to early Christian exegetes. The promise of David’s righteous descendant seems completely realized in Jesus, and they drew the most obvious parallels to these passages, as well as less obvious ones. Jesus was clearly “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23), but he was also “the branch” (Hebrew netzer) that grew out of Jesse’s stock. Matthew 2:23 makes this connection because Jesus grew to manhood in a town whose name, Natzeret, or Nazareth, resembles this Hebrew term found in Isaiah 11:1. Coupled with the fact that through Jesus, Jewish tradition and wisdom passed forever beyond Israel and into the gentile nations, it seemed quite clear that surely Jesus was the “signal for the nations” foretold by Isaiah. Thus, although the word Messiah does not appear in the text, the passage certainly invites a Christological interpretation. The description of the coming ruler influences the way in which the New Testament describes the Messiah.  Paul looked to this passage as Jesus Christ fulfilling the hope for Gentiles contained here (Romans 15:12). Further, the Lord Jesus will destroy the lawless one “with the breath of his mouth” (II Thessalonians 2:8). Further still, the “Root of David” has conquered, with “four living creatures” peacefully before the slaughtered Lamb (Revelation 5:5-8). The rider on the while horse is Faithful and True, judging and making war in accord with righteousness (Revelation 19:11). A sharp sword will come from his mouth to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron, being King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:15). 

Moreover, "on that day" the remnant will "recover" from their places of exile (v.11). 

            Of course, this passage is not realistic. This passage is not reasonable. Apocalyptic visions as we find in this passage promise the fulfillment of humanity's deepest desires for a better world. Perhaps we have grown content with the scientific explanation of the end as death and nothingness. Perhaps we are too satisfied with the present, too content with current arrangements! The writer Flaubert spoke of that sad place where we reach our "accomplished desires."

"Our desires, though they often make us restless and unhappy, keep us moving. Perhaps the saddest thing that can happen to us is to arrive at that place where our desires have been accomplished."

All we must do is read the newspaper or listen to the news to recognize how little peace there is in the world. If we are honest, all we must do is investigate our hearts and lives. Most of us note plenty of internal warfare that we often inflict upon others. Yet, the vision of Isaiah still challenges and inspires us. That language is that of apocalyptic hope. What is this apocalyptic talk and what are contemporary Christians supposed to do with it? 

Apocalyptic language is language about what we might call earth-shattering events. We strain for language to describe those events, those moments when it as if the world tilts on its axis and everything that once was crumbles and something new is born. An earth-shattering event is usually more disrupting and shaking than an earthquake, though I am writing metaphorically. When, in the book of Daniel, or Ezekiel, Jewish writers speak of the moon turning red, the clouds descending, angels gathering Israel, they write of earth-shattering events. They wrote in poetry, which is always better than prose for this sort of active, energetic language pushed to the limit. They said it in poetry, for only poetry has the power to move us to the depths, to shatter, to tear down and rebuild a world. Such language reveals the true theological significance of these events. 

Robert Frost wrote a few verses in which he mused upon the significance of "God's own descent" into our troubled world in the incarnation in which God engaged "in risking spirit in substantiation."

            But God's own descent

            Into flesh was meant

            As a demonstration

            That the supreme merit

            Lay in risking spirit

            In substantiation.[10]

 

            Peace exists within the vision God has for our destiny in the rule of God, but we do not have to wait for that life as if it were a distant dream. Putting into practice the way of peace will manifest peace in our lives and the world. We will find peace with God, peace with others and peace in our actions – from home to communal life, and far beyond. We will experience a deep, abiding sense within that we know our purpose and that by God’s grace we will live into God’s dreams for us.

The world this passage describes is clearly something God will do. That makes it what biblical scholars call apocalyptic, an unveiling of the future. The point of this vision of the future is that if we know where God is heading, we can get on board now. If this is God’s vision of the future, then that is the vision that God calls upon us to work for today.

First, to think apocalyptically is to think imaginatively. Emily Dickinson wrote a little verse that highlights the importance of imagination. To understand it, I needed to look up the word “reverie.” Reverie is a state of pleasantly losing oneself in one's thoughts. It can be like a daydream. It can refer to an instrumental piece suggesting a dreamy or musing state. It can mean a fanciful or impractical idea or theory. Now, hear what Emily Dickinson wrote: 

To make a prairie it takes clover and one bee

one clover, and a bee,

and reverie

the reverie alone will do,

if bees are few.

 

We could use some people who lose themselves in their thoughts of how to make peace a reality in their personal lives, families, communities, congregations, nation, and the world. Reduced thought leads to reduced lives.  We could always use some imagination, given the divisive nature of our time. 

I came across a reference to a “human library.” It started in Denmark. The idea was to set up a station with 75 people with diverse types of stories to share. People of various religions, people struggling with various handicaps, and people from differing work backgrounds. The idea was that for a few days, you could “check out” a person for 30 minutes and talk with them. You could find out from a real person with a real story what it was like to be that person. 

It made me think of what happen if people outside of the Christian faith could check us out and “read” us. What would they find? Would they find a strain of this vision for peace that, regardless of how imperfectly, we might seek to write into our lives? To refer to politics, donkeys and elephants do not get along well. In economics, bulls and bears seem incompatible. We have many types of Christians today, leaning toward the progressive or the conservative. Yet, I ask this seriously, do we not all have a longing for peace? Isaiah is inviting us out of contentment with our divisiveness and to lose ourselves in the thought of peace. Our tendency is to be satisfied with too little.

Second, if God were to use coercion to bring the ideal of peace into reality, we would lose something vital. Money and power can solve many problems. Human history shows it will not solve them all. God recognizes the value of each of us. 

Third, this passage reminds us of the path we need to take in our journey of life. In the story of Beauty and the Beast, Presbyterian author Frederick Buechner observes, it is "only when the Beast discovers that Beauty really loves him in all his ugliness that he himself becomes beautiful." Only when we discover that God loves us in all our unloveliness that we ourselves start to become godlike. The word for this transformation is sanctification, and it is a long and painful change "because with part of themselves sinners prefer their sin, just as with part of himself the Beast prefers his glistening snout and curved tusks." However, little by little, "The forgiven person starts to become a forgiving person, the healed person to become a healing person, the loved person to become a loving person. God does most of it." Moreover, the end of the process is eternal life.[11]

It also reminds us of how distant we are from God's way. It inspires us be on the path that will lead to the fulfillment of God's vision for human destiny. I would have some surprise if you did not think of this prayer attributed to St. Francis: 

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace!

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

---

[1] (Richard B. Hays, "The Future of Reading the Bible in the Church," The Circuit Rider, September 1999)

[2] (Heschel 1962) Vol I, 68.

[3] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology 1998, 1991), Vol. 1)

[4] (Barth, Church Dogmatics 2004, 1932-67), III.1, 41.1.

[5] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology 1998, 1991), Vol. 3

[6] (Barth, Church Dogmatics 2004, 1932-67) IV.3, 69.3.

[7] (Barth, Church Dogmatics 2004, 1932-67) Dogmatics III.4, 55.1)

[8] (Barth, Church Dogmatics 2004, 1932-67) (III.3, 50.3)

[9] (Barth, Church Dogmatics 2004, 1932-67) (III.1, 41.2)

[10] (Robert Frost, "Kitty Hawk," In the Clearing [Holt, Rinehardt, 1962], p. 49.)        

[11] (Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC [New York: HarperCollins, (1973) 1993], 104).