LIVING the LECTIONARY a Weekly Study of the Scriptures Assigned for the Coming Sunday

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LIVING THE LECTIONARY A weekly study of the Scriptures assigned for the coming Sunday. An opportunity to make the rhythms of the readings become a part of the rhythms of your life.

available on line at www.bethlehemlutheranchurchparma.com/biblestudies

January 22, 24 2014 Bethlehem Lutheran Church 7500 State Road, Parma Thursdays at 10:00 AM, Saturdays at 7:00 pm (Also presented as a part of the worship service at Puritas Lutheran Church, 13812 Bellaire Road, Cleveland Sundays at 11:30am and 6:00pm.)

3rd Sunday after the Epiphany January 25, 2015

Hymn of the Day LSB 839 TLH 512

“O Christ, our true and only light”

Text: Johann Heermann “Much of Heermann's manhood was spent amid the distressing scenes of the Thirty Years' War; and by his own ill health and his domestic trials he was trained to write his beautiful hymns of “Cross and Consolation." Between 1629 and 1634, Koben was plundered four times by the Page 2 of 10

Lichtenstein dragoons and the rough hordes under Wallenstein sent into Silesia by the King of Austria in order to bring about the Counter-Reformation and restore the Roman Catholic faith and practice; while in 1616 the town was devastated by fire, and in 1631 by pestilence. In these troublous years Heermann several times lost all his moveables; once he had to keep away from Koben for seventeen weeks; twice he was nearly sabred; and once, while crossing the Oder in a frail boat loaded almost to sinking, he heard the bullets of the pursuing soldiers whistle just over his head. He bore all with courage and patience, and he and his were wonderfully preserved from death and dishonour. He was thus well grounded in the school of affliction, and in his House and Heart Music some of his finest hymns are in the section entitled "Songs of Tears. In the time of the persecution and distress of pious Christians." www.hymnary.org

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (next week – Deuteronomy 18:15-20)

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by Page 3 of 10 going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Psalm 62 (Psalm 111)

For the director of music. For Jeduthun* . A psalm of David.

1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. 2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

3 How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down— this leaning wall, this tottering fence? 4 Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. Page 4 of 10

With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. [b]

5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God [c]; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. 10 Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

11 One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, 12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.”

Footnotes:

a. Psalm 62:1 In Hebrew texts 62:1-12 is numbered 62:2-13. b. Psalm 62:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8. c. Psalm 62:7 Or / God Most High is my salvation and my honor

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* Jeduthun - lauder; praising - the name of one or two men in the Bible .

• A Levite of the family of Merari , and one of the three masters of music appointed by David . (1 Chr. 16:41, 42; 25:1-6) His office was generally to preside over the music of the temple service, Jeduthun’s name stands at the head of the 39th, 62d and 77th Psalms, indicating probably that they were to be sung by his choir. • A Levite whose son or descendant Obed-Edom was a gatekeeper at the time David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem . (1. Chr 16:1)

• Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song . (1 Chronicles 16:42) www.wikipedia.org

For a more extensive article on Jeduthun, visit: www.musicofthebible.com/jeduthum.htm

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 [32-35] (1 Corinthians:8:1-13)

29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not Page 6 of 10 to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

“Keep in mind that this passage is discussing the marriage of two Christians, not a "mixed" marriage or an "inter-faith" marriage. Here in this passage Paul describes the difficulties of a Christian marriage. One can only imagine how those difficulties would be compounded in a mixed or inter-faith marriage! The point Paul is making here is that, whether married or single, a believer must try to maintain a singleminded devotion to the Lord…. It is obvious from this verse that Paul's only motive is for their good. He does not intend his advice about marriage to put a restraint upon them (1 Cor 7:35). He has not given a command to the unmarried, but simply a considered opinion in view of the impending circumstances. He leaves the ultimate choice completely up to them as individuals, and either choice is acceptable -- their marital status is not a matter of holiness vs. sin. Paul's main goal is to promote undistracted devotion to the Lord, regardless of a believer's marital status. Whether married or single, if a believer is distracted from his devotion to the Lord then something is wrong.” www.spiritandtruth.org www.highpeaksbiblefellowship.org

High Peaks Bible Fellowship is a group of believers that is dedicated to strong, verse-by-verse, expository teaching of the truths of the Word of God.

Mark 1:14-20 (Mark 1:21-28)

Jesus Announces the Good News

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, Page 7 of 10 follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

“Question: "Why did Jesus refer to James and John as the sons of thunder?"

Answer: In Mark 3 , Jesus calls twelve men to be His apostles. Among them are “James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder)” ( Mark 3:17 ). This is the only place in Scripture that mentions the designation of the sons of Zebedee as the Sons of Thunder, and there is no stated explanation as to why Jesus named them this.

However, Jesus has a purpose for everything He does, so He must have had a good reason for dubbing James and John as “Sons of Thunder.” “Jesus . . . knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” ( John 2:24-25 ). In other words, Jesus knew the brothers’ nature when He first met them, and He chose “Boanerges” as a fitting nickname.

In one vivid incident, we see that James and John possessed some truly thunder- like qualities. Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem when they ran into trouble. Jesus attempted to find accommodations for the night in one place but was met with opposition from the villagers, simply because His destination was Jerusalem—a result of Jew- Samaritan prejudice. “When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’” ( Luke 9:54 ). Jesus rebuked the brothers, and they all went to another village. James and John’s response to the Samaritans reveals a fervency, impetuosity, and anger that could properly be called “thunderous”—and we can be sure that there were other times when James and John lived up to their nickname…”

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-thunder.html#ixzz3OpHbA16j Page 8 of 10

Or it could be….

“No matter where you look, the well-known name Boanerges is said to translate to Sons Of Thunder. But this is most likely incorrect. Let us show you why:

Sons Of Thunder

The name Boanerges occurs only once in the Bible. Boanerges is the nickname that Jesus gives to James and John , the two sons of Zebedee (Mark 3:17). Jesus doesn't explain why He gives them this name, but author Mark explains that Boanerges means υιοι (uioi meaning sons, or figuratively, partakers) βροντης (bronthes meaning of thunder). This word is only used once in the New Testament but it's the regular Greek word for thunder or "the state of one struck with thunder, astonishment" (according to Liddell and Scott — a Greek English Lexicon)…

It's not immediately clear why Jesus gives James and John the epithet Thunder Boys but it's a complete enigma how the otherwise non-existing appellation Boanerges can be made to correlate with that, or even from what language it's supposed to be taken…

בר Most commentator align the Boane-part with the plural of the Aramaic word ben ), both meaning son or figuratively, partaker) בן bar ) or the Hebrew equivalent) in some collective, or quality or skill. …

The word for thunder ( bronthe ) that Mark uses is the regular off-the-shelf Greek word for thunder. But the regular off-the-shelf Hebrew or Aramaic word for ra'am — see the name Raamah ). Most commentators then assume) רעם thunder is ,( ragash) רגש that the second part of the name Boanerges comes from the verb which indirectly may mean thunder, but only figuratively…

Ergo: to tie a meaning of Sons Of Thunder to the name Boanerges requires a phonetic warping of the Semitic word for sons and a misappropriation of a very negative verb meaning to congregate for dubious (= destructive or conspiratorial) reasons.

Now what? Page 9 of 10

Did Mark goof?

Some scholars propose that author Mark worked off Aramaic texts, and that he samekh) ס mem final, corresponding to our M) for a) ם misread the letter corresponding to our S), and blundered on by wrongly transliterating the Aramaic benay ra'am (meaning Sons Of Thunder) to the incorrect Greek Boanerges, which he then swiftly explained to mean Sons Of Thunder…

For Mark to produce an effective gospel as he did, he must have been at least very interested in the subjects and sources, and doubtlessly quite the scholar. And Mark certainly didn't write in a cultural vacuum; he must have had a circle of immediate proofreaders that would have caught a goof like that within seconds, and they'd all would have had a big laugh out of the whole affair. Holding that Mark mistook a final mem for a samekh is like saying that Mark Zuckerberg doesn't know the difference between JavaScript and Java script, and that he managed to slip a booboo into the live Facebook code because of it.

Possible, but highly unlikely on both accounts.

Now what?

Name or names? Translation or paraphrase?

In other words: it's by no means certain that Boanerges and Sons Of Thunder are one and the same name in different languages. It's much more likely that they are two distinct names but each other's paraphrases.

And that means the hunt is on for alternative interpretations. Here is our guess:

A much more likely etymology of Boanerges

…Boanerges doesn't mean Sons of Thunder but Busy Lowing , that is (They) Act Like Oxen . Page 10 of 10

Contexts of the name Boanerges

Jesus gives some of His disciples a nickname, and since we like to believe that Jesus was always full of love for His people, we also readily assume that His nicknames reflect that appreciation. But quite contrarily, Jesus very often expresses His disappointment towards His disciples. Right before Mark mentions Boanerges, he reports that Jesus renders Simon the name Peter. Peter doesn't mean rock as many believe, but pebble (see our article on the name Peter ). Peter is the footloose pebble, but his faith is the petra upon which Jesus would build His church. In Matthew 16:23, Jesus even goes as far as to call Peter Satan .

So also He doesn't praise the sons of Zebedee with a lofty-sounding Sons Of Thunder, but rather Thunder Boys , that is Bunch Of Windbags , or All Bark, No Bite . And why? Even though James and John would grow to be giants of the faith, their career started off with some serious hiccups. And those hiccups were invariably met by Jesus' insistence for the boys to pipe down. Luke tells the story of how Jesus and the disciplines are denied lodging in a Samaritan village. James and John helpfully offer to command fire from heaven to destroy the town. Jesus rebukes them by telling them that they have no idea of what kind of spirit they are, and supposed to be (Luke 9:51-56)….

Further up, Luke reports that a dispute arose among the disciples on who would be called the greatest in the Kingdom (22:24-30). Mark adds the detail that James and John were at the heart of the dispute, with their request that Jesus would let them sit at His left and right hand (Mark 10:35-44). But Matthew reveals that behind the two men's impetuous request was the ambition of their mother Salome , who obviously also still had a lot to learn (20:20-28)...www.abarim-publication.com