Bible Tuesday for Sunday, June 21, 2015

Job 38:1-11

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—
9 when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?

The story of Job is one found in many Middle Eastern cultures during the time when Assyria and Babylon were powerhouses. It is a philosophical and religious debate conveyed in the form of a story which asks the questions, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “How should good people respond?” What makes this story unique as appears in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible is that the final chapter of the book is Yahweh’s response to these questions. The above passage is the beginning of God’s response. Notice that God’s response begins with many questions which can be summed up as “Who do you think you are?!!!”

Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
29 he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

This psalm is a song of praise to God and describes a ship load of people who were caught in a storm on the sea but survived and praised God for their safe return to land.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

As we work together with him,* we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

Timing is everything. Paul, in writing to this “problem congregation” in Corinth, is insisting that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah and made NOW the acceptable time. For what?! For the promises of God to be fulfilled. Now the Messiah is making all things new. Now God is saving God’s people. Now God’s grace is visible in Jesus, the Christ.

In verses 7-10 Paul acknowledges all the dichotomies this proclamation contains. All of the promises of God in Jesus look false, and yet are true. The Israelites are captives of Rome, yet free in God’s grace. Followers of Jesus have eternal life, yet die and are being buried.

Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

After Jesus spent the day teaching the crowds and the disciples with the twelve, Jesus wanted to get away from the crowds so he had the disciples ready boats for the quiet of the open water. Since I have become a pastor, I have had a small taste of how exhausted Jesus must have gotten after teaching the crowds and his followers all day. Finally getting a nap and sleeping so soundly that a storm would not wake him no longer seems out of the question.

Some of the disciples, being fishermen, were seasoned boatmen but this storm frightened them. To wake Jesus seemed a more than reasonable thing to do to them, but they are chastised for their pleas for help. This is not the first or last time that the disciples play the buffoons in the gospel of Mark. Not only will Jesus save them from perishing on the water, but also in all of life, but they never quite comprehend this in Mark’s gospel.

Starting in the first verses of Genesis, water is a symbol of chaos for Hebrews. Prior to the Babylonian captivity, Israelites regularly worshiped gods and goddesses that ruled over water, whether falling from the sky or coming up from the ground. It is for this reason, the worship of false gods, that Yahweh allowed those ancient Hebrews to be conquered by Assyria and Babylon. When they returned from captivity, they left their idols behind but still did not completely trust God, especially when it came to the elements. Jesus stilling the storm connect this Word Made Flesh to Yahweh at that first moment of creation, in control of air and water and all that is.