Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 3, 2017
Isaiah 9:1-4
But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
As to the first verse of this passage, the Jewish Study Bible says, “An unusually obscure verse. The Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, seized lands belonging to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali long with parts of Galilee and Transjordan, from the Israelite king, Pekah son of Remaliah, in the aftermath of the Syro-Ephraimite crisis.”
“The people who walked in darkness…” – This passage refers to a people who are lost in the darkness of captivity both to an occupying force, Assyria and Babylonia, and to the sin of self idolatry, the punishment of which is occupation by these enemy forces. The light seen is the freedom of occupation, both of enemy forces and of idolatry.
These verses are the beginning of a passage prophesying about the messiah, the anointed one of God who will come lead Israel to freedom and right relationship with God.
Psalm 27:1, 4-9
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 4One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
5For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.
6Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
8“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.
9Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!
This psalm begins with a statement of truth which Jews and Christians struggle to believe. St. Paul states this same truth when he writes in Romans, “If God is for us, who is against us?!” Certainly we fear all manner of evils, from burglary to an IRS audit, to the yahoo down the lane who shoots his gun at all hours of day and night. But the psalmist and St. Paul call us to a far greater truth. The creator and sustainer of all things also knows you more intimately than you know yourself and cares about you more than even your own parents. What force is there greater than God?
Ah…but the psalmist answers his/her own question. Whom shall I fear? Death. My self: my own sin, self centeredness, cruelty, and lack of compassion. Those whom I used to love but now who can hurt me horribly. To all of these fears at the center of ourselves, God says, “I tell you the absolutely truth. The Father forgives you because you don’t know what you are doing. Today…today you will be with me in paradise.” Martin Luther taught that life in Christ starts fresh every day with a reminder that “I am baptized. God has claimed me as His. I am forgiven. Though my life might be taken, yet does God cradle me in His arms. I am secure.”
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
It is hard to think about this admonition of Paul’s to there be no divisions among people in a congregation and not cringe. The reason that Paul writes letters to the congregations in Ephesus, Colossus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Rome, Galatia, and Corinth is because there are divisions among peoples. Jesus saw divisions among the apostles and disciples which he also addressed. “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all,” was said to arguing disciples to teach them how to unite. We don’t argue any more about who baptized us since there are many thousand people who baptize now. We argue about adiaphora, that is, the unessential things. Who to serve and how are the essential things, but they are so hard and require us, the baptized, to have such an outward focus that we frequently shy away them. It is the discomfort of this lack of focus that launches us into arguments about building maintenance, carpet colors, and staff wages. Far easier to argue than to serve.
Matthew 4:12-23
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
In the first verses of this passage, we see a wonderful example of a somewhat cryptic Bible verse being applied and interpreted to a current situation. As stated above in the notes on today’s Isaiah passage, the reference to Zebulun and Naphtali likely originally referred to their capture by Assyria, but here the gospel writer is seeing them as referring to God in human form setting up house in Capernaum. This is historically how the Bible has been interpreted. While passages may have been written about a given context, the faithful have seen them as God addressing a contemporary context. This is one way in which the Bible is The Word of God.
As we are told in the opening verses of this passage, Jesus moved from Nazareth due to the threat of Jewish authorities, and set up housekeeping in Capernaum. Since Jesus lived in Capernaum, when Jesus walked down to the fishing area and invited workers to be disciples, he was not ordering them to leave spouse, children, and livelihood behind. Jesus was inviting them to be his students. While Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching, preaching, and healing, he maintained his home in Capernaum until he “turned his face toward Jerusalem.” This would have allowed his disciples to continue to care for their spouses and children.
“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” – Amos 4:2 “’Behold, days are coming upon you when you will be carried off on hooks, and to the last one, on fish hooks, and taken out of the city, Each one through a breach straight ahead, and flung on the refuse heap,’ declares the Lord.” This passage is understood in Amos’ context as referring to the faithful of God will work with God to sort out of Israel the unfaithful, just like bad fish are sorted from good fish, using grappling hooks. Scholars have pondered if it is to this that Jesus was referring when he told his fishermen disciples that “I will make you fish for people.”