Book Three - Internal Consolation

     The Thirty-Third Chapter / Restlessness Of Soul--Directing Our Final Intention Toward God

     THE VOICE OF CHRIST

     MY CHILD, do not trust in your present feeling, for it will soon give way to another. As long as you live you will be subject to changeableness in spite of yourself. You will become merry at one time and sad at another, now peaceful but again disturbed, at one moment devout and the next indevout, sometimes diligent while at other times lazy, now grave and again flippant.

     But the man who is wise and whose spirit is well instructed stands superior to these changes. He pays no attention to what he feels in himself or from what quarter the wind of fickleness blows, so long as the whole intention of his mind is conducive to his proper and desired end. For thus he can stand undivided, unchanged, and unshaken, with the singleness of his intention directed unwaveringly toward Me, even in the midst of so many changing events. And the purer this singleness of intention is, with so much the more constancy does he pass through many storms.

     But in many ways the eye of pure intention grows dim, because it is attracted to any delightful thing that it meets. Indeed, it is rare to find one who is entirely free from all taint of self-seeking. The Jews of old, for example, came to Bethany to Martha and Mary, not for Jesus’ sake alone, but in order to see Lazarus.

     The eye of your intention, therefore, must be cleansed so that it is single and right. It must be directed toward Me, despite all the objects which may interfere.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

     “Houston, we’ve had a problem” were the fateful word received from Apollo 13, which was launched for the moon this day, April 11, 1970. Mission control identified that an oxygen tank had exploded, irreparably damaging the craft. The New York Times reported special prayer services, prayers were said at the Chicago Board of Trade, at St. Peter’s Basilica by the Pope, at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Even the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution urging prayer. In sub-zero temperature, the crew ingeniously pieced together an oxygen filter, jump-charged the command module batteries, and manually steered the ship to land successfully near a raging hurricane.

William J. Federer. American Minute

The Bible is God's chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbor is, and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars.
--- Henry Ward Beecher


Even if we may not always understand why God allows certain things to happen to us, we can know He is able to bring good out of evil, and triumph out of suffering.
--- Billy Graham

... from here, there and everywhere

22     Won’t those who plot evil go astray?
But grace and truth are for those who plan good.

23     In all work there is profit,
but mere talk produces only poverty.
24     The crown of the wise is their riches,
but the folly of fools is just that—folly.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                Moral divinity

     For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. --- Romans 6:5.

     Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have been through crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a decided likeness to Him. The incoming of the Spirit of Jesus into me readjusts my personal life to God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him authority to impart the life of God to me, and my experimental life must be constructed on the basis of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus now, and it will show itself in holiness.

     The idea all through the Apostle Paul’s writings is that after the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus invades every bit of my human nature. It takes omnipotence to live the life of the Son of God in mortal flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a Guest in a house, He invades everything. When once I decide that my “old man” (i.e., the heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything, my part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals. When I have made the moral decision about sin, it is easy to reckon actually that I am dead unto sin, because I find the life of Jesus there all the time. Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, so there is only one stamp of holiness, the holiness of Jesus, and it is His holiness that is gifted to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new order spiritually.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

Listen, now, verse should be as natural
As the small tuber that feeds on muck
And grows slowly from obtuse soil
To the white flower of immortal beauty.'

'Natural, hell! What was it Chaucer
Said once about the long toil
That goes like blood to the poem's making?
Leave it to nature and the verse sprawls,
Limp as bindweed, if it break at all
Life's iron crust. Man, you must sweat
And rhyme your guts taut, if you'd build
Your verse a ladder.'
'You speak as though
No sunlight ever surprised the mind
Groping on its cloudy path.'

'Sunlight's a thing that needs a window
Before it enter a dark room.
Windows don't happen.'
So two old poets,
Hunched at their beer in the low haze
Of an inn parlour, while the talk ran
Noisily by them, glib with prose.

R.S. Thomas Selected poems, 1946-1968

     D’RASH

     A friend has just sustained a terrible personal loss. At the funeral, there were so many people, we barely had a chance to say more than “I’m so sorry.” A day or two have passed, and we need to go make a condolence call, but we are very anxious about the visit. It is extremely uncomfortable to have to deal with death. We don’t know which words we should use to express our feelings, and we are at a total loss in terms of what to say to the mourner to try and heal her pain and bring her comfort.

     There are certain standard phrases that are suggested by social custom: “I was so sorry to hear about your loss.” “If there is anything that we can do for you, please let us know.” Jewish tradition offers its own formula: “May God comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”

     But sometimes, we find that the more we say, the less helpful we are. Some people offer platitudes or clichés (“Don’t worry, time heals all wounds”). Others focus inappropriately on themselves (“After my husband died, I was a basket case for the longest time”). Still others say the most insensitive things (“You’re still young, you can have another child”).

     Tradition—social or religious—may be very wise in providing us with short, standard phrases. Our attempts to improve on them, or add to them, may turn out to actually diminish the good we are trying to do. Our kind intentions do not count for much when we end up hurting people already in great pain.

     It may very well be that the words we say are not as important as we might think. It often turns out, in fact, that our presence is much more significant than any utterances that we might make. One of the best things that we can do is ask about the person who has died, and then sit back and listen attentively. Some mourners need to talk much more than they need to hear someone else’s wisdom. At other times, we may sense that our friend is not up to listening or to talking, but they desperately need someone to be with. Holding a hand, giving a hug, or lending a shoulder to cry on may be all that is needed.

     Knowing just what to say, or what not to say, in a given situation is a sign of wisdom. Knowing that a word costs a sela, but that silence is worth twice as much, is a sign of even greater understanding.

     Wherever you find the strength of the Holy One, praised be He, you find His humility.

     Text / On Yom Kippur, we read “After the death”
[Leviticus 16] and we conclude with “For thus said He who high aloft forever dwells” [Isaiah 57:15]. At Minḥah, we read about forbidden relations [Leviticus 18] and we conclude with Jonah. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Wherever you find the strength of the Holy One, praised be He, you find His humility.” This is written in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, and reiterated in the Writings. It is written in the Torah: “For the Lord your God is God supreme and Lord supreme” [Deuteronomy 10:17] and it says right after that “but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow.” It is repeated in the Prophets: “For thus said He who high aloft forever dwells, whose name is holy” [Isaiah 57:15] and it says right after “yet with the contrite and lowly in spirit.” It is reiterated in the Writings, as it says: “Extol Him who rides the clouds; the Lord is His name” [Psalms 68:5] and it says right after that “the father of orphans, the champion of widows.”

     Context / The Tractate Megillah discusses not only the reading of the Megillah, that is, the scroll of Esther on Purim, but also many of the laws of reading from the Torah (Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses) and haftarah (readings from the Prophets on Shabbat and holidays). The Mishnah preceding this section of Gemara outlines the Torah readings for holidays like Pesaḥ and Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara expands upon the theme, giving not only the Yom Kippur morning Torah reading (from Leviticus 16) but also the haftarah (from Isaiah 57). The expression “we conclude with,” maftirin, is from the same Hebrew root as haftarah. After the Torah is read, the haftarah, a concluding section of Bible from the Prophets, is chanted.

     In a discussion on which Torah reading is read and which haftarah is chanted on certain holidays, Rabbi Yoḥanan notes that each mention of God (“the Holy One, praised be He”) extols not only God’s strength but also God’s humility and compassion for humanity. Thus, the mention of the haftarah for Yom Kippur morning, taken from Isaiah and referring to God as the high and mighty King, reminds Rabbi Yoḥanan of this rule: God’s strength and humility are always intertwined in the biblical text. Rabbi Yoḥanan, being a master teacher and scholar, easily finds three verses where both God’s strength and concern for people go hand-in-hand.

     According to Rabbi Yoḥanan’s Midrash, God is supreme in power and might, riding the clouds, yet also humble —down to earth and caring for those human beings who need a champion for their cause. God’s strength and concomitant kindness are written in Torah, repeated in the Prophets, and reiterated in the Writings, proof positive that wherever we find the strength of the Holy One, we also find God’s humility.

     The Hebrew words for “written,” “repeated” and “reiterated” are interesting terms. “Written” is katuv, a fairly common Hebrew word. “Repeated” is shanui, from the same root as the Hebrew number two (and the word mishnah, a teaching that is “repeated”). What we translate as “reiterated” (meshulash) is from the Hebrew root for “three.” Thus, God’s strength and humility are written, repeated, and reiterated throughout the three parts of the Bible—Torah, Prophets, and Writings.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     Some of the most familiar of Jesus’ stories are found in these chapters of Luke. Among them are:

  •  the Parable of the Rich Fool.
  •  exhortation not to worry, but to remember
          the lilies of the field.
  •  the illustration of the narrow door.
  •  the Parable of the Great Banquet.
  •  the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
  •  the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
  •  the Parable of the Shrewd Manager.
  •  the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

     Many of the stories involve money, and illustrate the tension that comes as we live in two worlds—the physical and spiritual. Jesus teaches us how to resolve that tension by giving priority to the spiritual, confident that our Heavenly Father will meet our needs.

     But the stories also have another theme: they expose the games played by people who want to appear spiritual, but who have not really made God’s priorities their own.

     ...there is profit too in seeing how these stories and events fit together, and apply to the issues that we face today while seeking to live as Jesus’ disciples in the world of here and now.

     Commentary / It is easy for us to fall victim to illusions. Part of the reason is that a disciple does live in two worlds: the material-social world around him, and the invisible, spiritual world operating within and through the visible. Conflicts between these two worlds often occur. A choice that seems wise according to appearances is often not wise at all.

     So we seem caught between what we see around us and something that God says is far more real. Standing between the two, the disciple needs to come to the place where he commits himself to one world only. He needs to recognize appearances as mere illusion, and grasp the tremendous fact that what is not apparent to us is far more real.

     Carol’s mother insisted she work toward a teaching certificate in college, rather than take the training Carol felt she wanted for missions. Carol’s mother was moved by a concern for her daughter’s security; certainly education was the safest course. So it might appear! But appearances can be misleading.

     Between Two Worlds: / Misleading (Luke 12:4–12). Jesus began to teach that appearances are misleading with a simple warning. He told His disciples not to fear (that is, stand in awe of) powers that can kill the physical body. Instead, stand in awe of God, who can give life to or can destroy the living personality (Luke 12:45).

     This instruction might well frighten us were it not for Jesus’ next words. Not a sparrow falls, or a hair of our head is lost, but that God knows. So, Jesus said, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” God’s power is used for us, not against us. We stand in awe of God not because He will destroy us, but because He who has all power cares! We are important to Him!

     How important is this realization? Jesus went on to show that when a person acknowledges Christ, that person is acknowledged by Christ in the presence of the angels.

     What happens on earth is important in heaven! The two worlds which seem so separated are actually linked … and God is in control of both! How wonderful to realize that God, who does control, values us and will use His power on our behalf.

     The rich fool (Luke 12:13–21). It is so easy to think of what is happening here on earth as the important thing. But what a spiritual disaster that is. One man who heard Jesus speak of God’s control over the material shouted out, asking Christ to make his brother divide an inheritance. This man had completely misunderstood Jesus’ teaching. This world is not the important one! So Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

     How easily we come to think of this world as the important one, and imagine that life is summed up in what we possess. Jesus told of a “rich fool” who finally felt that he had more than plenty.

     He had so much that he tore down his barns to build larger ones. He was comforted to think that he had all he would ever need, and told himself, “You have plenty”
(Luke 12:19).

     Older versions translate this, “Soul, you have.” In the original, the word so translated means the man himself: his living personality. What this man had done was to confuse his life in this world, his bodily needs, with himself.

     But a human being is more than an animal. He is more than a body and bodily awareness. A human being, formed in the image of God by God’s own hand, is a deathless being who will exist in selfconscious awareness throughout eternity—either with God, or separated from Him.

     The rich man thought that this world was all; that life consisted of luxury and plenty. How blind! What a tragic mistake! That very night, Jesus said, the man’s personality was separated from his body, to leave this world and to answer to God. And all his things were left behind.

     When we see reality clearly, we come to realize both that the physical universe is under God’s control, and that the material is ultimately irrelevant to the real meaning of human life.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

     Vers. 1–24.—The great supper. The feast of which Christ was partaking had been carefully prepared, and was an event of some consequence in the town. This may be inferred not only from the tone of the Lord’s remarks, but also from the intimations of the evangelists. Thus from ver. 12 it appears that the Pharisee had gathered together the élite of the place, along with his more intimate friends and his kinsmen. From ver. 7 we learn that there had been an eager scramble on the part of the guests for the chief places, the precedencies, and dignities. It was the observation of this which called forth the saying (ver. 11), “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Notice, too, as proving the care which had been bestowed on the entertainment, that there was an understanding among the more prominent guests that the movements and words of the invited Prophet should be closely watched. In fact, the supper was a trap laid. To complete the scheme, a man was introduced (ver. 2) who laboured under a severe illness—dropsy; a man whose presence might be a temptation to the loving-hearted Healer to violate the sacredness of the sabbath. Jesus, we are told (ver. 3), “answering,” i.e. knowing the intention of the lawyers and Pharisees, put a question to them which revealed the thoughts of the heart, whilst it so vindicated his work of mercy that it reduced his hypocritical friends to silence: “they could not answer him again to these things” (ver. 6). This great supper is the text of one of the most beautiful of our Lord’s parables. The introduction of the parable is very simple. He had taught his host a lesson of charity (vers. 12–14), when one of the company, catching at the last clause, “recompensed at the resurrection of the just,” and giving this the accepted Pharisee-meaning—a banquet at which the elect of the nation would sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (presuming, of course, that he would have a place at that banquet.)—exclaims, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” (ver. 15). “Yes,” virtually replies the Prophet, “only recollect that this kingdom of God is not the blessedness which you imagine; nay, since the call to it has been rejected by those who were bidden—i.e. the covenant-people—that call will be extended, in the fulness of its glory, to the publicans and sinners whom you reject—the people of the streets and lanes; it will be extended further still, even to the ignorant heathen—the people of the highways and hedges. For (representing in these words the giver of the festival) “None of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper” (ver. 24). Such was the primary application of the parable. In its details it is entirely within the circle of prophetic ideas. The supper is an Old Testament symbol of the day of Christ, the Messiah (see Isa. 25:6). The “many bidden” were those who, having Moses and the prophets, were possessors both of the Word heard outwardly with the ear, and of the grace through which it is grafted inwardly in the heart. The servant at the supper-time denotes that preaching of the kingdom which began with John the Baptist, and was carried on by our Lord and those whom “he sent before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” The excuses intimate the pleas on which the invited, with one consent, turned away from the call. And the further missions of the servant, first keeping within the city, to the streets and lanes, and, secondly, quitting the precincts of the city, to the highways and hedges, denote, as has been said, the inclusion of the excluded classes of the Jews, along with the Samaritans, and the bidding of the Gentiles to the light of the gospel. “I said,” thus ancient prophecy expressed it (Isa. 65:1), “Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my Name.” Passing from the first relations of the parable to those which more directly concern us, every part of it is suggestive of some aspect of Christian truth or life. Notice three points—

     I. THE HOSPITALITY OF GOD. God is the Presence shadowed forth in the “man who makes the great supper.” In the notion of such a supper we see the Divine hospitality. A supper carries with it the thought of an abundant provision, of satisfaction for all want, of an infinite and various fulness. And is not this associated in the Scriptures with the very name of God? Take, e.g., one of the most beautiful utterances of the Psalter, Ps. 36:5–9. Indeed, the manifold revelation of God in nature, providence, grace, in the firmament above us, the earth around us, the great and wide sea, our own consciousness, the Word who in the beginning was with God and was God—God himself in every form of his communication, is the exceeding joy of the pure in heart. His greatness is so hospitable. It makes room for all our littleness and weakness “in its lap to lie.” As Faber, in serses of sweetest music, has sung—

  “Thus doth thy grandeur make us grand ourselves;
    ’Tis goodness makes us fear;
  Thy greatness makes us brave, as children are
    When those they love are near.

  “Great God! our lowliness takes heart to play
    Beneath the shadow of thy state;
  The only comfort of our littleness
    Is that thou art so great.

  “Then on thy grandeur I will lay me down;
    Already life is heaven for me;
  No cradled child more softly lies than I:
    ‘Come soon, Eternity.’ ”

     It is this hospitality that is declared in the Son of the Eternal Love. Christ is the Great Supper. In him God has “abounded towards us in wisdom and prudence.” St. Paul speaks of “the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,” of Christ “the All in all;” and, more particularly defining the supper-making, he says, “Christ, of God made to us Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption.” All that we need as men, all that is salvation for sinners, is ours in him. And how is it ours? “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

     II. THE CHURLISHNESS OF MEN. This is God, with the door thrown wide open, the table prepared, the life eternal given, the grand, ever-urgent “Come!” Ho, every one that thirsteth, … and he that hath no money, come!” But what is the reception? Strange, wonderful, but still to true, “They all with one consent began to make excuse” (ver. 18). Look at the excuses. They are pictures of states of mind, of attitudes of thought, as real now as at any time. Three such pictures are sketched. The first (ver. 18), a mind which rejoices in a good realized. The man has the desire of his heart. He is the lord of broad acres. “Soul, take thine ease; what need for thee of the supper?” The second (ver. 19), a mind still immersed in business, with its cares and anxieties. The man has just concluded an important purchase; before all else he must prove it. The third (ver. 20), a mind absorbed in earthly delights and social relationships—he “cannot come.” We can trace, in the three pictures, a climax like that of the parable reported in Matt. 22, which closely resembles this. There is an ascending scale in the rejection. The first is covetous to a degree; he would go with all his heart—only that little estate; he must needs “pray let me be excused.” The second is polite, but more abrupt; there is a graceful wave of the hand, a gentlemanly “Pray let me be excused;” but there is no “I must needs.” The third is rude and flat in his denial; there is a quick “No, I cannot.” Is it not the climax of worldliness in every period? And what is worldliness? The celebrated Robert Hall one day wrote the word “God” on a slip of paper. “You can read that?” he said, as he passed the slip to a friend. “Yes.” He covered the name on the slip with a sovereign. “Can you read it now?” The sovereign was above, was nearer the gaze than God. That is worldliness. It is not the having, not the purchasing, of the ground or the oxen. It is the having the earthly thing in the first place, the setting of the “must needs” over against it. And it is the mind which does this, to which the heavenly kingdom is second to the earthly good, which is fruitful of excuses. Oh, how often it puts off! how often there comes even the rude “I cannot”! Has the Giver of the supper found such a mind in any of us?

     III. THE COMMISSION OF THE SERVANT. It is to bear the Master’s call, to declare that “all things are ready;” that salvation is full and is present; life now, life for ever, given with God’s “yea” and “amen” to even the chief of sinners. The word of the reconciliation is “Come!” the ministry of reconciliation implies, “Go, ever out and out.” The house of the Lord must be filled; he is bent on the winning of souls. A supper, and none to eat; a great supper, and only a few guests!

  “Salvation! O salvation!
  The joyful sound proclaims,
  Till earth’s remotest nation
  Has learnt Messiah’s Name.”

     “Compel them” is the voice of the Everlasting Love. Use, i.e., all means of moral suasion; circle around their wills; plead, beseech, entreat, persuade, “instant in season and out of season;” draw them, watch over them; establish such links between the messenger and them that they shall feel that they must come with you, since God is with you of a truth. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

The Pulpit Commentary : St. Luke The Pulpit Commentary (23 Volume Set)

     To see how these assumptions combined to shape the way in which interpreters interpreted, it might be appropriate to consider an actual text from the Bible, the biblical account of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac:

     And it came to pass, after these things, that God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Then sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.” So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and then set out for the place that God had told him about. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar. Abraham told his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there, so that we can worship and then come back to you.”

     Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac; then he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked together. But Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father?” and he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked together.

     When they came to the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He then tied up his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son. But an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not harm the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. (Gen. 22:1–13)

     Ancient interpreters were no doubt troubled by a number of elements in this story. Did not the very fact of divine omniscience seem to make this divine “test” of Abraham unnecessary? Surely God knew how it would turn out before it took place—He knew, as the angel says at the end of the story, that Abraham was one who “fears God.” So why put Abraham through this awful test? Equally disturbing was Abraham’s apparent conduct vis-à-vis his son. He never tells Isaac what God has told him to do; in fact, when Isaac asks his father the obvious question—“I see fire and the wood for the sacrifice, but where is the sacrificial animal?”—Abraham gives him an evasive answer: “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” This actually turns out to be true; God does provide a ram at the last minute—but Abraham had no way of knowing this at the time. Along with this is Abraham’s problematic coldness. God orders him to sacrifice his son, who, God reminds him, is “your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,” and Abraham does not utter a word of protest; in fact,
the text says explicitly that Abraham “got up early in the morning,” as if eager to carry out the deed.

     Such problems were clearly on the minds of ancient interpreters when they commented on this story, and they did their best to find a solution to them. It is important to stress that ancient interpreters generally were not out to arrive at a modern-style critical or objective reading of Scripture’s words. In keeping with Assumption 2, they began with the belief that Scripture had some important lesson to teach them, and in the case of this story, it had to be a positive lesson about all concerned—not only Abraham and Isaac, but about God as well. If that lesson was not immediately apparent, then it had to be searched for through a careful weighing of every word, since, in keeping with Assumption 1, the meaning of any biblical text could be hidden: it might say A when it really meant B.

     With regard to the first question mentioned above—why should God need to test anyone if He is omniscient?—interpreters set their eye on an apparently insignificant detail, the opening clause of the passage: “And it came to pass, after these things.…” Such phrases are often used in the Bible to mark a transition; they generally signal a break: “The previous story is over, and now we are going on to something new.” But the word “things” in Hebrew (dĕbārîm) also means “words.” So the transitional phrase here could equally well be understood as asserting that some words had been spoken, and that “it came to pass, after these words, that God tested Abraham.” What words? The Bible did not say, but if some words had indeed been spoken, then interpreters felt free to try to figure out what the words in question might have been.

     At some point, an ancient interpreter—no one knows exactly who or when—thought of another part of the Bible quite unrelated to Abraham, the book of Job. That book begins by reporting that Satan once challenged God to test His servant Job (1:6–12; 2:1–6). Since the story of Abraham and Isaac is also described as a divine test, this interpreter theorized that the “words” mentioned in the opening sentence of the passage (“And it came to pass, after these words, that God tested Abraham …”) might have been, as in the book of Job, words connected to the hypothetical challenge spoken by Satan to God: “Put Abraham to the test and see whether He is indeed obedient enough even to sacrifice his own son.” If one reads the opening sentence with this in mind, then the problem of why God should have tested Abraham disappears. Of course God knew that Abraham would pass the test—but if He nevertheless went on to test Abraham, it was because some words had been spoken leading God to take up a challenge and prove to Satan Abraham’s worthiness. One ancient interpreter who adopted this solution was the anonymous author of the book of Jubilees. Here is how his retelling of the story begins:

     There were words in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in everything that He told him, [and that] the Lord loved him, and in every difficulty he was faithful. Then the angel Mastema [i.e., Satan] came and said before the Lord, “Behold, Abraham loves his son Isaac and he delights in him above all else. Tell him to offer him as a sacrifice on the altar. Then you will see if he carries out this command, and You will know if he is faithful in everything through which you test him.” Now the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in every difficulty which he had told him.… Jub. 17:15–16

     Here, the “words” referred to in Gen. 22:1 are words of praise uttered by the other angels. “And it came to pass, after these words” were uttered, that Satan felt moved to challenge God concerning his faithful servant. God takes up the challenge, but the author of Jubilees goes to the trouble to assure his readers that there was really no need for the God to test Abraham, since “the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in every difficulty which he had told him” and would certainly pass this test as well.

     As noted, this revised version of the biblical story contains a lesson for today (Assumption 2): Abraham was faithful to God, even when put to a very difficult test; you should be too, and you will be rewarded as Abraham was. It also illustrates Assumption 3, the idea that the Bible is not only internally consistent, but that it agrees with the interpreter’s own beliefs and practices—in this case, the belief that an all-knowing God would have no need to put Abraham to the test. (As a matter of fact, however, the idea of divine omniscience is never stated outright in the Hebrew Bible—apparently, this notion did not come into existence until later on.) Finally, it is thanks to Assumption 1, that the Bible speaks cryptically, that this interpretation was possible: When the Bible said “after these things,” although this looked at first glance like a common transitional phrase, what it really meant was “after these words,” and it thereby intended readers to think of the book of Job and the divine test with which that book begins.

     All this was well and good, but interpreters still had not completely resolved the matter of what God knew beforehand. They were still troubled by the way the test ended:

     The angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” and he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not put your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22:12)

     “Now I know” certainly seems to imply “I did not know before.” Why should God say such a thing if He was really omniscient? To this problem, too, the book of Jubilees had an answer:

     Then I [the angel who narrates the book of Jubilees] stood in front of him [Abraham] and in front of Mastema [Satan]. The Lord said: “Tell him not to let his hand go down on the child and not to do anything to him, because I know that he is one who fears the Lord.” So I called to him from heaven and said to him: Abraham, Abraham!” He was startled and said, “Yes?” I said to him, “Do not lay your hands on the child and do not do anything to him, because now I know that you are one who fears the Lord. You have not refused me your firstborn son.” (Jub. 18:9–11)

     This passage is basically a rewording of the biblical verse cited above, Gen. 22:12, but the author of Jubilees has done something that the biblical text did not: he has supplied the actual instructions that God gave His angel before the angel cried out to Abraham. God instructs the angel, “Tell him not to let his hand go down on the child and not to do anything to him, because I know that he is one who fears the Lord.”

     The author of Jubilees loved little subtleties. God’s instructions to the angel are identical to what the angel says in Genesis—except for one word. God does not say “now I know”; He simply says, “I know.” For the author of Jubilees, such a scenario explained everything. The angel may not have known how the test would turn out, but God certainly did. “I know that he is one who fears the Lord,” He tells the angel in Jubilees—in fact, I’ve known it along! Thus, the words that appear in Genesis, according to Jubilees, do not exactly represent God’s command, but the angel’s rewording of it. It is the angel who only now found out what God had known all along.

     As for Abraham’s hiding his intentions from Isaac—once again it all depends on how you read the text. Ancient interpreters noticed that the passage contains a slight repetition:

     Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac; then he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked together. But Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father?” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked together. (Gen. 22:6–8)

     Repetition is not necessarily a bad thing, but ancient interpreters generally felt (in keeping with Assumption 3) that the Bible would not repeat itself without purpose. Between the two occurrences of the clause “and the two of them walked together” is the brief exchange in which Abraham apparently hides his true intentions from Isaac. Here Abraham’s words were, at least potentially, ambiguous. Since biblical Hebrew was originally written without punctuation marks or even capital letters marking the beginnings of sentences, Abraham’s answer to Isaac could actually be read as two sentences: “God Himself will provide. The lamb for the burnt offering [is] my son.” (Note that Hebrew has no verb “to be” in the present tense; thus, this last sentence would be the same whether or not the word “is” is supplied in translation.) Read in this way, Abraham’s answer to Isaac was not an evasion but the brutal truth: “You’re the sacrifice, Isaac.” If, following that, the text adds, “And the two of them walked together,” this would not be a needless repetition at all: Abraham told his son that he was to be the sacrifice, and Isaac agreed; then the two of them “walked together” in the sense that they were now of one mind to carry out God’s fearsome command. Thus, in keeping with Assumptions 1 and 3, the apparent repetition was no repetition at all, and Abraham’s apparent evasion was actually an announcement to Isaac of the plain truth. The conduct of both Abraham and Isaac was now above reproach: Abraham did not seek to deceive his son, and Isaac, far from a mere victim, actively sought to do God’s will no less than his father did. Indeed, their conduct might thus serve as an example to be imitated by later readers (Assumption 2): even when God’s decrees seem to be difficult, the righteous must follow them—and sometimes they turn out merely to be a test.

     But did interpreters actually believe their interpretations? Didn’t they know they were distorting the text’s real meaning? This is always a difficult question. It seems likely that, at least at first, ancient interpreters were sometimes quite well aware that they were departing from the straightforward meaning of the text. But with time, that awareness began to dim. Biblical interpretation soon became an institution in ancient Israel; one generation’s interpretations were passed on to the next, and eventually they acquired the authority that time and tradition always grant. Midrash, as this body of interpretation came to be called, simply became what the text had always been intended to communicate. Along with the interpretations themselves, the interpreters’ very modus operandi acquired its own authority: this was how the Bible was to be interpreted, period. Moreover, since the midrashic method of searching the text carefully for hidden implications seemed to solve so many problems in the Bible that otherwise had no solution, this indicated that the interpreters were going about things correctly. As time went on, new interpretations were created on the model of older ones, until soon every chapter of the Bible came accompanied by a host of clever explanations that accounted for any perceived difficulty in its words.

Kugel, J. L. (2010). Early Jewish Biblical Interpretation.The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism

     By his wounds we are healed. --- Isaiah 53:5.

     There is only One who can heal a crushed spirit. (Twelve sermons for the troubled and tried: Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle If you would be healed of the bleeding wounds of your heart, flee to Christ. You did so once; do it again. Go to Christ now, though you may have gone to him a hundred times before.

     One thing, however, I would say to one who has a really crushed heart. Remember Christ’s sympathy with you. O you who are tossed with tempest and not comforted, your Lord’s vessel is in the storm with you. Yes, he is in the vessel with you. There is not a pang that rends the believer’s heart but he has felt it first. He drinks out of the cup with you. Is it very bitter? He had a cup full of it for every drop that you taste. This ought to comfort you. I know of no better remedy for the heart’s trouble in a Christian than to feel, My Master himself takes no better portion than that which he gives to me.

     Also let me recommend, as a choice remedy for a crushed spirit, an enlarged view of the love of God. I wish that some of you who have a crushed spirit would give God credit for being as kind as you are yourself. You would not permit your child to endure a needless pain if you could remove it; neither does God willingly bring affliction or grief to his children. He would not allow you to be cast down but would cheer and comfort you, if it was good for you. His delight is that you should be happy and joyful. Take the comfort that he has set before you in his Word; he has put it there on purpose for you. Dare to take it, and think well of God, and it will be well with your soul.

     If this does not cure the evil, remember the great brevity of all your afflictions, after all. What if you are a child of God who even has to go to bed in the dark? You will wake up in the eternal daylight. What if, for the time being, you are in grief? You have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, and you will come out of it. You are not the first child of God who has been depressed or troubled. Yes, among the noblest men and women who ever lived there has been much of this kind of thing. Do not, therefore, think that you are quite alone in your sorrow. Bow your head and bear it, if it cannot be removed, for only a little while, and every cloud will be swept away, and you, in the cloudless sunlight, will behold your God. Meanwhile, his strength is sufficient for you. The Lord grant his comforts to you, for his Son Jesus Christ’s sake!
--- C. H. Spurgeon

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     George Mueller, born into a German tax collector’s family, was often in trouble. He learned early to steal and gamble and drink. As a teenager he learned how to stay in expensive hotels, then sneak out without paying the bill. But at length he was caught and jailed. Prison did him little good, for upon release he continued his crime spree until, on a Saturday night in 1825, he met Jesus Christ.

     Mueller married and settled down in Bristol, England, growing daily in faith and developing a burden for the homeless children running wild and ragged through the streets. At a public meeting in Bristol on December 9, 1835, he presented a plan for an orphanage. Several contributions came in. Mueller rented Number 6 Wilson Street, and on April 11, 1836 the doors of the orphanage opened. Twenty-six children were immediately taken in. A second house soon opened, then a third.

     From the beginning Mueller refused to ask for funds or even to speak of the ministry’s financial needs. He believed in praying earnestly and trusting the Lord to provide. And the Lord did provide, though sometimes at the last moment. The best-known story involves a morning when the plates and bowls and cups were set on the tables, but there was no food or milk. The children sat waiting for breakfast while Mueller led in prayer for their daily bread. A knock sounded at the door. It was the baker. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 A.M. and baked some fresh bread.” A second knock sounded. The milkman had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he wanted to give the children his milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.

     Such stories became the norm for Mueller’s work. During the course of his 93 years, Mueller housed more than 10,000 orphans, “prayed in” millions of dollars, traveled to scores of countries preaching the gospel, and recorded 50,000 answers to prayer.

  Don’t worship foreign gods
Or bow down to gods you know nothing about.
  I am the LORD your God.
I rescued you from Egypt.
  Just ask,
and I will give you whatever you need.
   --- Psalm 81:9,10.

     Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

WEDNESDAY IN EASTER WEEK
YEAR 2

Psalms (Morning) Psalm 97, 99
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 115
Old Testament Exodus 12:40–51
New Testament (1 Corinthians 15:29) 30–41
Gospel Matthew 28:1–16

Index of Readings

PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 97, 99

1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

1 The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4 Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.

8 O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.

PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”

3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.

9 O Israel, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.

12 The LORD has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD,
both small and great.

14 May the LORD give you increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

16 The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
17 The dead do not praise the LORD,
nor do any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the LORD
from this time on and forevermore.
Praise the LORD!

OLD TESTAMENT
Exodus 12:40–51

40 The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. 41 At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the companies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42 That was for the LORD a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the LORD by all the Israelites throughout their generations.

43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised; 45 no bound or hired servant may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the animal outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 The whole congregation of Israel shall celebrate it. 48 If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the passover to the LORD, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; 49 there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.

50 All the Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 That very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.

NEW TESTAMENT
(1 Corinthians 15:29) 30–41

[ 29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ]

30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals.”

34 Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.

GOSPEL
Matthew 28:1–16

28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

11 While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 telling them, “You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day. 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary