Homily
for the 15th Sunday in
Ordinary Time(Cycle C)
Based
on Lk 10:25-37 (Gospel), Dt 30:10-14(First Reading) and Col 1:15-29(Second
Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
MY SAMARITAN NEIGHBOR
“And who is my
neighbor?” (Lk 10:29b)
‘
The Gospel reading for this 15th
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is fromLk 10:25-37:
Verse 25 says: There was a lawyer who,to disconcert
him, stood up and said to him, ‘Master,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mt
22:34-40 - But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees,
they got together (v. 34) and,to disconcert him, one of them put a
question (v. 35), “Master, which is the
greatest commandment of the Law?” V. 36) Jesus said, “You must love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind
(v.37). This is the greatest and the first commandment (v.38). The second
resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself (v. 39) On these two
commandments hang the whole law and the
prophets also (v. 40).
2.
Mk
12:28-31 - One of the scribes who had listened to them debating and observed
how well Jesus had answered them, now came up and put this question to him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?” (v. 28). Jesus replied, “The
first is this: ‘Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord! (v. 29).
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (v. 30). The second is this:
You must love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than
these (v. 31)’.
3.
2 Ch
28:15 - Men expressly nominated for the
purpose saw to the relief of the prisoners. From the booty they clothed all
those of them who were naked; they gave them clothing and sandals and provided
them with food, drink and shelter. They mounted all those who were infirm on
donkeys and took them back to their kinsmen at Jericho, the city of palm trees.
Then they returned to Samaria.dFootnote d says “The Samaritan character rises above their
worship and sacrifice. Note the broadmindedness of the Chronicler: the passage
anticipates the parable of the Good Samaritan.”
4.
Pr 3:27
- Do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is in your power to
perform it.
5.
Mt 19:16
- And there was a man who came to him
and asked, ‘Master,d what good deed must I do to possess eternal
life?Footnote d says “Var. ‘Good master’, cf. Mk and Lk.”
Verse 26 says: He said to him,
‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’
Parallel text is Dt 6:5 that
says:You shall love Yahweh your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strengthcFootnote c
says“This love, echo God’s love
for his people, 4:37; 7:8; 10:15, embraces the fear of God, the duty of service
and the observance of precepts, 6:13; 10:12-13; 11:1; cf. 30:2. Outside Dt
there is no explicit command to love God but its equivalent is found in 2 K
23:25 and Ho 6:6. Though the command does not spear, the Psalms and the
prophetic books, especially Hosea and Jeremiah, are full of the love if God.
Jesus, quoting Dt 6:5, lays down as the greatest commandment of all, Mt 22:37p;
with it goes fear, the fear of a son, not of a salve, 1 Jn 4:18.
Verse 27 says: He replied, ‘You
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’
Parallel texts are:
1.
Lv 19:18
- You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children
of your own people. You must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
2.
Lv 18:5
- I am Yahweh your God, you must keep my laws and my customs. Whoever complies
with them will find lid life in them. I am Yahweh.
Verse 28 says: You have
answered right’ said Jesus, ‘do this and life is yours.’
Parallel
text is Pr 19:16 that says:He who keeps the commandment is keeper of
himself, but he who despises the wordb shall die.Footnote b says‘the word’ corr., cf 13:13; ‘his ways’ Hebr.”
Verse 29
says: But the man was anxious to justify
himselfg and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?Footnote g
says “For having out the question.”
Parallel
text is Jn 4:9 that says:The Samaritan
woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a
drink?’ Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritanse.
Footnote e says“Some authorities omit this parenthesis. The
Jews hated the Samaritans, Si 50:25-26; Jn 8:48; Lk 9:52-55, cf. Mt 10:5, Lk
10:33; 17:16, and attributed their origin to the importation of five pagan
groups, 2 K 17:24-41, who retained some of their loyalty to their old gods,
these are symbolized by the ‘five husbands of v. 18.”
Verses 30,
31, 32 and 33 say: Jesus replied, ‘A man
was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of
brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half
dead.Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw
the man, he passed by on the other side.In the same way a Levite who came to
the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.But a Samaritanh
traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him.Footnote
h says“An alien and a heretic, Jn 8:48; cfLk 9:53+, from whom one might expect
hostility, as opposed to those of Israel who should have been most sensitive to
the demands of charity.”
Parallel text for verse 33 isJn
17:16 that says:They do not belong to the world, anymore than I belong to the
world.
Verse 34,
35, 36 and 37 say: He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on
them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked
after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper.
‘Look after him’, he said ‘and on my way back I will make good any extra
expense you have.’Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbor
to the man who fell into the brigands’ hands?The one who took pity of him’ he
replied, Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself’.
Parallel
text for verse 34 is Is 1:6 that says:From
the sole of the foot to the head, there is not a sound spot,d
wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, nor bandaged, not soothed with oil.Footnote
d says“In their literal sense these verses speak of a Judah punished for its
sins. The Liturgy of the Church applies them to the suffering Messiah.”
The First Reading is fromDt 30:10-14.
Verses 10 and 11 say: If only you obey the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping his commandments
and laws of his that are written in the book of this Law, and if you return to
Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.For this Law that I enjoin on you
today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach.aFootnote
a says“A recurring lesson in
the Wisdom literature is that wisdom, a fount of joy, is inaccessible; cf. Jb
28 (but contrast Pr. 8:1f). Nevertheless God reveals it through the Law, Si.
24:23-34; Ps 119.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Jb
28:23-28 - God alone had traced its
path; and found out where it lives (v.23). For he sees to the ends of the
earth, and observes all that lies under the heavens (v.24). When he willed to
give weight to the wind, and measured out the waters with a gauge (v. 25); When
he made a laws and rules for the rain and mapped a route for thunder claps to
follow (v. 26). Then he had it in sight, and cast it worth, assessed it,
fathomed itj (v. 27).And he said to man, ‘Wisdom? It is fear of the
Lord. Understanding? – avoidance of evil (v. 28).Footnote j says“‘reckoned its worth’ corr. ‘assessed’ five
Hebr.”
2. Si
51:26 - I have stretched out my hands to heaven and bewailed my ignorance of
her;
Verses12 and
13 say: It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will go up to
heaven for us and bring it down to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’Nor
is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will cross the seas for
us and bring it bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’
Parallel texts for verse 12 are:
1.
Is 45:19 - I
have not spoken in secret in some corner of a darkened land. I have not said to
Jacob’s descendants ‘Seek me in chaos’n I Yahweh speak with
directness I express myself with clarity.Footnote n says “The
universe as it was before God imposed order in it, Gn 1:2.”
2. Rm
10:6-8 - But the righteousness that
comes from faith says this:cDo not tell yourself you have to bring
Christ down – as in the text: Who will go
up to heaven? (v. 6), or that to you have to bring Christ back from the
dead – as in the text: Who will go down to the underworld?d (v. 7)
On the positive side, it says: The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very
near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart (v. 8).Footnote c says“The argument is odd at first reading because
the passage of Dt is certainly a eulogy to righteousness of the law. But Paul
sees in this text, which sums up the whole Law in the precept of love and the
‘circumcision of the heart’, Dt 30:6,16,20, a presentiment of the new Law. The
‘word of faith’ uttered and made effective by the Spirit of Christ, 8:2,14, is
deeper in the heart and sweeter in the mouth that the ‘word of the Law’ could
be; and Footnote d says“Lit
‘the depths’ – of the sea – Dt 30:13, of Sheol in Paul’s applied sense. IN
connection with this text, the Targum had already spoken of the descent of
Moses from Sinai and the ascent of Jonah from the depths of the sea.”
Verse 14
says: No, the Wordb is
very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart foryourobservance.Footnote b says“The
theology of the Word of God has its roots in this personification; it ripens in
the wisdom books, cf. Pr 8:22+ and Ws 7:22+, and comes to maturity in the
prologue of the fourth gospel, cf. Jm 1:1+. St Paul applies this text to ‘the
word of faith’, Rm 10:6-8.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Dt
6:7 - You shall repeat them to your children and say them whether at rest in
your house, or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising.
2. Jn
1:14 - The word was made flesh, m
he lived among us, n and we saw his glory,o the glory
that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.Footnote m says“The ‘flesh’ is man considered as a frail and
mortal being, cf. 3:6, 17:2, Gn 6:3, Ps. 56:4, Is 40:6,see Rm 7:5+.; Footnote n says“Lit. ‘pitched his tent among us’. The
incarnation of the Word makes God personally and visibly present to mankind; it
is no longer a presence unseen and awe-inspiring as in the Tent and Temple of
the old regime, Ex. 25:8+; Cf. Nb. 35:34, nor merely the presence of divine
wisdom enshrined in Israel’s Mosaic Law, Si. 4:7-22; Ba. 3:36-4:4.; and Footnote o says“The ‘glory’ is the manifestation of God’s
presence, Ex. 24:16+. No one could see its brilliance and live, Ex 33:20+, but
the human nature of the word now screens
this glory as the cloud once did. Yet at times
it pierces the veil, as the transfiguration, for instances, cf. Lk.
9:32, 35 (alluded to in Jn 1:14?) and when Jesus works miracles –‘signs’ that
God is active in him, 2:11+, 11:40;cf. Ex. 14:24-27 and 15:7, 16:7f. The resurrection will reveal the glory fully,
cf. Jn 17:5+.”
3. Dt
29:3 - But until today Yahweh has not
given you no heart to understand, no eye to see, no ears to heara.
Footnotea says “The
keynote of the third discourse: God must prepare the ‘heart’ before man can
understand his ways.”
The Second Reading is from Col 1:15-29.
Verse 15 says: Christ is the head of
all creatione He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn
of all creation.
Footnote e says “In
this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of
everything that exists:1. He is the head
of creation, of all that exists naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new
creation and all that exists supernaturally through having been saved, vv.
18-20. The subject of the poem is the pre-existent Christ, but considered only
in so far as he is manifest in the unique historic person that is the Son of
God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image
of God’, i.e. his human nature was the visible manifestation of God who is
invisible, cf.Rm 8:29+, and it is as such, in this concrete human nature, and
as part of creation, that Jesus is called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in
the temporal sense of having been born first, but in the sense of having been
given the first place of honor.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Col 1:15,18+,24 - Christ is the head of all creatione He is the image of the
unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15). Now the church is his
body, he is the head, f As he is the Beginning, he was first to be
born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way (v.18). It makes me happy
to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can
to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his
body, the Church m (v. 24).
Footnote e says “In
this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of
everything that exists:1. He is the head of creation, of all that exists
naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new creation and all that exists
supernaturally through having been saved, vv. 18-20. The subject of the poem is
the pre-existent Christ, but considered only in so far as he is manifest in the
unique historic person that is the Son of God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as
the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image of God’, i.e. his human nature was
the visible manifestation of God who is invisible, cf. Rm 8:29+, and it is as
such, in this concrete human nature, and as part of creation, that Jesus is
called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in the temporal sense of having been
born first, but in the sense of having been given the first place of honor.“;
Footnote f says “On
the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his
own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from
the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the
saved)”; Footnote m says “Lit.
‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in
order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must
share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings
increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but
that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had
undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the
sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+,
and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to
develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the
pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.”
2.
Gn 1:1-2 - In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1). Now the earth was a
formless void, b there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit
hoveredc the water. Footnote
b says “In
Hebrew tohu and bohu, ‘trackless waste and emptiness; these, like the ‘darkness
over the deep’ and the ‘waters’, are images that attempt to express in virtue
of those negative quality the idea of creation from nothing’ which reaches
precise formulation for the first time in 2 M 7:28.”; Footnote c
says “Like a bird hanging in the air over its young in the nest, Dt 32:11.”
3.
Ps 89:27…and I
shall make him my first born, the Most Highi for kings on earth.
Footnote i says “A
divine title here applied to God’s anointed king.”
4.
Ws 7:26 - She is the
reflection of the eternal lightk untarnished mirror of God’s active
power, image of his goodness. Footnote
k says “In the OT God is never called ‘light’ cf. 1
Jn 1:5; Jm 1:17, but light accompanied him, Ex. 24:17, cf. Ex 24:16+; Ezk 1:27,
Hab 3:4; Ps 50:3; 104:1-2; Is 60:19-20. See Jn 8:12+.”
5.
Zc 12:10 - But
over the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour a spirit of kindness and prayer. They will look on the
one whom they have pierced;e they will mourn for him as for an only
son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. Footnote e says ‘the one’ Theodotion, Jn. 19:37; ‘me’ Hebr.
The death of the Pierced One occurs
in an eschatological context (cf. Rv. 1:7), ch. The raising of the siege of
Jerusalem, the national mourning, vv. 10-14, the opening of the fountain of
salvation, 13:1. The messianic age thus depends on a passion and a mysterious
death comparable to the sufferings of the servant in Is. 52:13-53:12. Jn. 19:37
sees is this passage the figure of the passion of Christ, the ‘only son’ and
the ‘first-born’, cf. Jh. 1:18,; Col.
1:15, whose pierced body will be ‘looked on’ with the saving eye of faith, cf.
Jn 3:14+; Nb. 21:8-9. And whose opened side is a fountain of salvation, Jn.
19:34; 7:38.
6.
Jn 1:3,18 - Through
him all things came to be, not one thing has its being but through him (v. 3).
No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son,r who is nearest to the
Father’s heart, who has made him known. Footnote
r says “Var. ‘God, only begotten’.”
7.
Rm 8:29 - They
are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of
his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers. Footnote q says “Christ,
the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now
come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the splendor of that image which has been
darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a
still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment
is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he
had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God
possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2
Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1
Co 15:49.”
8.
Heb 1:3,6 - He
is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature,c sustaining
the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the
defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of
divine Majesty(v. 3) Again, when he brings the First-born into the worldd,
he says: Let all the angels of God worship him. Footnote
c says “These two metaphors are borrowed from the
Sophia and logos theologies of Alexandria, Ws 7:25-26; they express both the
identity of nature between Father and Son, and the distinction of person. The
Son is the brightness, the light shining from its source, which is the bright
glory, cf. Ex. 24:16+, of the Father (‘Light from Light’). He is also the
replica, cf. Col 1:15+, of the Father’s substance, like an exact impression
made by a seal on clay or wax, cf. Jn 14:9”; Footnote d says “Either
at the Parousia or more probably, at the incarnation.”
Verse 16 says: for him
were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything
invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers - all things were
created through him and for him.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ep 1:10,21 - To act upon when the times had run
their course to the end;j that he would bring everything together
under Christ as head, everything in the heaven and everything on earthk(v.
10)… far
above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power or Dominion,t or any other
name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come (v.
21). Footnote j says “Lit.
‘for a dispensation of the times’ fullness’, cf. Ga 4:4f.”; Footnote k says “The main theme of this letter is how the
whole body of creation, having been cut off from the Creator by sin, is
decomposing, and how its rebirth is effected by Christ reuniting its parts into
an organism with himself as the head, so as to reattach it to God. The human
(Jew and pagan) and the angelic worlds are brought together again through the
fact that they were saved by a single act, cf. 4:10f.”; Footnote t
says “Names traditional in Jewish
literature for angelic hierarchies.”
2.
Rm 11:36 - All that exists comes from him; all
is by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen.
3. 1
Co 8:6 - Still for us there is one God, the Father, from all things come and
for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, though whom all things
come through whom we exist.
Verses 17
and 18 say: Before anything was created,
he existed, and he holds all things in unity. Now the church is his body, he is
the head, f As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the
dead, so that he should be first in every way. Footnote f says “On
the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his
own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from
the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the
saved).”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Col 1:15,24 - He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation
(v. 15). It
makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to
do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the
sake of his body, the Church m (v. 24). Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the
sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of
God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not
saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption
(since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as
a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co.
1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt.
24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always
intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has
chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience
those sufferings.”
2. Ep
1:22-23 - He has put all things under
his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church,
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation (v. 22),
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creationu.
Footnote u says “Lit. ‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the
body of Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra
3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes the whole new creation that shares (since
it forms the setting of the human race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its
ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f. The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to
suggest something of limitless size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11.”
3. Ep
5:23f - sincee as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole
body, so is a husband the head of his wife. Footnote e says “By
drawing a parallel between human marriage and the marriage of Christ to the
Church, vv. 23-32, Paul makes these two concept illumine each other. Christ is
the husband of the Church because he is her head and because he loves the
Church as much as a man loves his own body when he loves his wife. Having
established this, the comparison naturally suggests an ideal for human
marriage. The symbol of Israel as the wife of Yahweh is common in the OT, Ho
1:2+.”
4. 1
Co 15:20 - But Christ has in fact been raised from
the dead, the first of all who had fallen asleep.
5. Rv
1:5 - and from Jesus Christ, the
faithful witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the
earth.i He loves us and washed awayj our sins with his
blood…, Footnote i says “The
Messiah is the ‘witness’ to the promise that was made to David, 2 S 7:1+; Ps
89, Is 55:3-4; Zc 12:8, both in his person and in his work; as he fulfills this
promise he is the efficacious word, God’s yes, Rv 3:14; 19:11,13; 2 Co 1:20.
Not only is he heir to David, Rb 5:5, 22:16, but his resurrection he is the
‘First -born’, Col 1:18, who will reign over the universe when his enemies have
been destroyed, Dn 7:14; Rv 19:16”; and Footnote j says “Var. ‘released us from’”.
6. Rm 8:29 - They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become
true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many
brothers. Footnote q says
“Christ, the image of God in the
primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation,
2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the
splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm
5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of
God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col
3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+.
This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is
progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is
itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49.
Verse 19
says: Because God wanted all perfection to be found
in himg. Footnote
g says “Lit. ‘because (God) wanted the pleroma to
dwell in him”. The exact meaning of the word ‘pleroma’ (i.e. the thing that
fills up a gap or hole, like a patch, cf. Mt. 9:16) is not certain here. Some
writers have thought it must mean the same as in 2:9 (the fullness of divinity
that filled Jesus) but since vv. 15-18 have already dealt with the divinity of
Jesus, it seems likely that the reference here is to the biblical concept of
the entire cosmos as filled with the creative presence of God, cf. Is. 6:3, Jr.
23:24, Ps. 24:1, 50:12, 72:19, Ws. 1:7, Sir. 43:27, etc. The concept was also
widespread in the Graeco-Roman world. Paul teaches that the incarnation and
resurrection make Christ head not only of the entire human race, but of the
entire created universe (cosmos), so that everything that was involved in the
fall is equally involved in salvation, cf. Rm. 8:19-23, 1 Co. 3:22f, 15:20-28,
Ep. 1:10, 4:10, Ph. 2:10f., 3:2f, Heb. 2:5-8, Cf. 2:9+.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Col 2:9 - In
his body lives the fullness of divinity,e and in him you too find
your own fulfillment… Footnote e says “The
word pleroma here, cf. 1:19+, is defined as the ‘divinity’ that is actually
‘filling’ Christ now in his body: in other words, the risen Christ, through his
incarnation and resurrection, unites the divine and the created. The former is
what he is by his pre-existence and his present glory; the latter is, as human,
what he has assumed directly, and, as cosmic, what he assumed indirectly
through being human. In this way he himself is the pleroma of all possible
categories of being.”
2. Ep
1:23 - which is his body, the fullness
of him who fills the whole creationu. Footnote
u says “Lit.
‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the body of Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be
called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra 3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes
the whole new creation that shares (since it forms the setting of the human
race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f.
The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to suggest something of limitless
size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11.”
Verse 20 says: and all things to be reconciled through him
and for him,h everything in heaven and everything on earth,i when
he made peace by his death on the cross… Footnote h
says “i.e. through and for Christ, cf.
the parallel ‘though him and for him’ of v. 16. Alternatively, it could read
“God wanted everything…to be reconciled to himself, though him who made peace…’
cf. Rm 5:10; 2 Co 5:18f.; Footnote i says “This
reconciliation of the whole universe (including angels as well as human beings)
means not that every single individual will be saved, but that all who are
saved will be saved by their collective return to the right order and peace of
perfect submission to God. Any individual who do not join this new creation
through grace will be forced to join it, cf. 2:15; 1 Co 15:24-25 (the heavenly
spirits) and 2 Th 1:8-9; 1 Co 6:9-10; Ga. 5:21; Rm 2:8; Ep 5:5 (men).”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Rm 11:6 - All that exists comes from him; all is
by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen.
2.
1 Co 8:6 - Still for us there is one God, the
Father, from all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord,
Jesus Christ, though whom all things come through whom we exist.
Verse
21 says: Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies,j
in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; Footnote j says “The
context suggests that there is a closer parallel with Ep 4:18f (foreigners to
God and therefore God’s enemies) than with Ep 2:12 (foreigners in Israel).”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ep 2:1 - And you were dead through the crimes
and the sins.
2.
Ep 4:18-19 - Intellectually they are in the
dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, without knowledge because
they have shut their hearts to it (v. 18). Their sense of right and wrong once
dulledl, they have abandoned themselves to sexuality and eagerly
pursue a career of indecency of every kindm(v. 19). Footnote l
says “Var. (Vulg) ‘Being devoid of hope’”;
and Footnote m says “Or
‘sexuality and every kind of indecency and greed.’”
3.
Col 2:13 - You
were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: hei
has brought youj to life with him, he has forgiven usk
all our sins. Footnote i
says “God the Father”; Footnote j says “‘you’;
var. ‘us’; and Footnote k
says “‘us’; var. ‘you’.”
4.
Ep 2:14-16 - For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and
broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart,l actually
destroying in his own person the hostility (v. 14). Caused by the rules and
decrees of the Law.m This was to create one single New Mann
in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace (v. 15). Through the
cross, to unite them both in single Bodyo and reconcile them with
God. I his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16). Footnote l
says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans
in the Temple, cf. Ac. 21:28f.”; Footnote m says “The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged
status and separated them from pagans. Jesus abolished this Law by fulfilling
it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+.”; Footnote n says “This
new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in
the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully
corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co.
15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the
truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one
group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f)”;
and Footnote o says “This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body
of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or
‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts
function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.”
Verse 22 says: but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body.k
Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless- Footnote k says “‘he’,
i.e. the Father. The human, natural body is that of his Son (lit. ‘flesh
body’); this provides the locus where the reconciliation takes place. Into the
body the entire human race is effectively gathered, cf. Ep 2:14-16, because
Christ has assumed its sin, 2 Co 5:21. The ‘flesh’ body is the body as affected
by sin, 2 Co 5:21; cf. Rm 8:3; 7:5+; Heb 4:15.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
1 Co 1:8 - And
he will keep you steady and without blamed until the last day, the
daye of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnote d says “Cf.
Ph 1:10; 2:15f; Ep 1:4; Col 1:22; 1 Th 3:13; 5:23; Jude 24.”; and Footnote e
says “This ‘day of the Lord’, 5:5; 2 Co
1:14; 1 Th 5:2; 2 Th 2:2”.
2.
Ep 5:27 - So
that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or
wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless.f Footnote f says “It
was customary in the middle east at the time this letter was written, for the
‘sons of the wedding’ to escort the bride to her husband after she had been
bathed and dressed. As applied mystically to the Church, Christ washes his
bride himself in the bath of baptism, and makes her immaculate (note the
mention of a baptismal formula) and introduces her to himself.”
Verse 23
says: As long as you persevere and stand
firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourselves drift away from
the hope promised by the Good News, which you have heard, which has been
preached to the whole human race, l and of which I, Paul have become
the servant. Footnote l says “Lit ‘to all creation under the sky’.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Col 1:5 …because of the hope which is stored up
for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was
announced in the message of truth. The Good News…
2.
Mk 16:15 - And he said to them, ‘Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation…
3.
Ac 2:5 - Now
there were devout mene living in Jerusalem from every nation under
heaven, Footnote e says “‘devout
men’ Sin. Western Text ‘ Now the Jews who were living in Jerusalem were men of
every nation under heaven’. The other texts have both ‘devout men’ and ‘Jews’”.
4.
2 Co 3:6 - He is the one who has given us the qualifications
to be the administrators of this new
covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written
letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.
5.
Ep 3:7,17 - I have been made
the servant of that gospel by a gift of grace from God who gave it to me by his own power (v. 7). so that Christ may live in your hearts through
faith, and then, planted in love and built on love(v. 17).
Verse 24
says: It
makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to
do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the
sake of his body, the Church. m. Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the
sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of
God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not
saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption
(since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as
a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co.
1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt.
24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always
intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has
chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience
those sufferings.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Col 2:1 - Yes, I want you to know that I do have
to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who
have never seen me face to face,
2.
Mt 5:11 - Happy are you when people abuse you
and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.
3.
Col 1:28 - This is the Christ we proclaim, this
is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to
make them all perfect in Christ.
4. 2
Co 1:5 - Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ,
does our consolation overflow.
Verse 25 says: I became
the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s
message to you…
Parallel texts are:
1.
Rm 15:16 - by
the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the
way along from Jerusalem to Illyricum,f I have preached Christ’s
Good News to the utmost of my capacity. Footnote f says “The
two extreme of Paul’s missionary journeys at the time of writing; whether he
had actually entered Illyricum is disputed.”
2.
2 Co 3:6 - He is the one who has given us the qualifications
to be the administrators of this new
covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written
letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.
Verse 26 says: the
message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now
been revealed to his saints.
Parallel
text is Rm 16:25 that says: Doxologyj
Glory to him who is able to give you the strengthk to live according
to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation
of a mysteryl kept secret for endless ages… Footnote j
says “Most authorities place this doxology here, but in some it appears at
the end of ch. 15 or 14; others omit. A solemn presentation, cf. Ef 3:20; Jude
24-25, of the main points of the letter; Footnote k says “Firmly
grounded in doctrine and strong in Christian practice. Cf. 1:11; 1 Th 3:2,13; 2
Th 2:17; 3:3; 1 Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21; Col 2:7”; and Footnote l
says “The idea of a ‘mystery’ of wisdom,
v. 27; 1 Co 2:7; Ep 3:10; Col 2:2-3, long hidden in God and now revealed, v.
25; 1 Co 2:7,10; Ep 3:5,9f; Col 1:26, is borrowed by Paul from Jewish
apocalypse, Dn 2:18-19+, but he enriches the content of the term by applying it
to the climax of the history of salvation: the saving cross of Christ, 1 Co
2:8; the call of the pagans, v. 26; Rm 11:25; Col 1:26-27; Ep 3:6, to this
salvation preached by Paul, v. 25; Col 1:23; 4:3; Ep 3:3-12; 6:19, and finally
the restoration of all things in Christ as their one head, Ep 1:9-10. See also
1 Co 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 5:32; 2 Th 2:7; 1 Tm 3:9,16; 2 Tm 1:9-10; Mt
13:11p+; Rv 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7.”
Verse 27
says: It was God’s purpose to
reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The
mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory:n Footnote n says “Previously,
when it had seemed (to the Jews) that pagans could never be saved, as salvation
was restricted to ‘Israel’, pagans had seemed to be without a Messiah and
consequently to be deprived of all hope, Ep. 2:12. The ‘mystery’ or secret of
God that had now been revealed was that the pagans too were, and had been, all
called to be saved through union with Christ, and so to reach eternal glory ,
cf. Ep. 2:13-22; 3:3-6.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Col
3:4 - But when Christ is revealed – and
he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. b
Footnote b says “Through
union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical
life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest
and glorious as it will be in the parousia.”
2. Ep
2:12…do not forget, I say, that you had
no Christg and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with
no part in the covenants with their Promise,h you were immersed in
the world, without hopei and without Godj Footnote
g says “I.e. ‘you had no Messiah.’; Footnote h says “The successive covenants madeby God with
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45;
Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4”; Footnote i says “The
pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f.”; and Footnote j
says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans
in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f.”
3. 1
Th 4:13 - We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died,g,
so make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have
no hope. Footnote g says “Lit
‘ we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the sleeping’. The
euphemism was command in the OT., in the NT, and in Greek literature: the
natural concomitant was to call the resurrection (to new life or from death) an
‘awakening’.”
Verse 28 says: this is the Christ we proclaim, this
is the wisdom I which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to
make them all perfect I Christ.
Parallel texts are:
1.
1 Co 2:6 - But still
we have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity;c not a
philosophy of our age, it is true, still less
of the masters of ourage,d which are coming to their end. Footnote c says “The
‘mature’ or ‘perfect’ (teleloi) are not an exclusive group of initiates but
those who have reached maturity in Christian life and thought. Cf 14:20; Ph
3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14.”; Footnote d says “Perhaps human rulers or government; more
probably, the evil powers or demons that control the world, cf 1 Co 15:24-25;
Ep 6:12. See also Lk 4:6 and Jn 12:31_; but the reference is perhaps to both, the latter using the
former as their tools.”
2. Ep
4:13 - In
this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the
Son of God, until we become the perfect Man,j fully mature with the
fullness of Christ himself. Footnote j says “This does not refer primarily to the
individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to
Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else
( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e.,
the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest
of the body, v. 16; 5:30.
Verse 29 says: It is for this I struggle wearily on,
helped only by his power driving me irresistibly.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ph 4:13 - There is nothing I cannot master with
the help of the One who gives me strength. Footnote d says “‘the One’, var. ‘Christ’.”
2. 2
Th 1:11 - Knowing
this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by
his power fulfill all yourf desires for goodness and complete all
that you have been doing through faith… Footnote
f says “Or ‘his’.”
Doctrine: Pr 3:27 – Do not refuse
to help anyone who asks for it if it is in your power to perform it.
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