Saturday, March 31, 2007

Sour and Salty

Jim:
Jeremiah 31:27-34
I've had some fun this morning tracking down the use of the proverb in verse 29: "In those days they shall no longer say: 'The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'" Ezekiel uses the same proverb in Ezekiel 18, and refutes it just as Jeremiah does. According to the Oxford Annotated Study Bible that I use this may have been the mindset of those who were carried into exile. They could not accept their own guilt, so they blamed the sins of their ancestors, based on their interpretation of Exodus 20:5 which says that God punishes one's sins to the third and fourth generation. Jeremiah's point (and Ezekiel's as well) is that the community as a whole and each individual in it is responsible for its own iniquity and will be judged accordingly, and that the days are coming when the community will recognize this reality. But, adds Jeremiah, the day is also coming when the people will be so attentive to God's presence that they will no longer even have to teach about God, for all of them will know God. Then God will forgive their iniquity "and remember their sin no more." (v. 34)

Romans 11:25-36
My habit is to underline the verse or two in each reading that I find particularly meaningful. In Romans I underlined verse 33 which says, "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" Paul, sounding a bit like the Psalmist, is talking about how God has hardened Israel until such a time as all the Gentiles who are to be saved (and I believe that could be all of them—it’s up to God) have "come in" (v. 25), at which time all of Israel will be saved. (v. 26) Paul, then, marvels at the work of God and how impossible it is for us to understand everything that God is doing.

John 11:28-44
Verse 35 answers the trivia question, "what is the shortest verse in the Bible?" In the Revised Standard Version (and elsewhere) it is translated, "Jesus wept." The New Revised Standard Version, however, has adjusted the tense and rendered it as a relatively wordy, "Jesus began to weep," twice as long as the RSV! But for me this little verse offers profound insight into the nature of Jesus. Jesus was capable of great emotion, even though he trusted God completely and did the will of God obediently. This is because he was as fully human as he was fully God. Several years ago I wrote a poem based on this verse.

Jesus wept
tears for a friend
God's love and compassion
mixed with humanity
tasting of salt

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