Genesis 1:1-5
Reading
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Latin. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics. These four strands are known as “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomistic) and “P” (Priestly).
Genesis is generally seen as having two major parts: (1) Chapters 1-11 (“The Primeval History”) and Chapters 12 to 50 (“The Ancestral History – with its focus on Abraham and his descendants.) The Ancestral History is subdivided into the story of Abraham (11:17 to 25:18), the Jacob Cycle (25:19 to 36:43) and the Story of Joseph (37:1 to 50:26).
Today’s reading described the first day of the seven-day “First Creation Story.” It is part of the “Priestly” tradition written in the period from 550 to 450 BCE. The name used for God in this account is “Elohim” (literally, “the gods”) and is different name from the name (YHWH or “LORD God”) used in the Second Creation Story (Gen. 2:4b – 24). The Second Creation Story is part of the “Yahwistic” tradition dated to about 970 to 930 BCE – the reigns of David and Solomon.
The First Creation Story emphasized order and categorizing by separation. Priestly writers portrayed order and precision as leading to “Shalom” (peace, good order). It is noteworthy that creation is not “out of nothing” (creation ex nihilo) but describes God’s decrees as “creating” by bringing order out of a “formless void” (v. 2) and a watery chaos (“the deep” and “the waters”). In verse 4 and other verses, God declares that the creation is good or very good.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that “creation” is accomplished through separating, ordering, and naming elements of the universe.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “God does not destroy darkness, one of the two chaotic forces mentioned in verse 2. He relegated it to the night time, where it too becomes part of the good world.”
The Jewish Study Bible points out that the biblical week in Genesis 1 (unlike the lunar month or the solar year) corresponds to no astronomical event. “The notion that the number 7 signified completeness and that things come to their fit conclusion on the 7th day did, however, have wide resonance in the ancient Near Eastern world in which Israel emerged and that understanding doubtless stands in the background of this passage.”
Overcoming the chaos of the ocean was an important theme in Middle Eastern Creation Myths such as the Babylonian Creation Myth (the “Enuma Elish”) which the Judeans would have encountered during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).
The JSB observes: “To the ancients, the opposite of the created order was something much worse than ‘nothing.’ It was an active malevolent force we can best term ‘chaos.’ … To say that a deity had subdued chaos is to give him the highest praise.”
Acts 19:1-7
Reading
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — 7 altogether there were about twelve of them.
Commentary
The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with an account of the Ascension of Jesus and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws to become Jesus Followers.
From Chapter 15 to Chapter 28, Paul’s missionary activities were recounted, ending with his house arrest in Rome.
Today’s reading is set in Ephesus and is part of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, one that began in Antioch in Syria and ended in Jerusalem. Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey and was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. According to Acts 19:10, Paul spent two years in Ephesus converting both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) and performing miracles (v.11).
One of the major themes of both the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is the importance of the Holy Spirit – often portrayed as the driving force for all that happens. Today’s reading is an example of the prominence the author of Luke/Acts gave to the Holy Spirit and the power of “laying on of hands” as a means for conveying the Holy Spirit.
The NOAB points out that elsewhere in Acts, the word “disciples” (v.1) means Christians and that persons at all familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures would have been aware of the Holy Spirit (v.2) because of references in Psalm 51:11b (“do not take your holy spirit from me”) and Isaiah 63:10 (“but they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit.”) The NJBC says that the idea that these disciples never heard of the Holy Spirit is “inconceivable.”
The NJBC explains the context of today’s readings by looking at the concluding verses of Chapter 18. These verses described a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, who was eloquent, well-versed in the scriptures, but who knew only the Baptism of John (18:24-25). (Apollos was described as a rival of Paul’s in 1 Cor. 3:4-11.) In Acts, two of Paul’s disciples “took him [Apollos] aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately” (18:26). Acts also reported that Apollos was in Corinth when Paul was in Ephesus (v.1) – giving Paul the opportunity to preach without disputing with Apollos.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that the “Baptism of John” is likely presented here as a “rival messianic sect.” Similarly, The NJBC sees the Baptism of John as an “immature Christianity” because it was not grounded in the Holy Spirit that had been (according to Acts) poured out on the apostles on Pentecost.
This differentiation of the Baptism of John and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading likely means that in the time of Paul’s ministry (late 40’s to early 60’s) or in Luke’s time (late 80’s), or both, there remained followers of John the Baptist who had not yet become believers in Jesus the Christ and were seen as a rival messianic sect. The author of Acts considered it important to portray the Baptism of John as incomplete.
Mark 1:4-11
Reading
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and formed the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 CE. Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” – with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The NOAB observes that the noun “evangelion” was not used for a literary genre until the mid-2nd century CE, and that Jesus’ preaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God “as a decisive new development in the history of Israel, not as the beginning of a new religion.”
The JANT observes: “Although Mark presents an earthly Jesus and not the heavenly mediator emphasized in Paul’s letters (e.g., Phil. 2.6-11), Mark and Paul share several important themes: the centrality of the followers’ faith, the emphasis on Jesus’ death rather than his resurrection, and reservations about Peter’s role.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many details of the Passion Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not have a Birth Narrative for Jesus of Nazareth, and today’s Gospel reading is the first substantive story in this Gospel.
In today’s reading, John the Baptist was presented as a new Elijah in his garb and eating (v.6). This would have been seen as a fulfillment of Malachi 3:5 (“Lo, I [YHWH] will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.”)
The NOAB sees the Baptism of John as a “ritual of entrance into God’s renewed covenant with Israel in which those ready to change their ways are baptized as forgiven for having broken the covenantal laws.” The JANT observes that John’s was a movement similar to that of Jesus in preaching repentance and forgiveness, and that John’s Baptism was a parallel to the Jewish practice of bathing to cleanse ritual “impurities” which John the Baptist transformed into “a public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.”
Like most scripture writers, the author of Mark often used hyperbole to emphasize his points. For example, he spoke of “people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” going to the River Jordan (v.5).
In verse 11, the Sonship of Jesus of Nazareth was affirmed by the voice from heaven, though it is not clear from the text whether only Jesus heard the voice or if others heard it also.
The JANT sees the words of verse 11 as influenced by Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1-2, and understands verse 11 as follows: “Psalm [2.7] depicts a royal adoption: when anointed, the Davidic king becomes a son of God. Jesus is never called ‘Son of God’ by the disciples, but he receives this title from God, from unclean spirits (5.7), from Jewish authorities (14.61 in a question) and from a Roman soldier (15.39). In some Christian circles the title Son of God included an attributes of pre-existence (Jn 1.1-14) and equality with God (Jn 5.18). In Mark, ‘Son of God’ was more likely understood as the raising of a human being to a special status with God; counterparts include both the Davidic king and the Roman emperor (Livy, Hist.1.16).”
In the progression of the four Gospels from Mark to Matthew to Luke and to John, the Sonship of Jesus was presented as occurring progressively earlier. In Matthew and Luke, the Sonship was affirmed at his conception. In John, the identity of Jesus with the Word (Logos) was stated to have existed from the beginning (Jn.1:1).
Genesis 1:1-5
Reading
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (five books) in Latin. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1,650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics. These four strands are known as “J” (Yahwistic), “E” (Elohistic), “D” (Deuteronomistic) and “P” (Priestly).
Genesis is generally seen as having two major parts: (1) Chapters 1-11 (“The Primeval History”) and Chapters 12 to 50 (“The Ancestral History – with its focus on Abraham and his descendants.) The Ancestral History is subdivided into the story of Abraham (11:17 to 25:18), the Jacob Cycle (25:19 to 36:43) and the Story of Joseph (37:1 to 50:26).
Today’s reading described the first day of the seven-day “First Creation Story.” It is part of the “Priestly” tradition written in the period from 550 to 450 BCE. The name used for God in this account is “Elohim” (literally, “the gods”) and is different name from the name (YHWH or “LORD God”) used in the Second Creation Story (Gen. 2:4b – 24). The Second Creation Story is part of the “Yahwistic” tradition dated to about 970 to 930 BCE – the reigns of David and Solomon.
The First Creation Story emphasized order and categorizing by separation. Priestly writers portrayed order and precision as leading to “Shalom” (peace, good order). It is noteworthy that creation is not “out of nothing” (creation ex nihilo) but describes God’s decrees as “creating” by bringing order out of a “formless void” (v. 2) and a watery chaos (“the deep” and “the waters”). In verse 4 and other verses, God declares that the creation is good or very good.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that “creation” is accomplished through separating, ordering, and naming elements of the universe.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “God does not destroy darkness, one of the two chaotic forces mentioned in verse 2. He relegated it to the night time, where it too becomes part of the good world.”
The Jewish Study Bible points out that the biblical week in Genesis 1 (unlike the lunar month or the solar year) corresponds to no astronomical event. “The notion that the number 7 signified completeness and that things come to their fit conclusion on the 7th day did, however, have wide resonance in the ancient Near Eastern world in which Israel emerged and that understanding doubtless stands in the background of this passage.”
Overcoming the chaos of the ocean was an important theme in Middle Eastern Creation Myths such as the Babylonian Creation Myth (the “Enuma Elish”) which the Judeans would have encountered during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).
The JSB observes: “To the ancients, the opposite of the created order was something much worse than ‘nothing.’ It was an active malevolent force we can best term ‘chaos.’ … To say that a deity had subdued chaos is to give him the highest praise.”
Acts 19:1-7
Reading
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — 7 altogether there were about twelve of them.
Commentary
The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with an account of the Ascension of Jesus and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws to become Jesus Followers.
From Chapter 15 to Chapter 28, Paul’s missionary activities were recounted, ending with his house arrest in Rome.
Today’s reading is set in Ephesus and is part of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, one that began in Antioch in Syria and ended in Jerusalem. Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey and was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. According to Acts 19:10, Paul spent two years in Ephesus converting both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) and performing miracles (v.11).
One of the major themes of both the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is the importance of the Holy Spirit – often portrayed as the driving force for all that happens. Today’s reading is an example of the prominence the author of Luke/Acts gave to the Holy Spirit and the power of “laying on of hands” as a means for conveying the Holy Spirit.
The NOAB points out that elsewhere in Acts, the word “disciples” (v.1) means Christians and that persons at all familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures would have been aware of the Holy Spirit (v.2) because of references in Psalm 51:11b (“do not take your holy spirit from me”) and Isaiah 63:10 (“but they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit.”) The NJBC says that the idea that these disciples never heard of the Holy Spirit is “inconceivable.”
The NJBC explains the context of today’s readings by looking at the concluding verses of Chapter 18. These verses described a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, who was eloquent, well-versed in the scriptures, but who knew only the Baptism of John (18:24-25). (Apollos was described as a rival of Paul’s in 1 Cor. 3:4-11.) In Acts, two of Paul’s disciples “took him [Apollos] aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately” (18:26). Acts also reported that Apollos was in Corinth when Paul was in Ephesus (v.1) – giving Paul the opportunity to preach without disputing with Apollos.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that the “Baptism of John” is likely presented here as a “rival messianic sect.” Similarly, The NJBC sees the Baptism of John as an “immature Christianity” because it was not grounded in the Holy Spirit that had been (according to Acts) poured out on the apostles on Pentecost.
This differentiation of the Baptism of John and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading likely means that in the time of Paul’s ministry (late 40’s to early 60’s) or in Luke’s time (late 80’s), or both, there remained followers of John the Baptist who had not yet become believers in Jesus the Christ and were seen as a rival messianic sect. The author of Acts considered it important to portray the Baptism of John as incomplete.
Mark 1:4-11
Reading
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Mark was the first Gospel that was written and is generally dated to the time around the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest gospel and formed the core for the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke (both of which were written around 85-90 CE. Over 50% of the material in those two Gospels is based on Mark. Because these three Gospels follow similar chronologies of Jesus’ life and death, they are called “Synoptic Gospels” for the Greek words meaning “Same Look/View.”
Like all the other gospels, it is anonymous (the names of the gospels were given in the late 2d Century CE). The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes it as a story of Jesus of Nazareth’s “multiple conflicts” – with the high priestly rulers and their Roman overlords and with his disciples (who consistently failed to understand him and deserted him at the end).
The Gospel was written in “everyday” (koine) Greek, and its style was not as elegant as Luke’s. The gospel introduced a new literary genre, the evangelion (or “good news”), which was distinguished from a “history.” The NAOB points out that the “good news” always referred either to the act of preaching or its content. Outside the Christian Scriptures, the term was used for various happy announcements such as a military victory, the birth of a son or a wedding. The Jewish Annotated New Testament suggests that the word was intended to suggest the good news of God’s deliverance.
The NOAB observes that the noun “evangelion” was not used for a literary genre until the mid-2nd century CE, and that Jesus’ preaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God “as a decisive new development in the history of Israel, not as the beginning of a new religion.”
The JANT observes: “Although Mark presents an earthly Jesus and not the heavenly mediator emphasized in Paul’s letters (e.g., Phil. 2.6-11), Mark and Paul share several important themes: the centrality of the followers’ faith, the emphasis on Jesus’ death rather than his resurrection, and reservations about Peter’s role.”
In some respects, Mark has a “lower Christology” than the other gospels in that it placed more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity. Each of the gospels has its own “special theme” – and Mark’s presentation of Jesus used the motifs and imagery of the “Suffering Servant” found in Isaiah 52 and 53. It also substantially based many details of the Passion Crucifixion on Psalm 22.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not have a Birth Narrative for Jesus of Nazareth, and today’s Gospel reading is the first substantive story in this Gospel.
In today’s reading, John the Baptist was presented as a new Elijah in his garb and eating (v.6). This would have been seen as a fulfillment of Malachi 3:5 (“Lo, I [YHWH] will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.”)
The NOAB sees the Baptism of John as a “ritual of entrance into God’s renewed covenant with Israel in which those ready to change their ways are baptized as forgiven for having broken the covenantal laws.” The JANT observes that John’s was a movement similar to that of Jesus in preaching repentance and forgiveness, and that John’s Baptism was a parallel to the Jewish practice of bathing to cleanse ritual “impurities” which John the Baptist transformed into “a public testimony of repentance and preparation for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.”
Like most scripture writers, the author of Mark often used hyperbole to emphasize his points. For example, he spoke of “people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” going to the River Jordan (v.5).
In verse 11, the Sonship of Jesus of Nazareth was affirmed by the voice from heaven, though it is not clear from the text whether only Jesus heard the voice or if others heard it also.
The JANT sees the words of verse 11 as influenced by Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1-2, and understands verse 11 as follows: “Psalm [2.7] depicts a royal adoption: when anointed, the Davidic king becomes a son of God. Jesus is never called ‘Son of God’ by the disciples, but he receives this title from God, from unclean spirits (5.7), from Jewish authorities (14.61 in a question) and from a Roman soldier (15.39). In some Christian circles the title Son of God included an attributes of pre-existence (Jn 1.1-14) and equality with God (Jn 5.18). In Mark, ‘Son of God’ was more likely understood as the raising of a human being to a special status with God; counterparts include both the Davidic king and the Roman emperor (Livy, Hist.1.16).”
In the progression of the four Gospels from Mark to Matthew to Luke and to John, the Sonship of Jesus was presented as occurring progressively earlier. In Matthew and Luke, the Sonship was affirmed at his conception. In John, the identity of Jesus with the Word (Logos) was stated to have existed from the beginning (Jn.1:1).