·  4 Francis of Assisi, Friar, 1226

·  6 William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, Translators of the Bible, 1536, 1568 was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551-1553)

·  7 Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Lutheran Pastor in North America, 1787

·  8 William Dwight Porter Bliss, Priest, 1926, and Richard Theodore Ely, Economist, 1943 was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention in order to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor, and labor unions.

·  9 Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, Medical Missionary, 1940

·  10 Vida Dutton Scudder, Educator and Witness for Peace, 1954

·  11 Philip, Deacon and Evangelist

OLD TESTAMENT:  Job 1: 1, 2: 1 - 10   (RCL)

Job  1:1 (NRSV) There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

2:1 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason." 4 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." 6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life."

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die." 10 But he said to her, "You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Genesis 2: 18 - 24   (Roman Catholic, alt. for RCL)

Gene 2:18 (NRSV) Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." 19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

"This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called Woman,

for out of Man this one was taken."

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

PSALM 26   (RCL)

Psal 26:1 (NRSV) Vindicate me, O LORD,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me;

test my heart and mind.

3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

and I walk in faithfulness to you.

4 I do not sit with the worthless,

nor do I consort with hypocrites;

5 I hate the company of evildoers,

and will not sit with the wicked.

6 I wash my hands in innocence,

and go around your altar, O LORD,

7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,

and telling all your wondrous deeds.

8 O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell,

and the place where your glory abides.

9 Do not sweep me away with sinners,

nor my life with the bloodthirsty,

10 those in whose hands are evil devices,

and whose right hands are full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity;

redeem me, and be gracious to me.

12 My foot stands on level ground;

in the great congregation I will bless the LORD.

26   Judica me, Domine   (ECUSA BCP)

1          Give judgment for me, O Lord,

for I have lived with integrity; *

     I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.

2          Test me, O Lord, and try me; *

     examine my heart and my mind.

3          For your love is before my eyes; *

     I have walked faithfully with you.

4          I have not sat with the worthless, *

     nor do I consort with the deceitful.

5          I have hated the company of evildoers; *

     I will not sit down with the wicked.

6          I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, *

     that I may go in procession round your altar,

7          Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving *

     and recounting all your wonderful deeds.

8          Lord, I love the house in which you dwell *

     and the place where your glory abides.

9          Do not sweep me away with sinners, *

     nor my life with those who thirst for blood,

10         Whose hands are full of evil plots, *

     and their right hand full of bribes.

11         As for me, I will live with integrity; *

     redeem me, O Lord, and have pity on me.

12         My foot stands on level ground; *

     in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.

Psalm 8   (alt. for RCL)

Psal 8:1 (NRSV) O LORD, our Sovereign,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants

you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,

to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under their feet,

7 all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Sovereign,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

8   Domine, Dominus noster   (ECUSA BCP)

1  O Lord our Governor, *

 how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2  Out of the mouths of infants and children *

 your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3  You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *

 to quell the enemy and the avenger.

4  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *

 the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5  What is man that you should be mindful of him? *

 the son of man that you should seek him out?

6  You have made him but little lower than the angels; *

 you adorn him with glory and honor;

7  You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *

 you put all things under his feet:

8  All sheep and oxen, *

 even the wild beasts of the field,

9  The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *

 and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10  O Lord our Governor, *

 how exalted is your Name in all the world!

Psalm 128   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 128:1 (NRSV) Happy is everyone who fears the LORD,

who walks in his ways.

2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots

around your table.

4 Thus shall the man be blessed

who fears the LORD.

5 The LORD bless you from Zion.

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.

6 May you see your children's children.

Peace be upon Israel!

NEW TESTAMENT:   Hebrews 1: 1 - 4, 2: 5 - 12   (RCL)

                                      Hebrews 2: 9 - 11   (Roman Catholic)

Hebr 1:1 (NRSV) Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

2:5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere,

"What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

or mortals, that you care for them?

7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned them with glory and honor,

8 subjecting all things under their feet."

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying,

"I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you."

m/t Anglicans

The author contrasts the old and new ways of God: that of “long ago” and that “in these last days” ( 1:2), our era, the one between Christ’s first and second coming. God spoke then to the ancestors of Israel, our spiritual ancestors; in this era he speaks to us; then he spoke through “prophets” ( 1:1, including Moses); now he speaks through “a Son” ( 1:2), the one who is Son. A priest mediated and purified. Christ shared in (and mediated) creation of the “worlds” (in Jewish cosmology, the earth and the heavens) and is “heir” of God. Jesus (“He”, 1:3) shows us something of God’s greatness, and is an exact image, icon, of God. He continues to sustain all that is created. Jesus purified us of our sins through his death; he was then exalted in returning to the Father. Since before time and now he is “much superior to angels” ( 1:4), to other heavenly beings, being God.
In Judaism, angels controlled the world ( 2:5), and priests were seen as angels. The quotation in 2:6-8 is Psalm 8:4-6; to the author, who wrote Psalms is immaterial ( 2:6): the psalm is the word of God. These verses say humans are superior to nature, but here they are used to refer to Jesus, possibly because “human beings” was translated son of man in the contemporary translation. All creation is under our control ( 2:8) but now we only see this in Jesus: he for a time humbled himself in becoming human, so that he might die for the sake of all. Jesus’ exaltation (“crowned”, 2:9) is a consequence of his death. Then 2:10: it was in accordance with God’s plan to save all people that Jesus should complete God’s action (“make ... perfect”); Jesus is the forerunner for all of us in being with God forever.

Note 2:1-3, the reason for writing the book: we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. If Christ’s message is valid, and deviations from God’s ways lead to punishment, how can we escape judgement if we ignore salvation through Christ?
1:1-4: These verses bear a resemblance to some of the writings of Philo.
1:2: “in these last days”: Literally at the end of these days. In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, a formula is in the end of days ; the author of Hebrews has added “these”. The formula usually refers to the end-time. [ NJBC]
1:2: “by a Son”: Literally: through one who is a Son . [ NJBC]
1:2: “through whom he also created ...”: Christ was mediator (agent) in creation. In the Old Testament (and the Apocrypha), this is the role of personified Wisdom: in Proverbs 8:30-31, Lady Wisdom says: “was beside him [God], like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race”. See also Wisdom of Solomon 7:22. [ NJBC]
1:2: “worlds”: Several worlds, both visible and invisible. The invisible worlds are the heavens. See 2 Corinthians 12:2 (“third heaven”) and Hebrews 4:14 (“the heavens”).
1:3-4: Possibly a liturgical hymn. Similar wording occurs elsewhere in the New Testament. [ NJBC]
1:3: “reflection”: The Greek word can also mean radiance . NJBC notes that reflection is more likely here; it is an echo of Wisdom of Solomon 7:26. Again, “exact imprint” is also found in Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 (translated as “spotless mirror” in the NRSV).
1:3: “sustains”: The Greek word also has the sense of guides . Jesus’ sonship and priesthood are the basis for salvation.
1:3: “at the right hand ...”: Jesus fulfills Psalm 110:1: “The Lord says to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool’”. For references to the glorification of Jesus, see Acts 2:34-36; Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1; 1 Peter 3:22. Glorification is always mentioned immediately after mention of the resurrection. [ NJBC]
1:4: “name”: In Semitic thought, a change in name indicated a change in the person who received it. Here the new name is Son: see v. 5. [ NJBC]
1:5-14: A demonstration, based on quotations from the Old Testament, that while angels are in divine service, Christ is superior to them. [ CAB]
2:1-4: Christ being superior to angels places a greater obligation on those to whom the faith has been handed down by eye witnesses to Jesus’ life. Failure to keep to the faith will have dire consequences. [ NOAB]
2:5: “angels”: Regarding the present world being under the dominion of angels, see two verses:

• The Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 32:8 says: “When the Most High divided the nations, ... he set the bounds according to the angels of God”
• In Daniel 10:13, Michael the archangel is one of the “princes”; he has power to assist Daniel. [ NJBC] [ BLXX]

2:6-8: The quotation is per the Septuagint translation. [ NOAB] It is also applied to Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:27 and Ephesians 1:22 and probably in 1 Peter 3:22, so one wonders whether this was part of a common early Christian tradition of Old Testament interpretation. [ NJBC]
2:9: For Jesus’ exaltation as a consequence of his humiliation, see also 12:2 and Philippians 2:6-11. V. 17 says that his suffering enabled him to be “a merciful and faithful high priest”. [ NOAB]
2:9: “for a little while”: The meaning here is little in time but in the psalm the meaning is little in degree.
2:9: “taste death”: i.e. experience death’s bitterness, per Isaiah 51:17. In Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1, Jesus speaks of tasting death. [ NOAB]
2:9: “by the grace of God”: A few manuscripts have apart from God. They may be correct, on the principle that the more difficult reading should be preferred, especially since a scribe may have changed (softened) the words through a theological scruple. The words then express Jesus’ feeling of abandonment in death: in Mark 15:34, he asks: “‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”. [ NJBC]
2:10: God is the creator in whom all that he has made finds its purpose. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, Paul writes: “... for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist”. See also Romans 11:36. [ NOAB]
2:10: “make ... perfect”: This phrase is characteristic of Hebrews. It (or variants of it) are also found in 5:9; 7:19, 28; 9:9; 10:14; 11:40; 12:23. It also means bring to maturity. [ NOAB]
2:10: “pioneer”: The same word is translated as “Author” (in Acts 3:15) and “Leader” (in Acts 5:31). [ NOAB]

GOSPEL:   Mark 10: 2 - 16   (RCL)

                     Mark 10: 2 - 12 (13 - 16)   (Roman Catholic)

Mark 10:2 (NRSV) Some Phar'isees came, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" 4 They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her." 5 But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, "God made them male and female.' 7 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Jesus is now in Judea (or east of the Jordan, in Perea.) Mosaic law permitted a man to divorce his wife (but not a woman her husband) for cause, but the grounds were unclear. The Pharisees were divided re the legality of divorce as well as the grounds for it, so their question is a trap. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 says (in part) that a man may simply “write a certificate of dismissal” (v. 4), without legal proceedings. (That book was seen as Moses’ teaching.) In vv. 5-8, Jesus says: Moses allowed divorce as a concession to human weakness, but God’s original plan was that marriage be for life: man and wife are “one flesh”; my stance is God’s plan, not Mosaic law. In this plan, remarriage is either literally “adultery” (vv. 11-12) or a deviation from God’s ways. (Sometimes a wife, in effect, divorced her husband. Elsewhere Jesus accepts that a man may divorce an unfaithful wife.)
Vv. 13-16 tell about the kingdom of God and the kind of people who will be admitted to it. People wish Jesus to “touch” (v. 13) their children, to lay hands on them and bless them (v. 16). Jesus is “indignant” (v. 14) at the disciples’ inability to understand him and the nature of the Kingdom. Children are receptive; a child has no status, makes no claim to power. Whoever is not receptive to God’s gifts will not enter the kingdom. There is no place there for human status and power.

The parallel to the whole passage is Matthew 19:1-15. Luke 18:15-17 is a parallel of vv. 13-16.
Jesus’ teaching on divorce and remarriage is a further challenge to those who will follow him. It appears to be absolute. Other passages (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; 1 Corinthians 7:10-16) introduce some exceptions to Jesus’ absolute teaching. Matthew 5:32 says “... anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” and Matthew 19:9 says “... whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery”. In 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, Paul, on his own authority as an apostle, permits divorce when a non-Christian partner insists on a divorce from a Christian. We can see that the Church thought it necessary to modify the principle in actual application. In Matthew 18:18, Jesus says “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. [ BlkMk]
Comments: “The Pharisees were divided ...”: While all agreed that divorce was legal, the school of Shammai permitted it only if the wife were guilty of unchastity or gross immodesty, while the school of Hillel held that a man might divorce his wife even if she spoiled the food. Jewish marriage was not a contract between equals: a woman was given in marriage, she did not marry. But, as noted below, there was a certain protection in the Law for the more helpless party. Further, while a wife could not divorce her husband, she could go before the court and force him to divorce her if he engaged in certain occupations (such as tanning), had certain diseases, took vows to her detriment, or forced her to take such vows. Furthermore, the rabbis bitterly condemned indiscriminate divorce, even if it was legal. [ BlkMk]
Verse 2: The Pharisees’ question may have been designed to bring Jesus into conflict with the much-divorced Herod family. [ NJBC]
Verse 4: Deuteronomy 24:1-4 mentions a man divorcing his wife, but not a woman divorcing her husband (possibly because polygamy was practised). For a man to divorce his wife, he had to follow a specific procedure: he had to write his wife a certificate of divorce, stating the grounds. If she remarried and was again divorced (or her second husband died), the first husband could not marry her again. See also Jeremiah 3:8.
Verse 5: The Law was shaped to the character of those for whom it was written. [ NOAB]
Verse 6: Genesis 1:27 says “God created humankind in his image, ... male and female he created them”. See also Genesis 5:2. [ NOAB]
Verses 7-8: The quotation is from Genesis 2:24. [ NOAB]
Verse 9: Jesus abrogates Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Judaism placed a high value on marriage. A man was expected to marry by the age of 18 and was not considered a complete person until he had fulfilled this duty. Celibacy was frowned on generally. [ BlkMk]
CD (Damascus Document) 4:19-5:2 seems to forbid polygamy rather than remarriage after divorce, though 11QTemple (Temple Scroll) 57:17-19 forbids remarriage after divorce.
CD 4:19-5:2 says: “The builders of the wall ... are caught twice in fornication: by taking two wives in their lives, even though the principle of creation is ‘male and female he created them’. And the ones who went into the ark ‘went in two by two into the ark’. And about the prince it is written: ‘He should not multiply wives to himself’. ...” [ Martinez]
11QTemple 57:17-19 says: “... He shall take no wife apart from her because only she will be with him all the days of her life. If she dies, he shall take for himself another from his father’s house, from his family”. [ Martinez]
Verse 10: This was clearly a difficult teaching for the disciples to accept.
Verse 11: Luke 16:18 is parallel. [ NJBC]
Verse 12: In Palestine, women could not sue for divorce, so this provision was inapplicable there; however Roman law permitted a woman to divorce her husband. [ NOAB] [ BlkMk] On the other hand, Jesus may be saying that partners in marriage should be equal: a revolutionary concept in Palestine at the time.
Verses 13-16: For Jesus and children, see also 9:33-37.
Verse 14: For other mentions of Jesus’ emotions, see 3:5 (“anger”); 8:12 (“sighed deeply in his spirit”); 14:33-34 (“distressed and agitated”). [ NJBC]
Verse 16: In contemporary writings, children are portrayed as examples of unreasonable behaviour or as objects to be trained, but here they are persons who enjoy a relationship with Jesus and the Kingdom of God. [ NJBC]