Readings:
Isaiah 1-2
Proverbs 1
John 18

Isaiah 1-2

Today we start two new books, the first of which is the longest of the prophets. Isaiah is the Book that Jesus quotes from the most, and his “inaugural address” in Luke comes from this book. The prophet Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea and Amos in the northern kingdom, and lived to see the destruction of that country. He prophesied through the reigns of several kings, and according to Jewish tradition he was sawn in half at the order of Judah’s most wicked king, Manasseh. It was this wicked king, and all the evil he perpetrated throughout his reign that brought the judgment of God down on Judah and led to their exile in Babylon.

Most scholars believe that the bulk of Isaiah was written during the reform years of the reign of the great king Hezekiah. During these years Isaiah likely held a position in the king’s council because of his noble status in the families of Judah and his role as prophet. It is often said that Hezekiah himself is the first and literal fulfillment of the prophecy that Mathew quotes as regarding the birth of Christ in Mathew 1:23

The book begins with a general denunciation of the sinfulness of Judah. They have drifted and turned far from their father David, and have become no different than the nations around them. They need to turn back to the God of their fathers before they’re completely cut off.

The second chapter goes beyond what is usually being said by the prophets. They usually have prophecies concerning the land of Israel and Judah or one of their neighbors, and usually a judgment, but this prophecy is concerning all nations and peoples. It’s a prophecy that one day all people from every land will turn to the Lord and his Word that goes out from Jerusalem. This is a prophecy of the great commission that Jesus gave to his disciples, he is the Word of God that went out from Jerusalem to call all people to himself.

Proverbs 1

The book of proverbs is largely attributed to king Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. Since we’ve already read his story in the book of Kings, it kind of adds an asterisk to that claim of wisdom, or maybe that’s intentional that even the most wise man is a fool if he turns from God. The book is written as a collection of proverbs, short sayings of wise men, that lead us to make better decisions through learning from them and their experiences.

John 18

Jesus and the apostles leave the upper room where they’re having the Last Supper, and they cross the small kindron valley to the garden of gethsemane. This is where Luke mentions that Jesus prayed and keeps coming back to the sleeping apostles, who are then urged to wake up and pray. But in John’s gospel he skips straight to the betrayer bringing soldiers to arrest Jesus.

When he asks who they seek, and then he responds to their reply with “I Am He” it knocks them to the ground. The power of the divine name is unleashed on them and that is what caused them to stumble backwards.

Unlike the synoptic gospels that attribute the swordplay to an unnamed disciple, John throws Peter’s name out there. This is likely because Peter was almost certainly dead by this point and naming him in this “crime” wouldn’t have any repercussions for him with the authorities, unlike if he had been named in the earlier synoptic gospels.

When peter denies knowing Jesus, despite his protestations earlier that he would never do such a thing, he’s warming by a charcoal fire because of the cold. What goes unsaid is that Jesus received no such warmth and comfort on that cold night. Also this will be the same setting for Peter’s reconciliation with Jesus where he’ll affirm his love for the Lord by a charcoal fire.

When they bring him to Pilate the leaders do not enter the praetorium, the official residence of the Roman governor in Jerusalem, because entering a gentiles house would usually mean ceremonial impunity and that would disqualify them from the rituals surrounding Passover. John purposely points this out because they’re doing exactly what the prophets had condemned their ancestors for. Amos spoke of people observing the law and the festivals but plotting to defraud widows while they feasted.

These religious leaders don’t worry at all about the defilement of their hearts that is caused by lying under oath and falsely accusing an innocent man to have him put to death. They’re using the apparatus of the state to commit murder, but don’t step inside the house of the man you’re using to do your dirty work or else you’ll be “defiled”

Pilate asks his iconic line during his interrogation of Jesus, “what is truth?” and it’s meant in a pragmatic way. He isn’t concerned with the inner workings of a monotheistic ethnic group on the fringes of the empire, he’s only interested in keeping the peace and remaining on the good side of the tyrant that rules from the heart of that empire. If only he knew that truth itself was standing right in front of him.

See What is Truth?

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Isaiah 3-4
Proverbs 2
John 19:1-16