1 Commentary

1.1 Jeremiah 31:7-14

Jeremiah 31:7 Sing aloud – The prophet brings a word from the L ORD that asks
the people to be happy for what God is doing.
Jeremiah 31:8 I am going to bring them – The L ORD will assemble from the four
corners of the earth a people.
the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour – The group
includes those we would like to leave behind, the infirm and the weak.
Jeremiah 31:9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations – It is dif-
ficult to tell if the emotions are from being excited about God’s work of
moving people or they are upset with what is happening.
I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall
not stumble – The emotional state of the people will not prevent the L ORD
from making the trip easy. Water will be close at hand and the trip will be
easy.
Jeremiah 31:10 the word of the L ORD, O nations – What comes next is for the
rest of the world, the Gentiles.
He who scattered Israel will gather him – In no uncertain terms, the L ORD
claims responsibility for what has happened. How do we read this line in
light of the destruction that was wrought on the Jews during World War II?
Jeremiah 31:11 For the L ORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from
hands too strong for him. – The same issue on the persecution of the Jews
applies here also.
Jeremiah 31:12 They shall come and sing – The attitude of the gathered group
changes. They are happy. This is because of all the “goods” given to them
by the L ORD.
Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young
men and the old shall be merry. – This line reiterates the happiness that the
people feel.
Jeremiah 31:14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness – Even their religious
leaders will be happy.

1
1.2 Psalm 147:12-20
Psalm 147:12 Praise the L ORD – The psalmist tells the people of Israel to cry
out because of all that the L ORD has done.

Psalm 147:13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children
within you. It is amazing what the L ORD does. By hardening the iron in
the doors, the enemy is kept at bay. The L ORD even knows the child in the
womb.
The six next verses have different ways that the L ORD helps Israel.

Psalm 147:14

Psalm 147:15

Psalm 147:16

Psalm 147:17

Psalm 147:18

Psalm 147:19

Psalm 147:20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know
his ordinances. – The psalmist asserts that the L ORD only helps Israel. Ad-
ditionally, no other people know the Law. This second assertion stands in
conflict with those traditions such as Lutheranism that say that the law of
the L ORD is written on everyone’s hearts.

1.3 Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing – The author of this letter
disagrees with the psalmist. The author of psalm 147 states in verse 20 that
Israel is the one who the L ORD blesses.

Ephesians 1:4 he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be

holy and blameless before him in love. – It seems as if God identifies select
individuals before the start of time to be followers of Christ. These people
are identified to be set aside for God and they also show us what humanity
can become. One of the forces that holds this group together is love.

2
 Ephesians 1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ
– Like every other children, children who are adopted, do not choose their
parents. One slight difference between “natural” and adopted children is
that the parents might have a chance to see something about their adopted
children before adoption.

Ephesians 1:6

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace – God gives these
selected individuals a new start. This occurs because Jesus died a violent
death.

Ephesians 1:8 he lavished on us – God has given these specific individuals rich
gifts.

Ephesians 1:9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will – Without re-
vealing everything, the people who God has identified know both what God
wants to accomplish and that they will never know everything.

Ephesians 1:10 a plan for the fullness of time – Once again, God knows what
God is doing.

Ephesians 1:11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance – In this fam-

ily, the parents have selected the adopted children to receive the family’s
possessions.

Ephesians 1:12 might live for the praise of his glory – Christ’s life and actions
reflect in a positive manner on those that follow Him.

Ephesians 1:13

Ephesians 1:14 this is the pledge of our inheritance – Christ’s Word shows us
what the future will be like for followers.

1.4 John 1:1-18

Commentators have found the densely packed prologue of the Gospel according
to St. John full of theological themes and images that are repeated and further
illuminated throughout the rest of the Gospel. It might be that these verses are

3
an early hymn or it could be a chiastic (See an illustration of Culpeppers idea in
prologue.doc).1

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. – This sentence makes a positive reference to the first chap-
ter of Genesis.2 The author of John intends that all of the book to be read
with this sentence in mind because if Jesus is not God then what He does in
this account is blasphemy.3
The use of λόγος parallels Jews use of sophia.4 Specific references to wis-
dom can be found in Proverbs 8 and the Deuterocanonical books of Sirach
24, Baruch 3-4, and Wisdom of Solomon 7.
Moloney prefers to translate πρὸς τὸν θεόν (with God in the NRSV) as
toward God since in Classical Greek the preposition πρὸς followed by an
accusative indicates motion toward.5

John 1:2

John 1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing
came into being. – Creation started in the past and continues in the future.
This verse and the next are difficult to translate because of the complexity
of the Greek.6

John 1:4

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
– Despite death, the passage of time, and the hostility of the darkness, Jesus
continues to shine light into the world.7
The NRSV translates John 1:5 (καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει καὶ ἡ σκοτία
αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν ) as: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it” (NRSV). And the NIV uses: “The light shines in the
1
Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B.; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., editor, The Gospel of John, Volume 4,
Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998), p. 34.
2
Ibid., p. 41.
3
Ibid., p. 35.
4
Ibid., p. 42.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid., pp. 35-36, 42.
7
Ibid., p. 36.

4
 darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (NIV) that modernizes the
KJV: “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not” (KJV).
At issue is the verb καταλαμβάνω. In this context does this verb mean to
intellectually understand something or does it mean to overthrow? Either of
these forms are possible definitions. We will have to use something else to
make the decision on what to use.
I’m really nervous about even insinuating that faith requires understanding.
From a Lutheran perspective, this definition requires a work. Only if I can
mentally accept what Christianity is about, then I’m saved. From an ethical
point of view, this makes Christianity a tradition that only promises the
salvation to those that can understand it. This leaves out anyone that is born
with any defects that prevent them from logically following arguments. It
also rules out all those people who have degenerate diseases like Alzheimer.
Even more importantly, the rest of the Gospel according to St. John rules
out the idea that the darkness did not understand the faith.8 Look at John
3:11-21, 3:31-36, and 12:44-50. These verses do not seem to support the
viewpoint that the darkness rejects the light based on some sort of reasoning.

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God – According to the author of John, only
John the Baptizer and Jesus are the only ones that are sent by by God.9 The
leaders of the Jews, known in this Gospel as “the Jews”, do not have this
information when they question Jesus about His calling.10
It appears that verses 6 through 8 were added by the author of John so that
the community knows that Jesus is superior to John the Baptizer.11 This
statement is not derogatory attitude toward John the Baptizer, it just ranks
John behind Jesus.12

John 1:7

John 1:8 he came to testify to the light. – John the Baptizer’s only role in this
account is the “witness to Jesus.”13
8
Moloney, The Gospel of John, p. 43.
9
Ibid., pp. 37, 43.
10
Ibid., p. 52.
11
Ibid., pp. 37, 43.
12
Ibid., p. 43.
13
Ibid.

5
John 1:9

John 1:10 He was in the world – Moloney sees three different interpretations of
“the world.” First, is the “created reality” found in John 11:9; 17:5; 17:24;
21:25).14 Next is the location where salvation by God occurs (John 1:29;
3:16; 4:42; 6:51; 8:21; 9:5).15 Finally, this phrase could refer to the places
where darkness rules (John 7:7; 12:31; 14:17; 14:22; 14:27; 14:30; 15:18-
19; 16:8; 16:11; 16:20; 16:33; 17:6; 17:9; 17:14-16.)16
the world did not know him. – The world actively rejects the Word.

John 1:11 He came to what was his own – This phrase seems to be drawn from
Gnostic sources but its meaning has dramatically changed.17 This is not
some place that welcomes Jesus. Rather, it is a place that killed Him.

John 1:12 But to all who received him – The correct way to receive the Word is to
believe.18 This close relationship between receiving and believing continues
throughout this book and is especially found in John 2:1 - 4:52.19
he gave power to become children of God – One “becomes” a child a God
because God generates us.20 This is a realized fact in the here and now.21
God makes this happen.
In the Gospel according to St. John, the phrase “sons of God” is never used
rather the author uses the phrase “children of God.”22

John 1:13 not of blood – The Greek reads (ἐξ αἱμάτων (from bloods). This prob-
ably indicates the idea that conception comes from the mixing of male and
female “bloods.”23
of the will of man – This translation reflects the understanding of the first
century world where the male makes the decision if a child is to be born.24
14
Moloney, The Gospel of John, p. 44.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid., p. 37.
18
Ibid., p. 38.
19
Ibid., p. 44.
20
Ibid., p. 38.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid., p. 44.
23
Ibid., p. 45.
24
Ibid.

6
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us – Moloney argues
that it is difficult to see that this is the high point of the prologue.25 The
announcement that the Word was coming has already been made.
However against Moloney, there is something new and exciting about this
phrase. The Word, which is some combination of speech and idea, now has
skin and bones. And this frame is nothing special, it is just like every other
body. The Word also made a decision where it would live: The the house of
an everyday worker in the middle East some 2000 years ago.

John 1:15

John 1:16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. – “Many
Church Fathers and some modern scholars” think that John the Baptizer is
still talking because of the ὅτι found at the beginning of the verse.26
The Gnostics were familiar with fullness in the heavenly sphere.27 The au-
thor of John takes this concept and applies it to Christianity. The fullness
happens here in the earth.
grace upon grace – The Greek reads, χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος. This phrase could
be also translated as a gift in the place of a gift.28 For the Jews, this could
be the gift of the law being perfected with the gift of truth.29

John 1:17 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ – The author now gives a
name to this One.

John 1:18 who is close to the Father’s heart – The Greek reads, εἰς τὸν κόλπον
τοῦ πατρὸς (is in the bosom of the Father). Moloney translates this phrase
as “turned toward to the Father.”30 The NIV uses “who is at the Father’s
side.”
25
Moloney, The Gospel of John, p. 38-39.
26
Ibid., p. 45.
27
Ibid., p. 40.
28
Ibid.
29
Ibid., pp. 40, 46.
30
Ibid., p. 41.

7
References
Moloney, S.D.B., Francis J.; Harrington, S.J., Daniel J., editor, The Gospel of
John, Volume 4, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Litur-
gical Press, 1998).