Proper 26 – Year C
Sermon Notes from the Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People
RCL Readings[1] – Isaiah 1:10-18; Psalm 32:1-7; II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10
ACNA Readings – Isaiah 1:10-20; Psalm 32; II Thessalonians 1:1-12; Luke 19:1-10
Seasonal Introduction. This season is often called “Ordinary Time,” a term derived from ordinal, meaning “numbered” or “in sequence.” However, there is nothing ordinary about this time. Rather, it is a time when we may reflect on how God (starting on Trinity Sunday and ending with Christ the King Sunday) has been at work in our own lives, the lives of his people, and how he will continue to work in the days to come. Ordinary Time is a season when we are invited to perceive the mystery of God at work in our daily lives, in the ordinary, in the mundane.
Common Theme. God is just, yet there is still much suffering in this world. The wicked often seem to prosper, while the righteous are afflicted. God is just, yet He also seeks to save sinners—of whom I am one.
Hebraic Perspective. Throughout Scripture, sacrifices are commanded by God and are pleasing to Him. After the flood, Noah offered sacrifice to God and it was a pleasing aroma to the LORD.[2] This theme is repeated throughout Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.[3] Joel 1:13 reminds us that God took the sacrificial system very seriously. He had promised that He would be the portion for the Levites and priests, but when the people stopped sacrificing the Levites and priests were no longer provided for—breaking God’s promises. And so, when the people did not offer sacrifices, they were sent into exile.
God also promises that if the people walk contrary to Him, “I will not smell your pleasing aromas”.[4] There is an idea that has developed in Christianity that God does not enjoy sacrifices, after all, He plainly states “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” But if God does not want sacrifice, why did He create the sacrificial system?
The answer cannot be “to atone for sins” because the sacrifices never atoned for intentional sin.[5] A brief overview of the sacrificial system as prescribed in Leviticus shows that even the sin offering is for unintentional sins only. If someone wronged their neighbour, they were to offer full restitution—only then could they come before God with a sacrifice, only then could the priest make atonement. But what is this atonement? Is it the animal sacrifice? When Moses tells Israel that he will go and make atonement for their sins, he does not offer a single sacrifice—he goes before God and pleads in intercessory prayer.
Sacrifices as the way to receive atonement would not be something the majority of Jewish people in the first centuries would accept as true. They realized that God always desired mercy, charity, love, and uprightness—and when they failed He desired repentance. When God declares that sacrifices are an abomination to Him, such as in Isaiah 66, it is because God called out for justice, righteousness, and truth and there was no man who would intercede.[6] “When I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.”[7]
When the psalmist of Psalm 66 comes before God with an offering, he can do so because he fears God. He clearly understands, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” but even with that, it isn’t the sacrifice that he speaks of—it is his prayer. God instituted the practice of sacrifice and our devotion to God is pleasing—all of the thanksgiving sacrifices, the fellowship offerings, the firstfruits offerings, the worship, and even the sin offerings—assuming they came from someone with clean hands and a pure heart.
Today we no longer offer animal sacrifices—there is only one place that God prescribed for that practice and the temple was destroyed almost two-thousand years ago. But we still pray. And the same reasons that God found sacrifices to be abominable are still true of our prayers. If we curse our neighbour, we cannot think that God will find our prayers to be acceptable. If we are not merciful, righteous, or full of justice (not to mention full of humility), God would surely say “I desire mercy, and not prayers”. So let us fear God and pray. He may still find our prayers pleasing and answer us.
Isaiah 1:10-18.[8] Sodom and Gomorrah have become a byword for sin and judgment. Not even ten righteous people could be found within Sodom.[9] The people of Sodom and Gomorrah would have been better off had they feared God—for He is great and terrible. But instead of keeping the way of the LORD in righteousness and justice, they oppressed the most vulnerable.[10] Isaiah 1:4-10 compares the desolation of Zion with that of Sodom and Gomorrah, with one major exception: God did not utterly destroy her.[11]
Nonetheless, both the rulers and the people of Zion are compared to the overwhelmingly iniquitous actions seen in Sodom and Gomorrah. With this historical example and comparison, God asks, “What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” God wants nothing to do with Judah’s offerings and celebrations of the holidays.
Should the people of Judah have stopped bringing sacrifices to God? Should they have stopped celebrating Shabbat, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot? Passages such as I Samuel 15:22—“To obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams”—are so easily taken out of context to mean that sacrifice is unimportant.[12] God also declares that He wanted nothing to do with Judah’s prayers. Should they have ceased their prayers?
Hundreds of years after the death of Isaiah, God would bring a remnant of the Jewish people back to Zion, and they would build the Second Temple. God’s righteous people would continue to offer sacrifices and gather to celebrate the memorial holidays God had commanded them to remember. Jesus not only celebrated the Passover, but also promised that He would celebrate it with His people again one day.
The problem wasn’t that the people brought offerings—these are commanded by God. The problem was disobedience in regard to the remainder of God’s Torah. The same hands that were raised in worship of God and in prayer were full of blood. Isaiah’s statement is succinct: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” In Isaiah 1:18-20, God gives a promise to Israel. They can either live in obedience in the land or be destroyed by the sword as they rebel against God.[13]
Likewise, today, God’s people are commanded not to neglect to meet together—stirring one another up to love and good works. But that is just as useless if we don’t stir one another up. “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment.”[14] We ought not cease meeting together—in churches, homes, worship, and prayer wherever God’s people might be found—instead, as we meet, we should be careful to observe the rest of God’s commandments. We must stir one another up to love and good works: “Do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”
Psalm 32:1-7.[15] Wisdom often comes through hardship and error. In Psalm 32, David shares the wisdom he gained through his own life. Psalm 32 is one of thirteen Maskils (משכיל) in the Psalms. שכל (sakal) denotes wisdom or knowledge that prospers, as seen in Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you (שכיל) and teach you in the way you should go.” The term is first used when Eve saw “that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (להשכיל, l’haskil).” But when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree that God had commanded them not to eat, it did not bring prosperity.
David makes a stark contrast in Psalm 32:1-4: the man who is forgiven is happy; the man who does not confess will waste away. What is the difference? Confession. David acknowledges his sin. In misplaced shame and pride, we often wish to hide and even deny our sin. However, David tells us that we are blessed if there is no deceit in our spirit. It is through confession that happiness comes, and through silence that misery abides in us.
The hard-earned wisdom of David—wisdom that brings prosperity and happiness—is knowing that we should pray to God in confession “at a time when [He] may be found.” Isaiah will later make the same plea, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way; and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”[16]
Confession is often very somber, but after confession comes the assurance of forgiveness—God surrounds us with shouts of deliverance. God is faithful and merciful. He has declared that He will forgive those who confess and turn to Him. If we have confessed our sins, we ought not to continue to groan and mourn, for the hand of God is no longer heavy upon us—He has forgiven the iniquity of our sin. We ought to be happy.
Psalm 32:8 grammatically diverges from Psalm 32:1-7, which is always a point of interest in Jewish study. There are arguments both that David is the one speaking to an unknown third party (those hearing the Maskil) and that God is the one speaking. In Psalm 51, which is quite similar in theme to Psalm 32, David writes, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways”.[17] Once again, scholars note an important grammatical difference: David refers to a third party, “transgressors” while, in Psalm 32 the address is direct, “you.”
Regardless of whether it is God instructing (שכל, sakal, from which maskil is derived) or David, the way we should go is clear. Do we trust in the LORD to forgive us, or will we try to hide our sins? Once we have confessed and are forgiven, will we be glad and shout for joy, or will we continue in sorrow without understanding?
II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12.[18] Paul begins his epistle to the Thessalonians as he so often did, giving thanks to God for their faith. They continued steadfastly even in persecution and showed their faithfulness through their love for one another. Paul ties the growing faith of the Thessalonians together with the fruit in their lives. Their love for one another increased as their faith grew abundantly. Theirs was a faith that did more than believe; it resolved to act. He continuously prayed for the Thessalonians—not only that they would fulfill every good purpose and work of faith with power, but also glorify the name of Jesus.
Yet Paul still needed to reassure the Thessalonians concerning the future. The church in Thessaloniki suffered persecution, and Paul assured them that their steadfast faith—though tested by suffering—was not in vain. God will come, and His righteous judgment will not be without force. But the full judgment of God had not yet come.
The wicked, having afflicted the righteous, mockingly say, “Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.”[19] But God will not be mocked; He will render recompense to His enemies.[20] As Isaiah 66:15 declares, “The LORD will come in fire, and His chariot like the whirlwind, to render His anger in fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment.” Apparently, some had misled the Thessalonians into believing that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ had already occurred.[21] Paul affirms that it will indeed come—Jesus revealed from heaven in flaming fire—and that with His advent comes great judgment.
Once again, Paul turns to Isaiah 66:24: “For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. Do not be fooled—God will judge: “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.” And after His judgment, the faithful will be given relief from their persecutors.
God’s judgment is accompanied by grace and justice toward those who were persecuted. They will be released from their affliction even as punishment is visited upon the wicked. Isaiah foresaw the release of exiles and of those who will accompany them to worship God. The faith and testimony of the righteous will be vindicated by the righteous judgment of God.
Hebraic Context. During the Second Temple period, pilgrims travelled from throughout the diaspora to Jerusalem. Many Jewish pilgrims traveled from the Roman provinces around the Mediterranean by ship to Caesarea or Jaffa, as in Paul’s pilgrimage for Shavuot.[22] Pilgrims from Alexandria and Egypt, including faithful proselytes like the Ethiopian eunuch, would travel through the Sinai to Gaza before continuing on to Jerusalem.[23] East of the Mediterranean, the Jewish diaspora in Parthia also traveled to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals, likely along the Jordan Rift Valley or by boat from Phoenicia.
While Gaza (to the southwest) and Caesarea (to the northwest) were both important stops for the Jewish communities of the diaspora, Jericho became significant as the last stop before the final ascent to Jerusalem for many pilgrims from the Galilee and those farther North and East. The Rift Valley, which includes the Beqaa valley through Lebanon, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea (continuing south through Eastern Africa), provided a relatively easy route for the final week’s travel to Jerusalem, allowing travelers to bypass the Samaritans who lived between the Galilee and Jerusalem. Even so, the journey was long and potentially dangerous. It is likely that every pilgrim traveling this road stayed overnight in Jericho as the final day’s journey to Jerusalem was long and dangerous due to the extreme heat, steep ascent, and occasional robbers.
In His final pilgrimage to Jerusalem before His death, Jesus traveled down the Jordan Valley, stopping at Jericho. It was in this very diverse and important city that Jesus met Bartimaeus, a beggar, and Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector.
While Jericho is no longer significant politically or economically, it was a very important city in Roman Israel. Pliny the Elder briefly mentioned its wealth in The Natural History V, and both Herod the Great and Cleopatra VII coveted the wealth of Jericho.[24] Strabo noted that Egyptians, Arabians, and Phoenicians were also present in Jericho.[25] Each of these groups, along with the Nabataeans, was famous for their economic and trade power. Due to its importance, both the Hasmoneans and Herod built magnificent royal winter palaces in Jericho.
However, Jericho wasn’t only important economically as a trade hub. According to the Rabbis, Jericho was the choicest portion of the land.[26] Many of the rich priests also lived in Jericho.[27] Mishnah Pesachim 4.8 mentions that some of these Sadducean priests were corrupt—full of greed.
Jericho was famous throughout the Roman Empire for its abundant date palms and for a prized ointment made from a local balsam bush. This balsam was so valuable that Mark Antony gifted the city to Cleopatra. Philo mentions that the Temple owned portions of land that generated revenue[28]—many of these were likely landed estates and the plantations in Jericho. After Herod’s death, Theodotus, a son of a priest, served the Romans in overseeing their interests in Jericho. This is probably why Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector who had become quite wealthy, was posted in Jericho.
Luke 19:1-10. In Luke 9, Jesus declared that “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”[29] He then set His face to go to Jerusalem.[30] Jesus’ final stop on His pilgrimage to Jerusalem and His quickly approaching death was Jericho.[31] Yet, Jesus took the time to help two men who were despised in their society.
Bartimaeus[32] was a blind beggar whom the crowd not only ignored but tried to silence.[33] Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was known to be a sinner. Tax collectors in the late Second Temple period were widely regarded as sinners.[34] They were considered thieves—the Mishnah even states that you should not accept charity from tax collectors, for it might have been stolen goods.[35]
Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot all occur on God’s prescribed calendar, and pilgrims would have been traveling at the same time to Jerusalem along specific, well-known routes. A large portion of the crowd in Jericho would have traveled with Jesus and heard Him teach. Jesus had previously taught extensively on repentance—particularly in relation to those who needed it most: sinners.[36] Now, Jesus would put His teaching into action and Zacchaeus—a tax collector—would display both the repentance that God requires and the joy that comes with it.
Luke’s telling of the story is very straightforward. As he often does, Luke highlights joy.[37] He also showed the importance of action in light of theology. Not only did Jesus act according to what He had been teaching, but Zacchaeus appears to have known the Torah and, after meeting Jesus, was finally ready to act according to the law—obedient in repentance, restitution, and care for the poor.
Leviticus 6:1-7 and Numbers 5:5-7 both require that anyone who sins against a neighbor restore what was taken from their neighbor and add twenty percent more in restitution. Zacchaeus chose to follow the stricter livestock restitution law, as Exodus 22:1 describes restoring fourfold what was taken.[38] Luke doesn’t record Jesus reminding Zacchaeus of these laws—Zacchaeus already knew them but was finally acknowledging that he must happily obey them.
Zacchaeus also obeyed the Torah’s call to give to the poor: “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”[39] Even though Jericho was known to be extremely wealthy, not only in Judea but throughout the Roman Empire, the story of Bartimaeus shows that there were still poor in the midst of priests and princes.
Zacchaeus could have returned an added twenty percent to what he had stolen, or even double,[40] but he promised to return fourfold. Zacchaeus was not required to give half of his possessions to the poor—but he chose to.[41] As Jesus had just taught, the tax collector who repents may go “down to his house justified… For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Endnotes
[1] Alternative RCL readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144
[2] Genesis 8:20-21
[3] Exodus 29:18, 25, 41; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17, 2:2, 9, 12, 3:5 (Leviticus 1-23); Numbers 15, 28-29
[4] Leviticus 26:31
[5] The Yom Kippur sacrifice is the closest to a sacrificial atonement for sin in the Scriptures, and even then the sin was to be placed on the live goat.
[6] Isaiah 59:14-16
[7] Isaiah 66:4
[8] ACNA includes Isaiah 1:19-20
[9] Genesis 18:25-32
[10] The sin of Sodom wasn’t simply “sodomy”. In Genesis 19, the inhabitants of Sodom refuse to offer true hospitality, preferring to rape those who had no protection—neither physical nor judicial—as they were strangers and sojourners. Ezekiel 16:49-50 is more specific regarding Sodom’s sin: “She and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me.” Isaiah also speaks of injustice and even bloodshed.
[11] God’s promises remain true despite the sin of His people.
[12] Proverbs 15:8; Isaiah 58:1-7; Isaiah 66:3; Jeremiah 6:20; Malachi 1:10
[13] Isaiah highlights the comparison through wordplay. Either the people can eat food, תאכלו (tokhelu), or be eaten by the sword, תאכלו (te’uklu).
[14] Hebrews 10:24-27
[15] ACNA includes Psalm 32:8-11
[16] Isaiah 55:6-7
[17] Psalm 51:13
[18] ACNA includes II Thessalonians 1:5-10
[19] Isaiah 66:5, see also: Isaiah 5:19; Psalm 22:7-8; Book of Wisdom 2:10-20; Luke 23:35-37
“We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life, for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how reasonable he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” Book of Wisdom 2:16-20
[20] Galatians 6:7; Isaiah 66:6; See also, Romans 12:19
[21] II Thessalonians 2:1-4
[22] Acts 21:1-17
[23] Acts 8:26-27
[24] Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews 15.4.2 and Wars of the Jews 1.361-363
[25] Strabo, Geography 16.2.34
[26] Sifrei Bamidbar 81.1; Sifrei Devarim 62.2
[27] Both Josephus and Strabo speak of the priests living in Jericho and may have done so from as early as the time of Nehemiah. Nehemiah 3 places the priests and men of Jericho working side by side, and the priests became important residents of Jericho—working the fields and serving at the Temple.
[28] Philo, De Specialibus Legibus 1.76
[29] Luke 9:22
[30] John 9:51
[31] Jesus also stayed with His beloved disciples, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, in Bethany on the Mount of Olives.
[32] Mark 10:46
[33] Saint Augustine in The Harmony of the Gospels 2.65.125 believed that Bartimaeus must have been someone who once was quite prosperous and notorious. His wretchedness at not only losing his eyesight but also his fortune—having to beg—would have been well known. Unlike many sick and injured in the Scriptures, rather than having friends who could help bring him to Jesus, Bartimaeus was actually told to be silent. Bartimaeus' fall from wealth would have been well known (and possibly even celebrated), showcasing the immense grace shown to him by Jesus in restoring his eyesight.
[34] Tax Collectors were classified in the same category as sinners (Matthew 9:11; Matthew 11:19; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30; Luke 7:34), prostitutes (Matthew 21:31), and pagans (Matthew 18:17)
[35] Bava Kamma 10.1
[36] Luke 13:1-5; Luke 15:1-32; Luke 18:9-14
[37] Luke 1:14; 2:10; 10:20; 13:17; 15:5, 10, 32; 19:37; 24:41, 52
[38] See II Samuel 12:6 as a historical example of fourfold restitution.
[39] Deuteronomy 15:7-8
[40] Exodus 22:4
[41] While all we have is given to us by God and we are required to care for our brothers and sisters, one example showing that we aren’t required to give all that we have is Acts 5:4.