Monday quote

Pertness and ignorance may ask a question in three lines, which it will cost learning and ingenuity thirty pages to answer. When this is done, the same question shall be triumphantly asked again the next year, as if nothing had ever been written upon the subject.

George Horne (1730–1792).

Monday quote

Of all the things that God has made, the human heart is the one that shines brightest—and blackest, alas!

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Passover Feast

John and the synoptic gospels discuss the death and resurrection of Jesus which occurred at the time of the Passover. The chronology around these events can be difficult to work out in part due to the use of the terms Passover, Passover Feast, and Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was instituted at the time of Passover during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Luke clearly states that the festivals are celebrated together

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. (Lk 22:1).

Matthew, Mark and Luke clearly state that the Passover Lamb was to be sacrificed on the (first) day of Unleavened Bread (Mat 26:17; Mar 14:12; Luk 22:7). The disciples asked Jesus where they were to eat the Passover during that same day and Jesus instructed them on his plans. The disciples prepared the Passover (Mar 14:16; Luk 22:13) and Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples that evening (Mat 26:20; Mar 14:17). This Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples became known as the Last Supper.

I have previously discussed the days of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The eating of the Passover with the disciples occurred on Thursday evening after sunset. It is thought that during the first century the Jews started a new day at sunset. This means that the Passover lamb is sacrificed during the day, and the Passover meal occurs after sunset which is the next day.

John uses different terminology to the synoptics. John mentions the Passover (pascha) several times in his gospel, though John never mentions the festival of Unleavened Bread (azymos).

Here are John's uses of the word "Passover" during Passion Week.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. (Joh 11:55–12:2)

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (Joh 13:1–5)

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. (Joh 18:28)

After he [Pilate] had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” (Joh 18:38–39)

Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” (Joh 19:14–15)

In describing the Last Supper John says, "Before the Feast of the Passover" (Joh 13:1).  It is not immediately clear what the Feast of the Passover refers to here. John may just mean that Jesus washed his disciples feet before the meal, though it appears that the washing occurred during the meal (Joh 13:4). It is interesting that John adds the word "feast" here. The synoptics referring to the Last Supper just say Passover. John says Passover elsewhere, but he uses the word "feast" in this context: that is they eat the Passover lamb before the feast. This suggests that John is referring to a separate meal.

In Leviticus God lists the feasts for the Israelites. Concerning Passover and Unleavened Bread we read,

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.” (Lev 23:5–8).

And in Numbers we read,

On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover, and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD. (Num 28:16–19).

Both Leviticus and Numbers specify a feast on the 15th day which is distinct from the Passover meal. There is a distinction in Leviticus between Passover and Unleavened Bread; yet they are both part of the same festival. And even though Numbers was written only several years later, by that time the phraseology had already become less distinct than Leviticus.

So it is likely that the Jews of the first century ate the Passover Lamb on the first day and had a feast on the next day, the day after the Passover lamb was eaten. And this latter meal is what John means by the term Passover Feast. This is especially so as the Passover meal was not a feast. It was a remembrance meal, a meal where God had specified a fixed menu.

At the time of Jesus' crucifixion the Passover meal was eaten on Thursday evening (after sunset) and there was to be a feast on Friday.

Monday quote

Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him

AW Tozer. Preparing for Jesus' Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope.

Monday quote

Few of the great tragedies of history were created by the village idiot, and many by the village genius.

Thomas Sowell

Monday quote

But the point of childrearing is not order or disorder but rather love. Order that serves love is a delight. Disorder for the sake of others is also a delight. Wisdom alone establishes the point of equipoise.

Douglas Wilson, My Life for Yours.

Monday quote

If you correct a bad attitude with a bad attitude, the lesson the child learns is not that bad attitudes are wrong. He learns that bad attitudes are wrong unless you have the upper hand. So then the kid clings sinfully to his bad attitude, and commences work on getting the upper hand.

Douglas Wilson, My Life for Yours.

The twelve apostles

The twelve disciples of Jesus, who are also called apostles, are named in the 3 synoptic gospels and Acts. There are minor differences in these lists (and some minor manuscript variations). The comparison of the passages reveals several insights.

Matthew lists the names of the disciples at the time Jesus sent them out, not at the time of their calling.

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Mat 10:1-6)

Mark writes of the calling of the disciples.

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. (Mar 3:13-20)

Luke also writes of the calling, and notes that this was after a night of prayer.

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. (Luk 6:12-18)

Luke again lists the disciples when they were choosing a replacement for Judas

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. (Act 1:12-16)

The disciples are listed in this order in the various books:

Matthew	Mark	Luke	Acts
Simon(1) (Peter)	Simon(1) (Peter)	Simon(1) (Peter)	Peter
Andrew	James(1)	Andrew	John
James(1)	John	James(1)	James(1)
John	Andrew	John	Andrew
Philip	Philip	Philip	Philip
Bartholomew	Bartholomew	Bartholomew	Thomas
Thomas	Matthew	Matthew	Bartholomew
Matthew	Thomas	Thomas	Matthew
James(2)	James(2)	James(2)	James(2)
Thaddaeus	Thaddaeus	Simon(2)	Simon(2)
Simon(2)	Simon(2)	Judas(1)	Judas(1)
Judas	Judas	Judas(2)	Judas(1)

Rearranging the table so the names align with Matthew we get

Matthew	Mark	Luke	Acts
Simon(1) (Peter)	Simon(1) (Peter)	Simon(1) (Peter)	Peter
Andrew	Andrew	Andrew	Andrew
James(1)	James(1)	James(1)	James(1)
John	John	John	John
Philip	Philip	Philip	Philip
Bartholomew	Bartholomew	Bartholomew	Bartholomew
Thomas	Thomas	Thomas	Thomas
Matthew	Matthew	Matthew	Matthew
James(2)	James(2)	James(2)	James(2)
Thaddaeus	Thaddaeus	Judas(1)	Judas(1)
Simon(2)	Simon(2)	Simon(2)	Simon(2)
Judas(2)	Judas(2)	Judas(2)	Judas(2)

Not unlike today, some people had more than one name. Matthew is also called Levi in Luke 5. Simon is renamed Peter by Jesus. Comparing the lists it is clear that Thaddaeus is Judas the son of James. We are not told why Judas also went by the name Thaddaeus, though the other Judas went on to betray Jesus and the son of James would not wish to be confused with him. Judas is the Greek form of the name Judah, a common name at the time.

This leads to another noteworthy aspect of the list. There are 2 Simons, 2 James', and 2 Judas'. They were common names. There are 11 different men named Simon mentioned in the New Testament*.

The top male names in first century Israel were:

1. Simon
2. Joseph
3. Lazarus
4. Judah
5. John
6. Joshua (Jesus)
7. Ananias
8. Jonathan
9. Matthew

The top nine female names were:

1. Mary
2. Salome
3. Shelamzion (related to Salome)
4. Martha
5. Joanna
6. Sapphira
7. Berenice
8. Imma
9. Mara

To prevent confusion disambiguators were used. The 4 lists of the disciples include disambiguators as the gospels also do elsewhere.

1. Simon who is called Peter
2. Simon the Zealot
3. James the son of Zebedee
4. James the son of Alphaeus
5. Judas the son of James
6. Judas Iscariot

Mark names all the disciples in a continuous list: Simon... and James... and John... and Andrew.... Luke does the same. But Matthew lists them in pairs.

First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; [and] James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Some manuscripts have an extra "and".

Matthew is pairing the names.

• Simon and Andrew
• James and John
• Philip and Bartholomew
• Thomas and Matthew
• James and Thaddaeus
• Simon and Judas

Matthew lists the disciples and pairs them within the pericope of Jesus sending out his twelve disciples to the Jews. While Matthew does not mention pairing specifically, we know from Mark that Jesus sent them out in pairs.

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. (Mar 6:7)

This also explains why Matthew puts Andrew next to Peter: Andrew was Peter's brother and were sent out together; but Peter, James and John are listed first in the other 3 lists as they were the inner circle of the disciples (consider the transfiguration).

In the pairing of Thomas and Matthew, Matthew writes his own name second. Yet in Mark and Luke Thomas is mentioned first. Matthew also calls himself Matthew the tax collector but this is not required as a disambiguator in this list nor is it included in the other 3 lists. These two aspects of Matthew's list are interesting: he is paired with Thomas yet names Thomas first (unlike Mark and Luke), and he adds an unnecessary descriptor which has very negative connotations (Mat 21:31; Luk 18:9). Tax-collectors were despised and considered (with good reason) to be dishonest. It would be like a woman labeling herself "Rachel the prostitute." The choice to list himself second in a specific pairing, and the use a derogatory label which was arguably unnecessary is suggestive that the author of the gospel was indeed humble Matthew.

---

*Simon and the variant Simeon in the New Testament

1. Simon Peter (the disciple)
2. Simon the Zealot (another disciple )
3. Simon the brother of Jesus
4. Simon the leper
5. Simon of Cyrene (who carried Jesus’ cross)
6. Simon the Pharisee
7. Simon Iscariot
8. Simon the sorcerer
9. Simon the tanner
10. Simeon (who blessed Jesus)
11. Simeon called Niger

Monday quote

Not even one mutation has been observed that adds a little information to the genome.

Lee Spetner

Monday quote

So the question isn’t “If God is perfectly loving, why would he allow all those people to die?”. Rather, we should marvel at the amazing love of God to save anyone, especially when the price was the death of the Son of God.

Lita Cosner.

Monday quote

The only lasting monuments of atheism are the gulags, Stalin’s execution lists, China’s Movement, the guillotine and French river of blood, the attempted Mexican extermination of Catholicism and other such monuments.

This is what groups that are explicitly atheist have done—these are their monuments. It is a fact so obvious that I knew it as such even when I was an atheist.

RJ Wizard

Monday quote

It’s pretty clear that he’s upset anyone is trying to understand his position—which must be a first for debate anywhere!

scrubone

Monday quote

Still less am I asking why petitions, and even the fervent petitions of holy men, are sometimes not granted. That has never seemed to me to be, in principle, a difficulty at all.  That wisdom must sometimes refuse what ignorance may quite innocently ask seems to be self-evident.

C.S. Lewis, "Petitionary Prayer: A Problem without an Answer", Christian Reflections.

What does saved through childbearing mean?

In his letter to Timothy Paul writes,

For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. (1Ti 2:13-14)

The context of this passage is praying in church with decorum. The outline of chapter 2 is,

1. Pray for all people including secular leaders;
2. in order that Christians may lead a quiet life;
3. God desires everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth;
4. men are to pray without quarreling;
5. women are to dress and behave modestly;
6. women should learn quietly and not exercise authority over a man.

Paul then writes the above statement and then discusses qualifications for elders and ministers.

It is not clear what Paul means. There have been several interpretations of what this passage means. Neither is it certain who the pronouns refer to. "She" is implicit in the verb "to save" and "they" is implicit in the verb "to continue." "She" may refer to a generic woman, such as those in the Corinthian church, or to Eve. "They" could refer generically to women, or to Adam and Eve, or to a husband and wife.

The NET Bible states,

“But she will be delivered through childbearing,” or “But she will be preserved through childbearing,” or “But she will be saved in spite of childbearing.” This verse is notoriously difficult to interpret, though there is general agreement about one point: Verse 15 is intended to lessen the impact of vv. 13-14. There are several interpretive possibilities here, though the first three can be readily dismissed (cf. D. Moo, “1 Timothy 2:11-15: Meaning and Significance,” TJ 1 [1980]: 70-73).

1. Christian women will be saved, but only if they bear children. This view is entirely unlikely for it lays a condition on Christian women that goes beyond grace, is unsupported elsewhere in scripture, and is explicitly against Paul’s and Jesus’ teaching on both marriage and salvation (cf. Matt 19:12; 1 Cor 7:8-9, 26-27, 34-35; 1 Tim 5:3-10).
   
2. Despite the curse, Christian women will be kept safe when bearing children. This view also is unlikely, both because it has little to do with the context and because it is not true to life (especially life in the ancient world with its high maternal mortality rate while giving birth).
   
3. Despite the sin of Eve and the results to her progeny, she would be saved through the childbirth—that is, through the birth of the Messiah, as promised in the protevangelium (Gen 3:15). This view sees the singular “she” as referring first to Eve and then to all women (note the change from singular to plural in this verse). Further, it works well in the context. However, there are several problems with it:
   
   
   1. The future tense (σωθήσηται, sōthēsētai) is unnatural if referring to the protevangelium or even to the historical fact of the Messiah’s birth;
   2. that only women are singled out as recipients of salvation seems odd since the birth of the Messiah was necessary for the salvation of both women and men;
   3. as ingenious as this view is, its very ingenuity is its downfall, for it is overly subtle; and
   4. the term τεκνογονία (teknogonia) refers to the process of childbirth rather than the product. And since it is the person of the Messiah (the product of the birth) that saves us, the term is unlikely to be used in the sense given it by those who hold this view.
   
   There are three other views that have greater plausibility:
4. This may be a somewhat veiled reference to the curse of Gen 3:16 in order to clarify that though the woman led the man into transgression (v. 14b), she will be saved spiritually despite this physical reminder of her sin. The phrase is literally “through childbearing,” but this does not necessarily denote means or instrument here. Instead it may show attendant circumstance (probably with a concessive force): “with, though accompanied by” (cf. BDAG 224 s.v. δία A.3.c; Rom 2:27; 2 Cor 2:4; 1 Tim 4:14).
   
5. “It is not through active teaching and ruling activities that Christian women will be saved, but through faithfulness to their proper role, exemplified in motherhood” (Moo, 71). In this view τεκνογονία is seen as a synecdoche in which child-rearing and other activities of motherhood are involved. Thus, one evidence (though clearly not an essential evidence) of a woman’s salvation may be seen in her decision to function in this role.
   
6. The verse may point to some sort of proverbial expression now lost, in which “saved” means “delivered” and in which this deliverance was from some of the devastating effects of the role reversal that took place in Eden. The idea of childbearing, then, is a metonymy of part for the whole that encompasses the woman’s submission again to the leadership of the man, though it has no specific soteriological import (but it certainly would have to do with the outworking of redemption).

The Lexham Study Bible states,

saved through the bearing of children The exact meaning of this statement is uncertain. Paul may mean that women will be saved because Jesus, the savior of the world, was born of a woman (see Gal 4:4). Alternatively, he may be arguing that women will be saved because a woman helped bring about the defeat of the devil (see Gen 3:15). Or, he may be saying that women will be saved from doing evil things by bearing children. Some of the Ephesian women may have been behaving in a manner that led them to neglect what was commonly viewed at the time as their household responsibilities. These women may have been influenced by new cultural trends about women and the false teachers’ negative views on marriage (1 Tim 4:3; compare 5:14; note on vv. 8–15; note on vv. 11–15). If these factors are in view, Paul’s reference to childbirth may represent a woman’s acceptance of what was considered her proper role within the household unit.

The ESV Study Bible states,

This is a notoriously difficult-to-understand verse. Paul clearly does not believe people can be saved in the sense of earning justification through childbearing or any other means (e.g., Eph. 2:8–9). But the NT can also use the term “saved” (Gk. sōzō) in the sense of progressively coming to experience all the aspects of salvation. In that sense, “salvation” is ongoing (see note on Phil. 2:12–13). A similar view is that “saved” can be understood as referring especially to the endurance and perseverance in faith that is necessary for eternal salvation (cf. Matt. 10:22; 24:13; etc.). People are saved as they persevere (continue) in the faith to carry out the Lord’s calling in their life, one example being the unique role of women in childbearing. (The change from singular she to plural they is a literal rendering of the Gk. text.)

Childbearing is likely a synecdoche, if refers to all the roles of motherhood. I think it possible that Paul is reassuring women here. He is not so much stating that childbearing is a means to salvation, rather that a mother may think that raising children is not overtly spiritual and thus question whether she is doing the activities appropriate for one who is saved. A mother may be taking care of what appears to be the mundane, bearing and raising children, not something that seems more spiritual like ministering or teaching within the church. Paul is reassuring such a woman that even if she is only involved in raising her children she still will be saved. Though he reminds women that within this role they must remain faithful to God: they must continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Monday quote

The philosophy that you should come to the evidence without a philosophy is itself a philosophy.

Jason Lisle