UPPER ROOM DAILY REFLECTIONS: daily words of wisdom and faith “Growing Closer to God” MONDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2014
Today’s Reflection:
IF WE WANT to progress along the spiritual path, we have to deal with the harm that we have caused other people. This will mean acknowledging our broken and bruised relationships, taking responsibility for the part we have played in them, and making whatever amends are necessary. …
There are strong biblical reasons for taking this step. The New Testament writers were convinced that it is almost impossible to grow spiritually if we do not do something about the ways in which we have harmed others. They understood that we cannot have one posture toward God and another toward people. We cannot, for example, say that we want to grow closer to God, yet remain closed off to our brother or sister.-~Trevor Hudson~One Day at a Time
From page 82 of One Day at a Time: Discovering the Freedom of 12-Step Spirituality by Trevor Hudson. Copyright © 2007 by Trevor Hudson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
What can you do to make a stronger connection between your love of God and love of neighbor?
Today’s Scripture:
You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.~~Leviticus 19:17, NRSV
This Week: pray for someone carrying a heavy burden.
UPPER ROOM DAILY REFLECTIONS: daily words of wisdom and faith “Surprise Me Today” for Sunday, 16 FEBRUARY 2014
Today’s Reflection:
I like surprises that make me smile inside –
out-of-the-blue moments that give a boost to dry routine.
Like a sudden burst of warm sunshine on a blustery afternoon,
an unexpected hug from a giggling toddler,
or an old friend standing at my door with a loaf of warm bread and two plates.
Simple blessings that lift me up.
Things that remind me it’s good to be alive.
You have scattered surprises throughout my days, God.
I need only to open my eyes and ears.
. . . Help me to discover more surprises today,
And teach me to accept them with a grateful heart.~-Missy Buchanan~Talking with God in Old Age
out-of-the-blue moments that give a boost to dry routine.
Like a sudden burst of warm sunshine on a blustery afternoon,
an unexpected hug from a giggling toddler,
or an old friend standing at my door with a loaf of warm bread and two plates.
Simple blessings that lift me up.
Things that remind me it’s good to be alive.
You have scattered surprises throughout my days, God.
I need only to open my eyes and ears.
. . . Help me to discover more surprises today,
And teach me to accept them with a grateful heart.~-Missy Buchanan~Talking with God in Old Age
From pages 46-47 of Talking with God in Old Age: Meditations and Psalmsby Missy Buchanan. Copyright ©2010 by Missy Buchanan. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
What surprises has God scattered throughout your days recently?
Today’s Scripture:
But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.~~Matthew 5:34-37, NRSV
This Week: pray for those who are hungry.
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Did You Know?
Pray your way through Lent in The Upper Room’s online Lenten retreatfeaturing Pamela Hawkins’s The Awkward Season. Log in anytime from anywhere to access audio, video, readings, and group discussion that will enliven and deepen your Lenten prayer practice. Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday.
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This week we remember: Polycarp (February 23).
Polycarp lived between 70 and 155 A.D., and was a disciple of St. John so he heard firsthand accounts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. He embraced Christianity at a young age. Polycarp became one of the most important Christian leaders of the early church as Bishop of Smyrna. He was one of the first Christians whose writing (Letter to the Philippians) survives.
After decades of serving as Bishop, Polycarp was arrested at the age of eighty-six. To save his life he had only to say that Caesar was Lord and to denounce Christ. He refused. "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" Because he stayed true to his Christian faith, Polycarp was burned alive. Some who saw the execution said that the fire made a wall around the martyr's body and did not burn him. A soldier stabbed him to death.
If Polycarp had taken the Spiritual Types Test he probably would have been a lover. Polycarp is remembered on February 23.
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
5th Sunday after the Epiphany - Green
Isaiah 58: False and True Worship
1 “Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
and oppress all your workers.
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.
you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.
“If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 58:3 Or pursue your own business
Psalm 112: Blessings of the Righteous
Praise the Lord!
1 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
1 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house;
and his righteousness endures for ever.
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 Light rises in the darkness for the upright;
the Lord[a] is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
the Lord[a] is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered for ever.
he will be remembered for ever.
7 He is not afraid of evil tidings;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady, he will not be afraid,
until he sees his desire on his adversaries.
until he sees his desire on his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
his righteousness endures for ever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked man comes to nought.
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked man comes to nought.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 112:4 Gk: Heb lacks the Lord
1 Corinthians 2: Proclaiming Christ Crucified
1 When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[a] of God in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.[b] 3 And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
The True Wisdom of God
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”
10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Other ancient authorities read mystery (or secret)
b. 2.1-2 Paul’s failure at Athens convinced him that lofty words and worldly wisdom were less effective than Jesus crucified.
Matthew 5: Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The Law and the Prophets
17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.[a] 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Footnotes:
a. 5.17 Jesus came to bring the old law to its natural fulfilment in the new, while discarding what had become obsolete; cf. Jn 4.21.
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JOHN WESLEY’S NOTES/COMMENTARY
Isaiah 58:1-12
LVIII The hypocrisy of the Jews, in their fasts, ver. 1-5. A true fast described, ver. 6, 7. Promises to Godliness, ver. 8-12. To the keeping of the sabbath, ver. 13, 14.
Verse 2. Yet - They cover all their wickedness with a profession of religion. Delight - There are many men who take some pleasure in knowing God's will and word, and yet do not conform their lives to it. As - As if they were a righteous people. Forsook - As if they were not guilty of any apostacy from God, or disobedience to God's precepts. Ask - As if they resolved to observe them. In approaching - In coming to my temple to hear my word, and to offer sacrifices.
Verse 3. Afflicted - Defrauded our appetites with fasting, of which this phrase is used, Levit xvi, 29. Ye find - Either you indulge yourselves in sensuality, as they did, chap. xxii, 13. But this does not agree with that afflicting of their souls which they now professed, and which God acknowledges; or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain from bodily food, you do not mortify your sinful inclinations. Exact - Your money, got by your labour, and lent to others, either for their need or your own advantage, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigor, when either the general law of charity, or God's particular law, commanded the release, or at least the forbearance of them.
Verse 4. Behold - Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a special manner to implore the mercy of God, and to shew compassion tomen, you employ in injuring or quarrelling with your brethren, your servants or debtors, or in contriving mischief against them. Heard - In strife and debate. By way of ostentation.
Verse 5. Chosen - Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse. For a day - This may be understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his soul in, and that either from even to even, Lev. xxiii, 32, or from morning to evening, or for a little time. Wilt thou call - Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It being such an one as has nothing in it, but the dumb signs of a fast, nothing of deep humiliation appearing in it, or, real reformation proceeding from it. Acceptable day - A day that Godwill approve of.
Verse 6. The bands - The cruel obligations of usury and oppression.
Verse 7. Cast out - And thereby become wanderers, having no abiding place. To thy house - That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a shelter to them that have none of their own left. Hide not - That seek no occasion to excuse thyself. Thy own flesh - Some confine this to our own kindred; but we can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succor him. Therefore feed him as thou wouldest feed thyself, or be fed; shelter him as thou wouldest shelter thyself, or be sheltered; clothe him as thou wouldest clothe thyself, or be clothed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his circumstances.
Verse 8. Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth - It shall not only appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all difficulties, as the sun breaks, and pierces through a cloud. Thy health - Another metaphor to express the same thing. Righteousness - The reward of thy righteousness. Before thee - As the morning-star goes before the sun. The glory - His glorious power and providence. Thy rereward - Thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
Verse 9. Answer - He will give an effectual demonstration, that he hears thee. Here l am - A phrase that notes a person to be ready athand to help. Take away - From among you. The yoke - All those pressures and grievances before mentioned. Putting forth - Done by way of scoff, or disdainful insulting. Vanity - Any kind of evil words.
Verse 10. Draw out - Or, open, as when we open a store, to satisfy the wants of the needy. Thy soul - Thy affection, thy pity and compassion. Thy darkness - In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou shalt have comfort.
Verse 11. Guide thee - Like a shepherd. And he adds continually to shew that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short continuance, but all along as it was to Israel in the wilderness. Satisfy - Thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity. Make fat - This may be spoken in opposition to the sad effects of famine, whereby the flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick out. A garden - If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a well-watered garden, always flourishing. Fail not - Hebrew. deceive not, a metaphor which farther notes also the continuance of this flourishing state, which will not be like a land-flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with drought. Thou shalt be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail.
Verse 12. They shall be of thee - Thy posterity. Waste places - Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to come. The breach - Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished. Paths - Those paths that led from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds. To dwell in - These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be re-inhabited.
Psalm 112:1-10
PS 112 This also is an alphabetical psalm. We have here the character and blessedness of the righteous, ver. 1-9. The iniquity of the wicked, ver. 10.
Verse 2. Generation - The posterity.
Verse 3. Righteousness - The fruit or reward of his righteousness, which is God's blessing upon his estate.
Verse 5. Lendeth - Gives freely to some, and lends to others according to the variety of their conditions. Affairs - His domestick affairs. Discretion - Not getting his estate unjustly, nor casting it away prodigally, nor yet withholding it from such as need it.
Verse 6. Moved - Though he may for a season be afflicted, yet he shall not be eternally destroyed.
Verse 7. Evil tidings - At the report of approaching calamities.
Verse 9. Dispersed - His goods, freely and liberally. Righteousness - His liberality, or the reward of it. Ever - What he gives is not lost, but indeed is the only part of his estate, which will abide with him to all eternity.
Verse 10. The desire - Either of the misery of good men; or of his own constant prosperity.
1 Corinthians 1:1-16
Verse 1. Paul, called to be an apostle - There is great propriety in every clause of the salutation, particularly in this, as there were some in the church of Corinth who called the authority of his mission in question. Through the will of God - Called "the commandment ofGod," 1 Tim. i, 1 This was to the churches the ground of his authority; to Paul himself, of an humble and ready mind. By the mention ofGod, the authority of man is excluded, Gal. i, 1; by the mention of the will of God, the merit of Paul, chap. xv, 8, &c. And Sosthenes - A Corinthian, St. Paul's companion in travel. It was both humility and prudence in the apostle, thus to join his name with his own, in an epistle wherein he was to reprove so many irregularities. Sosthenes the brother - Probably this word is emphatical; as if he had said, Who, from a Jewish opposer of the gospel, became a faithful brother.
Verse 2. To the church of God which is in Corinth - St. Paul, writing in a familiar manner to the Corinthians, as also to the Thessalonians and Galatians, uses this plain appellation. To the other churches he uses a more solemn address. Sanctified through Jesus Christ - And so undoubtedly they were in general, notwithstanding some exceptions. Called - Of Jesus Christ, Rom. i, 6 And - As the fruit of that calling made holy. With all that in every place - Nothing could better suit that catholic love which St. Paul labours to promote in this epistle, than such a declaration of his good wishes for every true Christian upon earth. Call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - This plainly implies that all Christians pray to Christ, as well as to the Father through him.
Verse 4. Always - Whenever I mention you to God in prayer.
Verse 5. In all utterance and knowledge - Of divine things. These gifts the Corinthians particularly admired. Therefore this congratulation naturally tended to soften their spirits, and I make way for the reproofs which follow.
Verse 6. The testimony of Christ - The gospel. Was confirmed among you - By these gifts attending it. They knew they had received these by the hand of Paul: and this consideration was highly proper, to revive in them their former reverence and affection for their spiritual father.
Verse 7. Waiting - With earnest desire. For the glorious Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ - A sure mark of a true or false Christian, to long for, or dread, this Revelation.
Verse 8. Who will also - if you faithfully apply to him. Confirm you to the end. In the day of Christ - Now it is our day, wherein we are towork out our salvation; then it will be eminently the day of Christ, and of his glory in the saints.
Verse 9. God is faithful - To all his promises; and therefore "to him that hath shall be given." By whom ye are called - A pledge of his willingness to save you unto the uttermost.
Verse 10. Now I exhort you - Ye have faith and hope; secure love also. By the endearing name of our Lord Jesus Christ - lnfinitely preferable to all the human names in which ye glory. That ye all speak the same thing - They now spoke different things, ver. 12 And that there be no schisms among you - No alienation of affection from each other. Is this word ever taken in any other sense in scripture? But that ye be joined in the same mind - Affections, desires. And judgment - Touching all the grand truths of the gospel.
Verse 11. It hath been declared to me by them of the family of Chloe - Whom some suppose to have been the wife of Stephanas, and the mother of Fortunatus and Achaicus. By these three the Corinthians had sent their letter to St. Paul, chap. xvi, 17. That there are contentions - A word equivalent with schisms in the preceding verse.
Verse 12. Now this I say - That is, what I mean is this: there are various parties among you, who set themselves, one against an other, in behalf of the several teachers they admire. And I of Christ - They spoke well, if they had not on this pretense despised their teachers, chap. iv, 8 Perhaps they valued themselves on having heard Christ preach in his own person.
Verse 13. Is Christ divided - Are not all the members still under one head? Was not he alone crucified for you all; and were ye not allbaptized in his name? The glory of Christ then is not to be divided between him and his servants; neither is the unity of the body to be torn asunder, seeing Christ is one still.
Verse 14. I thank God - (A pious phrase for the common one, "I rejoice,") that, in the course of his providence, I baptized none of you, but Crispus, once the ruler of the synagogue, and Caius.
Verse 15. Lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name - In order to attach them to myself.
Verse 16. I know not - That is, it does not at present occur to my memory, that I baptized any other.
Matthew 5:13-20
Verse 13. Ye - Not the apostles, not ministers only; but all ye who are thus holy, are the salt of the earth - Are to season others. Mark ix, 50; Luke xiv, 34.
Verse 14. Ye are the light of the world - If ye are thus holy, you can no more be hid than the sun in the firmament: no more than a city on a mountain - Probably pointing to that on the brow of the opposite hill.
Verse 15. Nay, the very design of God in giving you this light was, that it might shine. Mark iv, 21; Luke viii, 16; xi, 33.
Verse 16. That they may see - and glorify - That is, that seeing your good works, they may be moved to love and serve God likewise.
Verse 17. Think not - Do not imagine, fear, hope, that I am come - Like your teachers, to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy - The moral law, but to fulfil - To establish, illustrate, and explain its highest meaning, both by my life and doctrine.
Verse 18. Till all things shall be effected - Which it either requires or foretells. For the law has its effect, when the rewards are given, and the punishments annexed to it inflicted, as well as when its precepts are obeyed. Luke xvi, 17; xxi, 33.
Verse 19. One of the least - So accounted by men; and shall teach - Either by word or example; shall be the least - That is, shall have no part therein.
Verse 20. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees - Described in the sequel of this discourse.
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Lectionary Readings:
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
11 “‘You shall not steal.
“‘You shall not lie.
“‘You shall not deceive one another.
12 “‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
13 “‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him.
“‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14 “‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
15 “‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
16 “‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people.
“‘You shall not endanger the life[a] of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
17 “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
Footnotes:
a. Leviticus 19:16 literally, “blood”
Psalm 119: HEY
33 Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes.
I will keep them to the end.
I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law.
Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in them.
for I delight in them.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes,
not toward selfish gain.
not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Revive me in your ways.
Revive me in your ways.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
that you may be feared.
that you may be feared.
39 Take away my disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
for your ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts!
Revive me in your righteousness.
Revive me in your righteousness.
1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
16 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”[a] 20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”[b]21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Footnotes:
Matthew 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[b] and hate your enemy.’[c] 44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors[d] do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Footnotes:
b. Matthew 5:43 Leviticus 19:18
c. Matthew 5:43 not in the Bible, but see Qumran Manual of Discipline Ix, 21-26
d. Matthew 5:47 NU reads “Gentiles” instead of “tax collectors”.
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John Wesley’s Notes/Commentary for
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
XIX Various Precepts to be holy, ver. 1, 2. To honour parents and sabbaths, ver.
3. To shun idolatry, ver. 4. Duty to eat their peace-offering, ver. 5- 8. To leave gleanings for the poor, ver. 9, 10. Not to steal, lie, swear falsely, or defraud, ver. 11-13. Not to curse the deaf, or put a stumbling-block before the blind, ver. 14. Not to judge unjustly, carry tales, orbear false witness, ver. 15, 16. To reprove sinners, not to revenge themselves; to love their neighbours, ver. 17, 18. Not to mix different things, ver. 19. Not to lie with their bond- maids, ver. 20-22. Not to eat of the fruit of the land for four years, ver. 23-25. Not to eat blood, use enchantments, or heathen customs, ver. 26-28. Or prostitute their daughters, ver. 29. To reverence God and his sanctuary, ver. 30. Not to regard wizards, ver. 31. To honour the aged, ver. 32. Love and right the stranger, ver. 33, 34. Do no injustice, ver. 34,
35, 36.
Verse 2. Be ye holy - Separated from all the forementioned defilements, and entirely consecrated to God and obedient to all his laws. I am holy - Both in my essence, and in all my laws, which are holy and just and good.
Verse 10. I am the Lord your God - Who gave you all these things with a reservation of my right in them, and with a charge of giving part of them to the poor.
Verse 12. Ye shall not swear falsely - This is added, to shew how one sin draws on another, and that when men will lye for their own advantage, they will easily be induced to perjury. Profane the name - By any unholy use of it. So it is an additional precept, thou shalt not abuse my holy name by swearing either falsely or rashly.
Verse 14. Before the blind - To make them fall. Under these two particulars are manifestly forbidden all injuries done to such as are unable to right or defend themselves; of whom God here takes the more care, because they are not able to secure themselves. Fear thyGod - Who both can and will avenge them.
Verse 15. The poor - So as through pity to him to give an unrighteous sentence.
Verse 16. Stand against the blood - In judgment as a false accuser or false witness, for accusers and witnesses use to stand, whilst the Judges sit in courts of judicature.
Verse 17. Thou shalt not hate - As thou dost, in effect, if thou dost not rebuke him. Thy brother - The same as thy neighbour, that is, every man. If thy brother hath done wrong, thou shalt neither divulge it to others, nor hate him, and smother that hatred by sullen silence; nor flatter him therein, but shalt freely and in love, tell him of his fault. And not suffer sin upon him - Not suffer him to lie under the guilt of any sin, which thou by rebuking him, and thereby bringing him to repentance, couldst free him from.
Verse 18. Thy neighbour - Every man, as plainly appears,
Psalm 119:33-40
Verse 36. Covetousness - He mentions this in particular, because it is most opposite to God's testimonies, and does most commonly hinder men from receiving his word, and from profiting by it: and because it is most pernicious, as being the root of all evil.
Verse 37. Vanity - The vain things of this present world, such as riches, honours, pleasures: from beholding them, with desire or affection. Quicken - Make me lively, vigourous and fervent in thy service.
Verse 38. Stablish - Confirm and perform thy promises.
Verse 39. I fear - For my instability in thy ways; which in respect to my own weakness, I have great cause to fear.
Verse 40. Longed - After a more solid knowledge and constant performance of them. In - According to thy faithfulness.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23
Verse 10. According to the grace of God given to me - This he premises, lest he should seem to ascribe it to himself. Let every one take heed how he buildeth thereon - That all his doctrines may be consistent with the foundation.
Verse 11. For other foundation - On which the whole church: and all its doctrines, duties, and blessings may be built. Can no man lay than what is laid - In the counsels of divine wisdom, in the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, in the preaching of theapostles, St. Paul in particular. Which is Jesus Christ - Who, in his person and offices, is the firm, immovable Rock of Ages, every way sufficient to bear all the weight that God himself, or the sinner, when he believes, can lay upon him.
Verse 16. Ye - All Christians. Are the temple of God - The most noble kind of building, ver. 9.
Verse 17. If any man destroy the temple of God - Destroy a real Christian, by schisms, or doctrines fundamentally wrong. Him shallGod destroy - He shall not be saved at all; not even as through the fire."
Verse 18. Let him become a fool in this world - Such as the world accounts so. That he may become wise - In God's account.
Verse 19. For all the boasted wisdom of the world is mere foolishness in the sight of God. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness - Not only while they think they are acting wisely, but by their very wisdom, which itself is their snare, and the occasion of their destruction.Job v, 13.
Verse 20. That they are but vain - Empty, foolish; they and all their thoughts. Psalm xciv, 11.
Verse 21. Therefore - Upon the whole. Let none glory in men - So as to divide into parties on their account. For all things are yours - and we in particular. We are not your lords, but rather your servants.
Verse 22. Whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas - We are all equally yours, to serve you for Christ's sake. Or the world - This leap from Peter to the world greatly enlarges the thought, and argues a kind of impatience of enumerating the rest. Peter and every one in the wholeworld, however excellent in gifts, or grace, or office, are also your servants for Christ's sake. Or life, or death - These, with all their various circumstances, are disposed as will be most for your advantage. Or things present - On earth. Or things to come - In heaven. Contend, therefore, no more about these little things; but be ye united in love, as ye are in blessings.
Verse 23. And ye are Christ's - His property, his subjects. his members. And Christ is God's - As Mediator, he refers all his services to his Father's glory.
Matthew 5:38-48
Verse 38. Ye have heard - Our Lord proceeds to enforce such meekness and love on those who are persecuted for righteousness'sake (which he pursues to the end of the chapter) as were utterly unknown to the scribes and Pharisees. It hath been said - In the law, as a direction to Judges, in ease of violent and barbarous assaults. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth - And this has been interpreted, as encouraging bitter and rigorous revenge. Deut. xix, 21.
Verse 39. But I say unto you, that ye resist not the evil man - Thus; the Greek word translated resist signifies standing in battle array, striving for victory. If a man smite thee on the right cheek - Return not evil for evil: yea, turn to him the other - Rather than revenge thyself.
40, 41. Where the damage is not great, choose rather to suffer it, though possibly it may on that account be repeated, than to demand aneye for an eye, to enter into a rigorous prosecution of the offender. The meaning of the whole passage seems to be, rather than return evil for evil, when the wrong is purely personal, submit to one bodily wrong after another, give up one part of your goods after another, submit to one instance of compulsion after another. That the words are not literally to be understood, appears from the behaviour of our Lord himself, John xviii, 22,
Verse 42. Thus much for your behaviour toward the violent. As for those who use milder methods, Give to him that asketh thee - Give and lend to any so far, (but no further, for God never contradicts himself) as is consistent with thy engagements to thy creditors, thyfamily, and the household of faith. Luke vi, 30.
Verse 43. Thou shalt love thy neighbour; And hate thy enemy - God spoke the former part; the scribes added the latter. Lev. xix, 18.
Verse 44. Bless them that curse you - Speak all the good you can to and of them, who speak all evil to and of you. Repay love in thought, word, and deed, to those who hate you, and show it both in word and deed. Luke vi, 27, 35.
Verse 45. That ye may be the children - That is, that ye may continue and appear such before men and angels. For he maketh his sunto rise - He gives them such blessings as they will receive at his hands. Spiritual blessings they will not receive.
Verse 46. The publicans - were officers of the revenue, farmers, or receivers of the public money: men employed by the Roman to gather the taxes and customs, which they exacted of the nations they had conquered. These were generally odious for their extortion and oppression, and were reckoned by the Jews as the very scum of the earth.
Verse 47. And if ye salute your friends only - Our Lord probably glances at those prejudices, which different sects had against each other, and intimates, that he would not have his followers imbibe that narrow spirit. Would to God this had been more attended to among the unhappy divisions and subdivisions, into which his Church has been crumbled! And that we might at least advance so far, as cordially to embrace our brethren in Christ, of whatever party or denomination they are!
Verse 48. Therefore ye shall be perfect; as your Father who is in heaven is perfect - So the original runs, referring to all that holiness which is described in the foregoing verses, which our Lord in the beginning of the chapter recommends as happiness, and in the close of it as perfection. And how wise and gracious is this, to sum up, and, as it were, seal all his commandments with a promise! Even the properpromise of the Gospel! That he will put those laws in our minds, and write them in our hearts! He well knew how ready our unbelief would be to cry out, this is impossible! And therefore stakes upon it all the power, truth, and faithfulness of him to whom all things are possible
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