Scripture Study

The Gospel, this week, presents both a call to conversion for the self-righteous and an assurance of acceptance for repentant sinners. We are invited to ask ourselves which of the brothers are we like. In the second reading, Paul urges us to live in harmony with one another by placing others needs ahead of our own. We are to ask how well we do that and how well we imitate the example of Christ. He then quotes a hymn of praise which exclaims the exaltation of Christ resulting from His self-emptying. In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel insists that we are each responsible for our actions before God. Each of us must ask ourselves, do we seek to sidestep the blame and place it on circumstances or others when the choice is plainly our own.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 18:25-28 This entire chapter of Ezekiel is in question and answer format and produces a rhetorical effect much like a legal trial. This chapter also challenges the, then common, corporate view of sin which would require children to suffer for the sins of their parents, and all those in a village to suffer for the sins of a few of their number. Ezekiel insisted on individual responsibility for sin, and without denying the corporate aspect of sin he attempted to balance it against individual responsibility.

* 18:28 Sins of the past are less significant than the conversion of the present because of God's attitude as expressed in verses 22, and 32. He wishes that all might live.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 2:5 Paul calls us to follow the pattern of Christ not only in His behavior as a man but in the entire Christ event. Our behavior toward each other should reflect our relationship with Jesus and our true relationship with each other that stems from it.

* 2:6 Verses 6-11 are thought by most scholars to be a Christian hymn that Paul quotes at length with some of his own modifications to the lyrics.

* In verses 6-8 the subject of the short rhythmic lines is Christ while in verses 9-11 the subject is God. It follows the pattern of humiliation and then exaltation.

* The hymn can be divided into six three-line stanzas or into three stanzas. Additions like "even death on a cross" (8c) are thought by many to be Paul's additions (10c and 11c).

* Here in verse 6 there is an allusion to Adam's desire to be like God (Gen 3:5-6) in contrast to Jesus' self-emptying.

* The language in the original probably owes something to proverbial sayings of the day concerning "exploiting something for one's own (selfish) advantage." That would explain some of the difficulties found here such as grasping at something He already had and the use of a word only attested elsewhere in the active sense of robbery.

* 2:7 vv. 6 and 7 are commonly taken to refer to the preexistence of the Son and v 8 to the incarnate life making lines 7b and c parallel. It is not absolutely necessary to do so. Vv 6-8 can be taken as two parallel stanzas dealing with Christ's earthly life. See John 17:5; Matt 20:28

* 2:8 This verse may reflect the language of Isaiah concerning the suffering servant, (Isa 52:13-53:12) especially Isa 53:12.

* The name referred to is "Lord" which as the common word for God revealed the true identity and nature of the one named.

* 2-10 The three levels of the universe as recognized by the ancient world are all depicted as under the dominion of the one "Lord" using the language of Isa 45:23.

* 2:11 "Jesus Christ is Lord" is a common early Christian acclamation (1 Cor 12:3, Rom 10:9). The hymn ends with a doxology to the Father in v. 11c.

NOTES on Gospel:

* 21:28-32 This is the first of three parables on the judgment of Israel that interrupt the series of five controversies found in Matthew 21:23-22:46. The controversies are presented in the form of questions and answers. This parable is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. Verses 21:28-30 could simply indicate the difference between saying and doing, which is an important theme in this gospel (see Matthew 7:21; 12:50) and that may indeed have been the parable's original point. However, the addition of verses 21:31-32 give it a significantly more specific application to the few verses just preceding it. In fact the parable has been called a commentary on 21:23-27. The two sons represent, not the difference between Jews and Gentiles, but rather, the difference between the religious leaders who rejected John's call to conversion and the religious outcasts who accepted John's call to repentance. The textual tradition of the parable is very confusing. Three different forms of the text are given by important textual witnesses. One of them has the leaders answer that the son who agreed to go but did not was the one who did the father's will. The choice for the original text probably lies only between a reading that reverses the order in which the two sons are described (followed in a few English translations) , and the reading followed here. The evidence for the order followed here is slightly better than that for the reversed order.

* 21:31 This saying of Jesus probably means "they enter; you do not." Obedient faith is the final test for Matthew. It is a shocking statement that what the observant Jews called the "ignorant and unclean sinners (am ha' ares)" are to enter the kingdom ahead of the others and yet it is at the very heart of the Gospel message (See Luke 7:29-30).

* 21:32 See Luke 7:29-30. The thought is similar to that of the Lucan text, but the formulation is so different that it is improbable that the saying comes from previous traditional sources and may represent Matthew's unique way of speaking. Way of righteousness could have several meanings: that John himself was righteous, that he taught righteousness to others, or that he had an important place in God's plan of salvation.

"Way of righteousness" is a term common in the wisdom literature of Israel (Prov 8:20; 12:28; Psalm 23:3). Righteousness seems to mean the saving activity of God. One fulfills righteousness by submitting to the plan of God for the salvation of the human race.