Romans, Part 54

To continue my attempt to view—Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord[1]—as a definition of love (ἀγάπη) rather than as rules, I’ll turn to the next item on the table I constructed: Love is…not self-serving[2] (οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς; literally, “not seek itself”).

If someone owns a hundred sheep, Jesus said, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for (ζητεῖ, a form of ζητέω) the one that went astray?[3] He made it clear He was not talking only about sheep and shepherds.  Looking at children, He added, In the same way, your Father in heaven is not (οὐκ, a form of οὐ; the absolute negation[4]) willing (θέλημα) that one of these little ones be lost[5] (ἀπόληται, a form of ἀπόλλυμι).  This is Jesus’ expression of David’s confidence, Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days[6]

Still, I began to wonder in what sense the Father seeking his own was not self-serving or love seeking itself. I found a satisfying distinction in the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand men plus women and children.

Matthew

Mark Luke

John

Now when Jesus heard [about John the Baptist’s death] he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place.

Matthew 14:13a (NET)

Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.  He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat).  So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place.

Mark 6:30-32 (NET)

When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done.  Then he took them with him and they withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.[7]

Luke 9:10 (NET)

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee[8] (also called the Sea of Tiberias).

John 6:1 (NET)

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John took pains to place the story in space and time. In Matthew’s Gospel narrative Jesus went to an isolated place after He heard of John the Baptist’s death.[9] John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.[10]  Mark pointed out that this coincided with the return of the twelve,[11] the apostles Jesus had sent out two by two.  The purpose of this trip was rest and relaxation for the twelve and perhaps a moment for Jesus to grieve over the beheading of his cousin.  Luke added the destination, Bethsaida, and John added the body of water traversed, the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias).

John didn’t mention the apostles’ return (or that they were sent out for that matter). John didn’t make much of John the Baptist’s death.  He was still alive in chapter three[12] and spoken of in the past tense in chapter five.[13]  John set the story conceptually, if you will.

The fifth chapter of John’s Gospel account begins with a curious healing. A man lay by a pool in Jerusalem, believing apparently that if he were first to enter its waters after they were stirred up[14] (ταραχθῇ, a form of ταράσσω) he would be healed.  At least, that’s how his answer to Jesus question— Do you want to become well?[15]—sounds to me.[16]  Jesus healed him apparently by simple command (John 5:8, 9 NET):

Jesus said to him, “Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk” [Table].  Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking.  (Now that day was a Sabbath.)

Perhaps I should see this as a living expression of God’s grace as totally unmerited favor, but I can’t help but see Jesus as provocateur here, since the most important part of this story is the parenthetical—Now that day was a Sabbath.

When the religious leaders saw the man walking carrying his mat on the Sabbath, they said, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted (οὐκ ἔξεστιν) to carry your mat.”[17]

“The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”[18]

“Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?”[19]

The man didn’t know Jesus, nor could he point Him out, since He had slipped out[20] among the crowd gathered in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast.[21]  After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.”  The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him [Table].[22]

John had a long lifetime to consider with the Holy Spirit what Jesus had said and done before he wrote his Gospel narrative. He related this story of the healing of a man by a command to break the Sabbath (as the religious authorities interpreted the Law) a man so ignorant of Jesus he could not even implicate Him when the religious authorities questioned him.  So Jesus met him again in the temple, all to orchestrate an opportunity for Jesus to say to the religious authorities, My Father is working until now, and I too am working.[23]

The religious authorities reacted exactly as one would expect religious authorities to react when confronted with a knowledge of God superior to their own, if the religious authorities in question were self-serving rather than God-serving: For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.[24]

Jesus had a lot more to say to these religious authorities (John 5:19-23 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing.  For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.  For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.  Furthermore, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω) anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις) to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

I can do nothing more than listen to Yahweh come in human flesh speaking to religious authorities, THE religious authorities of the only religion ever authorized by the One living and true God (John 5:24-30 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται; literally, “into judgment is not coming”), but has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming (ἔρχεται) – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις), because he is the Son of Man.

Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming (ἔρχεται) when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις, or, judgment).  I can do nothing on my own initiative.  Just as I hear, I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

Here is a powerful clue to the meaning of a love that is not self-seeking: I do not seek (ζητῶ, another form of ζητέω) my own will (θέλημα), but the will (θέλημα) of the one who sent me.  Jesus continued speaking to the religious authorities (John 5:31-40 NET):

If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.  There is another who testifies about me [the Father, I assume], and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.  You have sent to John [the Baptist], and he has testified to the truth [John 1:19-37].  (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)  He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light.

But I have a testimony greater than that from John.  For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me.  You people have never heard his voice[25] nor seen his form at any time, nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent.  You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

I’ll take a moment to highlight what Jesus said about the authorities of the only God-ordained religion on the planet:

1) You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent.  Contrast this to his words to Philip, John 14:8-14.

2) You study the scriptures thoroughlyit is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not (οὐ, the absolute negation) willing (θέλετε, a form of θέλω) to come to me so that you may have life.  This is utterly self-serving. For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, Paul wrote, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.[26]

Jesus concluded his discourse with the religious authorities (John 5:41-47 NET):

I do not accept praise from people, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me.  If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.  How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?

Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father.  The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.  If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.  But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?

Here I’ll add a third item to the list:

3) If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

In this light I’ll continue to look into the feeding of the five thousand men plus women and children in the next essay.


[1] Romans 12:11 (NET) Table

[2] 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NET)

[3] Matthew 18:12b (NET)

[4] I will leave it to others to debate whether the Father’s unwillingness was limited only to the children present at the time and place Jesus spoke.

[5] Matthew 18:14 (NET)

[6] Psalm 23:6a (NET)

[7] http://bibleatlas.org/bethsaida.htm

[8] http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/sea-of-galilee.html

[9] John 14:10, 11 (NET)

[10] Matthew 14:12 (NET)

[11] Mark 6:7-13 (NET)

[12] John 3:22-36 (NET)

[13] John 5:31-36 (NET)

[14] John 5:7 (NET)

[15] John 5:6 (NET)

[16] The explanation given in the KJV (John 5:4)—For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had—has been rejected as not original to the text by most contemporary Bible scholars.

[17] John 5:10 (NET) Table

[18] John 5:11 (NET) Table

[19] John 5:12 (NET) Table

[20] John 5:13 (NET)

[21] John 5:1 (NET)

[22] John 5:14-16 (NET)

[23] John 5:17 (NET) Table

[24] John 5:18 (NET)

[25] The Father’s voice, that is: Exodus 20:1, 19; Deuteronomy 4:12; 5:24.  I assume the voice they heard was Yahweh’s, the Son.

[26] Romans 10:3 (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 1

I received the following question in a personal email:

John 5: 28 and 29  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out —  Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

OK.  I don’t really like these verses because it’s like the verses about the sheep and the goats and the wheat and the tares.  It makes it seem like some people are going to be saved and others aren’t.

HOWEVER, couple it with Romans 7:14-20 and it seems to mean something else.  In Romans 7:20 “Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Now that verse seems like a real cop out!  I’ve never understood it very well.  But it seems to be saying that that part of the person doing “evil” is separate from the person himself or herself (maybe as far as east is from the west??).

So maybe John 5:28 and 29 can be talking about all us dead being raised and our “old selves” get condemned and our “new selves” live eternally with the Lord.  After all, the one on the white throne in Revelation said he was going to make all things new.

I hope the whole point is God’s going to save everybody!  Am I nuts???

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus said, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις).[1]  The first two things I noticed were, 1) the phrase do not be amazed at this invited me to look earlier in the passage for Jesus’ meaning, and 2) κρίσις (κρίσεως), judgment, was translated as if it were κατάκρισις[2] (κατακρίσεως),[3] a judgment against, condemnation.

In context, Jesus was answering Jewish leaders who wanted to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath [by healing a man through the words, Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk”[4]], but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.[5]  For the Father loves the Son, Jesus continued, and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.[6]  Then He specified two of these greater deeds:

Greater Deeds…so that you will be amazed…

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes (θέλει, a form of θέλω).[7]

John 5:21 (NET)

Furthermore, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω)[8] anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις) to the Son…

John 5:22 (NET)

And He did this so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.[9]

So the themes of Jesus’ discourse are that the Son gives life to whomever he wishes, and the Father…has assigned all judgment to the Son.  These themes were repeated, just in case I missed them: For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω)[10] judgment (κρίσιν, another form of κρίσις), because he is the Son of Man.[11]  So I wondered what prompted the translators to make such an abrupt change to Jesus’ stated themes (John 5:24, 25 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται; literally, “into judgment will not come” [or “go”]), but has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

A note in the NET acknowledged the more literal meaning: “Grk ‘and does not come into judgment.’”  There is a significant difference between not coming into judgment at all, and coming into judgment but not being condemned.  Consider Jesus’ words recorded by Matthew (25:31, 32 NET Table):

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος)[12] will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

If the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him “does not come into judgment,” that one would not be present at this event as a participant.  It makes some sense, since the stated criteria for separating the “sheep” from the “goats” is not hearing Jesus’ message and believing the one who sent Him, but something else entirely (Matthew 25:35, 36, 40 NET).

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.

Conversely, the only people who would not hear the words, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,[13] are those who managed to live their entire lives without showing a single human kindness to one of the Lord’s brothers or sisters.  I, too, was socialized into essentially the same religion as the translators of the NET.  I can feel how this alone might give them cause to translate the phrase εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται as will not be condemned (making the one who hears [Jesus’] message and believes the one who sent Him the “sheep” Jesus spoke about in Matthew’s Gospel).  But consider Peter’s response to the Jewish leaders who questioned him (Acts 4:8-12 NET):

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy.  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

We have taken this to mean that the only way to be saved is to hear [Jesus’] message and believe the One who sent Him.  And we have added to it, more or less, say a sinner’s prayer, get baptized, go to my church, like me, and tell me how good and wise I am to have understood this before you.  But if Jesus, who may give life to whomever he wishes, who has been granted the…authority to execute judgment, decides that not only those who hear his message and believe the One who sent Him, but those who show them kindness, are worthy of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, who am I to dispute Him?  Are they saved by some other name when it is Jesus who sits on the throne, judges them worthy and grants them life?  Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? He asked in a parable.  Or are you envious because I am generous (ἀγαθός)?[14]

Do not be amazed at this, Jesus continued his discourse with the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Him, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good (ἀγαθὰ [another form of ἀγαθός] ποιήσαντες [a form of ποιέω]) to the resurrection resulting in life (εἰς[15] ἀνάστασιν[16] ζωῆς[17]), and the ones who have done what is evil (φαῦλα[18] πράξαντες[19]) to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως).[20]  Viewed as I’ve been suggesting here one can’t arbitrarily assume that everyone who comes into judgment will be condemned.  Some, if not many, if not most, will hear the Lord say, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

So it seems more appropriate to me to translate the verse more literally: the ones who have done what is good, that is the ones who heard Jesus’ message and believed the One who sent Him, hear his voice and will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in life [they have eternal life[21]]; while those who have done [literally, practiced] what is evil (φαῦλα) [that is anything that kept them from hearing Jesus’ message and believing the One who sent Him] will come out [of their tombs]…to the resurrection resulting in judgment (as opposed to condemnation).

I can do nothing on my own initiative, Jesus concluded.  Just as I hear, I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[22]


[1] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:9

[5] John 5:18 (NET)

[6] John 5:20 (NET)

[9] John 5:23 (NET)

[11] John 5:26, 27 (NET)

[13] Matthew 25:34 (NET)

[14] Matthew 20:15 (NET)

[20] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

[22] John 5:30 (NET)

Romans, Part 11

Paul continued to describe the difference between those who hear (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) and those who do (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the law.  For circumcision has its value (ὠφελεῖ, a form of ὠφελέω) if you practice (πράσσῃς, a form of πράσσω) the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), but if you break (παραβάτης) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), your circumcision has become uncircumcision.1  I wasn’t going to delve into circumcision here, but I can’t resist the first occurrence in John 7.  Perhaps an appreciation of Jesus’ frustration will do more to distinguish the ἀκροατής from the ποιητής of the law.

Jesus was staying in Galilee, avoiding Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him.2  This stemmed from an incident when He healed a man who had been disabled3 for thirty-eight4 years.5  So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and6 you are not permitted to carry your7 mat.”  But8 he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”  They asked9 him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat10 and walk’?”11  The healed man didn’t know who made him well.

Later Jesus found the man in the temple and said, Look, you have become well.  Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.12  Sad to say I understand this man perfectly.  For thirty-eight years, fifty-two times each year, he kept the Sabbath by not standing up, picking up his mat or walking.  One Sabbath Jesus came up to him and said, Stand up!13  Pick up your mat and walk.14  For some reason, inexplicable except for the grace of God, the man believed this stranger and tried to stand up, pick up his mat and walk.  Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking.15  When Jesus told him, Don’t sin any more, the healed man was conscience stricken that he had stood up, picked up his mat and walked on the Sabbath.  So he trotted back and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well.16

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.17

Before I get too carried away with the blindness of ancient Jewish leaders I’ll relate a fairly contemporary tale.  I was standing just inside the doorway with the Pastor of a small Bible church one Sunday before the evening service.  A car pulled up in the parking lot.  A visiting couple got out and made their way toward the door.  The Pastor opened the door and extended his hand to help the woman up the stair.  She refused his hand and stopped in the doorway.

“Before I come in here, I just want to know one thing,” she said belligerently.  “Did Jesus turn water into wine?”

I’d never experienced anything like this, but reasoned quickly that this was a Bible church, the woman wanted to make sure that we believed the fundamentals of the faith, including Jesus’ miracles.

“No,” the Pastor said.

I was stunned.  But that was nothing compared to my confusion when the woman smiled, took the Pastor’s hand and entered the church.  Later, when I got him alone, I asked, “How did you know that no was the right answer?”

Then it was his turn to be stunned that I would impugn his sincerity.  “Because it is the right answer,” he said defensively.  I argued fairly ineffectively for the distinction between Jesus and John the Baptist,18 but he was having none of it.  “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler,”19 he quoted the Proverb.  Though he never pressed me on it, I got the message that because of this Proverb Jesus would not make, serve or encourage anyone to drink alcohol—no matter what the Bible seemed to be saying to me.

Obviously I have been blinder than this many times.  It’s not fair to judge the Pastor or the woman by this one idiosyncrasy, though I do think she was looking for a Pastor who would dance to her flute.  She obviously didn’t return.  I wonder at times why I stayed so long.  But the people there were nice to me.  Some said the church would close if I left.  The church closed sometime after I finally left.  I don’t really think there is any cause and effect there.

Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy [Table].  For six days you may labor and do all your work [Table], but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates [Table].  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy [Table].20

As far as the Jewish leaders were concerned no man of God would heal a disabled man on the Sabbath and tell him to Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk.  Jesus told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”21  But that didn’t help at all.  For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.22

Frankly, the way I’ve presented the story so far puts the Jewish leaders on a lot firmer ground scripturally than my Pastor.  But if I bring in a similar story from Luke’s Gospel, the picture gets a bit more nuanced.  Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath.  A woman23 was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen24 years.  She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.25  Jesus healed her (Luke 13:14-17 NET).

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six26 days on which work should be done!  So come and be healed on those days,27 and not on the Sabbath day.”  Then28 the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites29 (ὑποκριταί, a form of ὑποκριτής)!  Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water?”  Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”  When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

Humiliated Jewish leaders were not Jesus’ only adversaries.  While He was staying out of Judea because they wanted to kill him, as the beginning of the feast of Tabernacles approached, his brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing.  For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret.  If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”  (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)30

Mark’s Gospel account gives me the impression that it was Jesus’ persistence in healing on the Sabbath even after the Pharisees began plotting31 with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him32 over it that alarmed his mother and his brothers.  On one homecoming (probably to Peter’s house) they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”33  While the experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.”34

This is the context for Jesus’ saying, “Who are my mother and35 my brothers?”  And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”36  It is also probably a better context to consider—Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me37than Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter.  Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!38 The Lord told Jeremiah.

 

Addendum: November 19, 2020
Tables comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing John 5:5; 5:10-12; 5:8; 5:16, 17; Luke 13:11; 13:14, 15; Mark 3:6 and 3:33 in the NET and KJV follow.

Proverbs 20:1 (Tanakh)

Proverbs 20:1 (KJV)

Proverbs 20:1 (NET)

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler; whoever goes astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἀκόλαστον οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη πᾶς δὲ συμμειγνύμενος αὐτῇ οὐκ ἔσται σοφός ΑΚΟΛΑΣΤΟΝ οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη, πᾶς δὲ ἄφρων τοιούτοις συμπλέκεται

Proverbs 20:1 (NETS)

Proverbs 20:1 (English Elpenor)

Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink is something insolent, and everyone who mixes with it will not be wise. Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink full of violence: but every fool is entangled with them.

John 5:5 (NET)

John 5:5 (KJV)

Now a man was there who had been disabled for 38 years. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἦν δέ τις ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα [καὶ] ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἔχων ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ αὐτοῦ ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακονταοκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακοντα και οκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια

John 5:10-12 (NET)

John 5:10-12 (KJV)

So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.” The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

Ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ· σάββατον ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστιν σοι ἆραι τὸν κράβαττον |σου| ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον
But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

|| δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ ἐκεῖνος μοι εἶπεν· ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει
They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι· ἆρον καὶ περιπάτει ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:8 (NET)

John 5:8 (KJV)

Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔγειρε ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:16, 17 (NET)

John 5:16, 17 (KJV)

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω
So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

Ὁ δὲ  ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται καγὼ ἐργάζομαι ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι

Luke 13:11 (NET)

Luke 13:11 (KJV)

and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years.  She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτὼ καὶ ἦν συγκύπτουσα καὶ μὴ δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τὸ παντελές και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες

Luke 13:14, 15 (NET)

Luke 13:14, 15 (KJV)

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done!  So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἀρχισυνάγωγος, ἀγανακτῶν ὅτι τῷ σαββάτῳ ἐθεράπευσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἔλεγεν τῷ ὄχλῳ ὅτι ἓξ ἡμέραι εἰσὶν ἐν αἷς δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι· ἐν αὐταῖς οὖν ἐρχόμενοι θεραπεύεσθε καὶ μὴ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου
Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites!  Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall and lead it to water? The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἀπεκρίθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος καὶ εἶπεν· ὑποκριταί, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ σαββάτῳ οὐ λύει τὸν βοῦν αὐτοῦ ἢ τὸν ὄνον ἀπὸ τῆς φάτνης καὶ |ἀπαγαγὼν| ποτίζει απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριτα εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριται εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει

Mark 3:6 (NET)

Mark 3:6 (KJV)

So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν

Mark 3:33 (NET)

Mark 3:33 (KJV)

He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτοῖς λέγει τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί [μου] και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου

1 Romans 2:25 (NET)

2 John 7:1 (NET)

3 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτοῦ following disabled.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

5 John 5:5 (NET)

8 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article and the conjunction δὲ preceding he answered.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

9 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: Then) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

11 John 5:10-12 (NET)

12 John 5:14 (NET)

14 John 5:8 (NET)

15 John 5:9 (NET)

16 John 5:15 (NET)

17 John 5:16 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι (KJV: and sought to slay him) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

19 Proverbs 20:1 (NKJV)

20 Exodus 20:8-11 (NET)

21 John 5:17 (NET)

22 John 5:18 (NET)

23 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ην (KJV: there was) following woman.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

25 Luke 13:11 (NET)

26 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὅτι preceding six.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

28 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: then).

29 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the plural ὑποκριταί here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the singular υποκριτα (KJV: hypocrite).

30 John 7:3-5 (NET)

32 Mark 3:6 (NET)

33 Mark 3:21 (NET)

34 Mark 3:22 (NET)

35 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had η (KJV: or).

36 Mark 3:33-35 (NET)

37 Matthew 10:37 (NET)

38 Jeremiah 19:5 (NET) Table