Sirach 11 – “Do not praise a man
for his good looks, nor dislike anybody for his appearance” (11:2)
“.
. .the Lord’s deeds are marvelous, though hidden from mankind” [11: 4 note
translates: “unseen and unforeseeable. One turn of the wheel and all conditions
are reversed”]. The lives of the very important and the lives of the lowly are
all impossible to predict, but the writer encourages us to believe that all
things flow from the hand of God.
“Do
not find fault before making thorough inquiry; first reflect, then give a
reprimand. Listen before you answer, and do not interrupt a speech in the
middle” (11:7-8).
“My
son, do not take on a great amount of business; if you multiply your interests,
you are bound to suffer for it; hurry as fast as you can, [you will not
achieve, if you do not seek, you will not find—Hebrew translation from footnote
d]” (11:10).
“Good
and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, all come from the Lord” (11:14).
Still we must trust in the Lord and keep doing what we know we must do. Some of
these verses seem very apropos in our times of economic uncertainty and arguing
over who is responsible for the hardships so many endure and the windfall
profits that seem to go to the few.
“In
a time of profit, losses are forgotten, and in a time of loss, no one remembers
profits . . .Call no man fortunate before his death; it is by his end that a
man will be known” (11:25-28).
The
section ends with warnings against trusting too liberally. There are evil-doers
and scoundrels in the world. We must be somewhat cautious in trusting others.
Acts 6 – A rift develops
between Hellenists (Jews from the diaspora who read the scriptures in Greek)
and the Hebrews (from Jerusalem who spoke Aramaic but read Hebrew Scriptures). A Jerusalem Bible note says that the
missionary movement was to come from the Hellenists. The
Hellenists complain that their widows are being neglected in the daily
distribution of food (6:1).
The
12 have a meeting, worried that staying involved with such details will take
them away from preaching the word (teaching and elaborating the gospel) and
praying. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmens and Nicholaus of
Antioch are named (by laying on of hands) to do this work. These names are all Greek.
Many
continue to be attracted to the community, even many priests. Stephen, “full of
grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8). Some in
the Synagogue of Freedmen begin to challenge him. “But they could not withstand
the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke” (6:10). The Freedmen are probably descendants of Jews who
had been carried off to Rome by Pompey in 63 BC, who were sold into slavery and
later released. It was a Hellenistic
synagogue from the list of peoples who worshipped there.
They
instigate some to accuse Stephen of blaspheming against Moses and God. They
stir up people against him and then seize him, bringing him before the council.
They send in false witnesses who claim they have heard him say that Jesus will
destroy the temple and change the customs that Moses handed on to them. His
face, we are told, “was like the face of an angel” (6:15).
Ray Brown
tries to make a case for the proposition that the Jerusalem Church and the
apostles, in particular, had a period during which they did not have to deal with
persecution, from about 41 to 62, when James was martyred in Jerusalem. But this
would put Stephen’s martyrdom outside the circle in a way I don’t feel
comfortable with. I don’t think the church would have experienced itself as not
persecuted when Christians of the Hellenistic branch were suffering. He does point out that there were
frictions between Hellenistic and Hebrew members of the Church. Twelve men are
appointed leaders of the Greek-speaking Christians, including Stephen. And it is true that these Christians did
not seem to place as much emphasis on the Temple as the others did, hence
Stephen’s remarks before his martyrdom. But Jesus had said these same things.
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