Bible Quizzing preseason?

 I have often wondered what a Bible Quizzing preseason would look like.

See, as a football, I can tell you that NFL football has clearly marked offseason, preseason, season and postseason. The NFL offseason has events to mark its progression. First comes the pre-draft free agency. This is when the star players, who contract has expired and their team decides not to pick it up again, end up on new teams. Next comes the combine, when college football players, who hope to get drafted by a team, work out in front of scouts to demonstrate their abilities and skills. Then comes the draft, in which NFL teams take turns picking out college football stars to place on their teams. Following that comes post-draft free agency, which not only includes NFL players, who have been dropped by their team due to picking up a star football player in the draft, but it also includes undrafted college football players. Finally comes off-season training camps, when the players of the NFL teams report to their respective teams for their first practice. This event marks the end of the offseason. Next comes the preseason, in which each NFL team plays 3 scrimmages. Standings are kept, but they really don't matter. What does matter is the stats, as coaches will use these stats to determine who makes the team and who doesn't. The end of the preseason is marked by the final roster due date, in which NFL teams cut the roster down the maximum number of players allowed. Then comes the NFL season, the 18 weeks in which each team will play 17 games. Finally, the NFL football year closes out with the postseason, which consists of the playoffs, ultimately leading up to the Super Bowl. After the Super Bowl, repeat cycle.

I am careful to distinguish between the terms "quizzing season" and "quizzing year." The quizzing year has the quizzing season within it. The quizzing season is the 8 weeks in which the quizzing material is divided into eighths, and the quiz teams quiz on an eighth of the material of every week. The quizzing year not only consists of the quizzing season, but it also includes the 2 tournaments following the quizzing season. I guess one could say that those 2 tournaments are the "quizzing postseason" because they happen after the season. At the same time, however, it sounds weird calling the 2 tournaments the quizzing postseason because the term postseason typically implies playoffs, and while these tournaments can have playoff-like brackets, everybody participates in the tournaments, not just the best of the season. Furthermore, the season playoffs happen during the season itself, so does that technically mean the last 3 matches (2 semifinal matches + 1 final match) are the postseason? I digress.

For the time outside the quizzing year, that is quizzing offseason, and there really isn't a quizzing preseason. In my younger years as a quizzer, I would call the month of December the quizzing preseason, but I just did so because it was closer to the beginning of the quizzing year. Nothing really marks a quizzing preseason, like preseason quiz match scrimmages, because no such thing exists. Perhaps the quizzing practices before the first quiz meet counts as a quizzing preseason, but they do not look any different from quiz practices during the quizzing season. Again, it just makes more and better sense to say there's a quizzing year and a quizzing offseason.

If I quizzer would ever ask for the best way to prepare for the next quizzing year, the best answer I could give would be to read the quizzing material and write questions. That's what worked for me. Ever since my first quizzing offseason, between my first and second year of quizzing, that's what I have done. I have read the quizzing material and write questions. How many quizzing questions I could write depended on a couple factors. First, it came down to how much free time I devote to quizzing during the offseason. Second, since I aimed to write exhaustive questions (every question that could possibly come out of that verse), it also depended how many verses the first couple or few chapters had in them. When I was a quizzer, my question writing process involved writing a rough draft on paper with pen and then typing up my final draft on the computer. As a young quizzer, this process worked excellent because re-reading the question and answer on paper to type it gave me the opportunity to proofread it. This too took up time, which may have prevented me from writing questions.

In my first quizzing offseason, I wrote questions for the first 2 chapters of the quizzing material. The next offseason, I wanted to beat my record. On that second offseason, I wrote questions for 3 1/2 chapters (I found out the first week of the quizzing material would only cover the first 3 1/2 chapters, and since I was running out of time to do the whole 4th chapter, I called it quits halfway through the chapter). The following offseason I beat my record yet again. Not only did I write questions for the whole first week of quizzing, I wrote some for the 2nd week and some for the 6th week (the quizzing material got rearranged during the offseason, so what I thought would be week 1 ended up in week 6). The offseason after that I only wrote for the first 2 chapters of the quizzing material, but to be fair with me, the first chapter was long chapter, over 50 verses long. That gave me barely enough time to work on chapter 2. From there, it did not look too pretty. Every offseason following, as a quizzer, I would only write questions for the first chapter of the quizzing material. I imagine it mostly had to do with the fact that I was getting older and I had more responsibilities. I went into my senior year of high school and then into college. I barely had enough free time to enjoy a video game, let alone write quizzing questions. Then again, it may be due to the fact that I didn't need practice questions to learn and study the material, so I put less of a priority and less time on them. Even in my first year of coaching, I had barely managed to get 2 chapters worth of quizzing questions out there before the start of the season. 

Then came my ten-year tenure on staff. At first, I was just a timekeeper. Knowing that writing quiz questions was going to have no use, I put less priority and less time on them. In both 2011 and 2012, I have an incomplete set for the first chapter of the quizzing material. Yes, I got a bit of the way through the chapter, and then I ran out of time and stopped. Heck, in 2013, I didn't even bother to write a single quiz question, deciding instead to write a commentary, using the degree I had and was in the process of earning. Then came 2014, in which quizzing returned to Exodus. Quizzing had done Exodus before, and that's when I wrote questions on 3 1/2 chapters. I had lost those questions since, and I was kind of glad because they weren't the best questions. I decided that, since I lost those questions, I wanted to rewrite them, so I could, in a way, "gain them back." Then, halfway through the offseason, quizzing announces that they will change to the ESV. I had already written out questions for the first 2 chapters at that point! I had to start all over again. I did manage to get back on track, though. By the time that the quizzing season kicked off, I had finished 4 whole chapters of Exodus, technically beating my record. Then for 2015, they announced the quizzing material would be Mark and Acts. Just like Exodus, Mark had done before, Mark had written question on, but I lost those questions (and again, I'm glad because they weren't the best questions). Therefore, I resolved to once again "gain those questions back" by rewriting them. I did reach my goal of rewriting the first 2 chapters...when the quizzing coordinator Fred contacted me. He asked if I could become a judge for the staff this year. My motivation set on fire! Now that I knew I could use these practice questions to become a better judge, I worked harder on them. I doubled the results I wanted. I wrote questions on the first 4 chapters of Mark, which would become the whole first week and a bit of the second week. That spark of motivation did not last long, though. For the next few years, I again only wrote questions for the first chapter or two.

Then, for the 2020 quizzing year, I had a new spark of motivation. See, my church did not have any youth, and they did not have a lot of children, either. Finally, in time for the 2020 quizzing year, I had 2 youth eligible for quizzing. This gave me that spark of motivation to get back to question writing. Knowing the quizzing material would be on Joseph and Esther, and knowing quizzing covered that material before, I knew the quizzing season would begin with Genesis 37, 39 and 40, and I set a goal to at least get questions for those chapters. I would tread new territory, as the last time Joseph and Esther was the material, I only did a part of Genesis 37. I did reach my goal. By the launch of the 2020 quizzing season, I had exhaustive questions for Genesis 37, 39 and 40. Unfortunately, both of the youth of my church declined forming a quizzing team. While ultimately bummed that I could not coach for another year, I at least felt a bit of satisfaction knowing I could get back into the swing of quizzing question writing.

Despite the 2020 quizzing year ending without an invitational, an announcement for the quizzing material came later on that spring, and that announcement said the quizzing material would cover the stories of Job, Joshua, Nehemiah, Jonah and Zechariah. Still clinging to the hope of coaching a quiz team at my church, I still started on Job chapter 1 the day I heard the announcement. I will admit, due to the uncertainty of changing the youth's mind on quizzing, and the uncertainty of having a quizzing season during a COVID pandemic, I slowed down on writing the questions. By the time October rolled around, I only had that first chapter of Job done. October just so happened to be the same month I approached my church's youth about quiz team. When I first approached them, I got a probable, questionable and doubtful interest in quizzing. I told them to think and pray about it. Meanwhile, my spark of motivation caught fire. I now rushed to a second chapter of Job done. I finished that in November, the same time I approached the youth a second time. That probable, question and doubtful became a yes, yes and yes. Now that spark of motivation became a bonfire of motivation! I hurried to knock out the third chapter of Job. Unfortunately, the quizzing material changed to accommodate to an abbreviated quizzing season. The new quizzing material would be...Mark! I had realized that it was too late to go back and write questions on Mark (I received this news in December), but I did quietly finish Job 3, just in case I needed it for a later date ;)

At the end of the 6-week, biweekly quizzing season of 2021, the quizzing coordinator Fred did acknowledge that the coordinators did not know the quizzing material for 2022, but I had feeling, though. When they announced the change in quizzing material for 2021, they said they wanted to hold off the originally announced material for a time when they could all come together for a tournament. I knew if all the quizzing conference felt comfortable holding an invitational, the quizzing material would be on Job, Joshua, Nehemiah, Jonah and Zechariah. Therefore, for the beginning of the offseason, I went back to Job, starting at Job 40. That summer, I received confirmation of my suspicions. The quizzing material for 2022 would indeed cover Job, Joshua, Nehemiah, Jonah and Zechariah. Furthermore, by this time, all 5 of the quizzers said something to me about wanting to quiz again for the upcoming quizzing year. Between these two factors, I was spurred on to write as many questions as possible. By December, I had finished questions for all 6 chapters of the Job quizzing material, and I had even squeezed in a chapter of Joshua. 7 chapters, 152 verses, 1,724 questions, I'm pretty sure this is the most I have ever written in a quizzing offseason.

Reflecting back on quiz seasons past, I never realized how much I lost my love and my joy of quizzing. I know it may not seem like it to outsiders, but I did. The evidence of my offseason question writing stands alone as proof. Also as proof, look at where I applied to for my doctorate. I applied to both Wheaton College and Dallas Theological Seminary, both out of state. Clearly, I could not stay involved in quizzing in either state. I had truly lost my love and joy of quizzing. When I finally got to coach a team again, that love and joy of quizzing grew again. Again, just look at the number of quiz questions I wrote as proof. Same goes for the all the other studying. During the offseason, I would normally look for key words. When on staff, I would only find the key words for the first couple chapters or the first few weeks. Now that I had a quiz team again, I made sure they had the keywords for the entire year. Reflecting back, I realized I liked being quizzing staff, especially judge, but I love being a quizzing coach.

As for what else I did in the quizzing offseason, I sometimes would commit passages to memory. It usually was just 1 chapter, although for my third year of quizzing, I memorized 4 1/2 chapters! I don't do that anymore. As their coach, I try to practice alongside my quizzers, and I promised them no memorization (although I wouldn't discourage it). Instead, I encourage what I call "subconscious memorization," which means reading and listening to the material over and over until the repetition burns into their memory by default. I have already provided the quizzers their quizbooks and the ESV Audio Bible on the quizzing material on an audio CD. They have the resources. I will be reading and listening to the quizzing material alongside them. Let's see what sticks!

My Top 5 Favorite Quizbook Covers

 Many things mark the beginning of a new quizzing year, from the preliminary schedule (which not only has the dates and times of the quizmeets, but also the quizzing material breakdown and the possible location) to the coaches & staff meeting. Another thing that marks the start of the quizzing year is seeing and receiving the new quizbook. What makes seeing and receiving the quizbook peculiarly exciting is seeing the new quizbook cover. Ultimately, the quizbook cover does not really impact quizzing itself. After all, most Bible simply have a black cover with HOLY BIBLE in gold lettering. Some quizbook covers, however, go above and beyond in their design, somehow aligning with the quizzing material in te quizbook, and that deserves recognition. In honor of my 20th year involved in Bible quizzing (a little overdue, but before my 21st year in Bible quizzing begins), here are my top 5 favorite quizbook covers over the past 20 years, ranked from 5th favorite to most favorite.

Honorable Mention: 2002 - Joshua, Ruth, Esther, Daniel Jonah

Ok, this honorable mention technically makes this list a top 6, but this honorable mention deserves the mention because, if not for a recent quizbook cover, this cover would have made the top 5 list. The honorable mentions goes to the 2002 quizbook with Joshua, Ruth, Esther, Daniel and Jonah. At first, it seems like nothing fancy with its red text on purple background. Look closely, however, and the alignment of the text has more creativity behind it than previously thought. Traditionally, not only will the quizbook have on it the name of Bible books quizzed on, but it will also have the names of the quizzing conferences, as well as "Quizzing [year]." The 2002 quizbook found a creative way to do this. In a lighter purple text, the names of the quizzing conferences, as well as "Quizzing 2002," fall on each side of the Bible book names. Ruth falls between West and Liberty, Esther falls between Wayne and County, Daniel falls between NW and Ohio, and Jonah falls between Quizzing and 2002. Put it all together, and the Bible book names neatly descend in a diagonal direction, almost naturally, even without the names of the conferences and Quizzing 2002. While nothing creative with images or pictures, the creative alignment of the text alone deserves an honorable mention.

5th favorite: 2009 - Genesis

From the quizbook of my first year as a quizzer to the quizbook of my last year as a quizzer. The Genesis quizbook in 2009 is the first quizbook to add some sort of imagery on it, besides the book name. The 2009 Genesis quizbook has a simple image on it: a lens flare. This simple imagery of a lens flare makes a small yet nice touch. Since a lens flare comes from light, the lens flare symbolically represents light. It calls back to the creation account in Genesis 1, in which God creates light first on the first day. Since the term genesis means origin, beginning or creation, it all fits together. The book of Genesis contains the beginning of the creation of the world, and the beginning of the creation of the world starts with the creation of light, as represented with the lens flare. If God did not create the light, the lens flare would not exist. The lens flare on 2009 Genesis quizbook gets the quizzer to think about origins and beginning, from the beginning of the creation of the world to the beginning and creation of the nation of Israel, starting with Father Abraham. The 2009 Genesis quizbook at least puts the 2018 Genesis quizbook to shame (although the 2018 on the back cover forming the E in Genesis was a pretty cool idea)

4th favorite: 2020 - Joseph & Esther (Genesis 37,39-50 & Esther 1-10)

While technically not having an image or picture on it necessarily, the 2020 quizbook on the lives of Joseph and Esther, covering Genesis 37,39-50 & Esther 1-10, could still have meaning behind the quizbook cover's pattern. In Genesis 37:4, Jacob gives Joseph a robe of many colors. With the purples, pinks, reds, oranges and yellows on the cover, the cover could easily be a close-up of Joseph's colorful robe. The font of Joseph & Esther somewhat resembles that the font used for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Esther isn't fully left out, either. While the title cover has many colors represented on it, the dominant color seems to be purple, the color worn by royalty in Old Testament times. The dominant purple calls back to the fact Esther becomes queen. While lacking an image or a picture, which pushes it back on the list, the pattern on the quizbook cover almost suffices as an adequate substitute for this lack of image or picture. It definitely puts to shame the 2011 quizbook on the same material, with its white writing on a black and purple background.

3rd favorite: 2010 - 1 & 2 Corinthians

Masthof Press, the printers of the quizbooks, were really on top of their game when it came to quizbook covers in the early half of 2010, as my top 3 favorite quizbook covers all come from the early half of 2010 (perhaps that's why the 2009 quizbook on Genesis ended up in 5th place). My 3rd favorite quizbook cover comes from my first year in quizzing not as a quizzer and my first year as quiz coach. 3rd favorite belongs to the 2010 quizbook on 1 & 2 Corinthians. No, I am not being biased because the quizbook cover is my favorite color (in fact, I prefer darker oranges). This is the first quizbook to have a more concrete picture, more concrete than a lens flare. Big and center on the quizbook's front cover stands a Corinthian pillar. While nothing fancy, the Corinthian pillars make a connection to Corinth, its place of origin, the same Corinth to which Paul wrote 2 epistles. Even the font has a Greek feel to it, further putting in place the Greek mindset. Everything from the text font to the single background picture points back to the quizzing material on 1 & 2 Corinthians.

2nd favorite: 2013 - David (1 Samuel 16-31, 2 Samuel 1-12, 1 Kings 1:28-2)

So much is going on here with the 2013 quizbook cover. The 2013 quizzing material covered the life of David, from humble shepherd to exalted king. Of course, the Bible mainly focuses on the exalted to king because David serves as a predecessor to the ultimate exalted king, Jesus Christ. Likewise, the 2013 quizbook cover focuses on the kingly symbols for David. This quizbook has a picture on it, a crown, the ultimate symbol of a king. Actually, it has 2 crowns on it, for even the name of David wears a crown on the quizbook's cover! The colors of the quizbook also further emphasize the theme of an exalted. This quizbook has a gold background with purple lettering and purple pictures, two colors worn by kings. Originally, Masthof Press planned to inverse the colors, with purple as the background and gold for the lettering and pictures. Ultimately, I'm glad Mashtof Press went with the gold background and purple lettering and images, for the gold looks like legitimate gold, not just simply yellow. With so much happening on this quizbook cover, it deserves the spot as 2nd favorite. It's hard to imagine what could beat it for most favorite.

Most favorite: 2014 - Exodus

On the 2014 Exodus quizbook cover, it seems to have a picture of a bare bush, bare in the sense that the bush only exposes its branches without any leaves. Considering the 2014 quizzing material covers Exodus, the only bush that appears in all the book of Exodus is the burning bush in Exodus 3. Then it all becomes clear. The quizbook cover does not have a bare bush, but rather, it has burning bush. The flames of fire out of the midst of this bush are the red, orange and yellow colors of the quizbook. It almost looks like the quizbook cover is a closeup of the burning bush, so close that it can't be seen outside the burning bush. It's one thing to put a burning bush on the cover of the quizbook; it's another thing to make the whole quizbook cover the burning bush. Even the text fonts contribute to the message and theme of Exodus. The bold and capitalized font face of the title Exodus brings out the importance of the book to the overall Old Testament. The subtitle text, colored in a yellow-orange hue, makes it look like the text is part of the flames of fire out of the midst of the bush, which one would think would make it hard to read, but surprisingly, is not hard to read. The only improvement that possibly could be made would be to make the title Exodus a gray color, symbolically representing the smoke of the burning bush. Ultimately, though this quizbook cover combines the best my 4th favorite quizbook with my 2nd favorite quizbook, thus making it, in my opinion, my favorite quizbook. It definitely puts the 2004 Exodus quizbook cover to shame.

Don't Look Back in Anger (Ephesians 4:26,27,31)

INTRODUCTION

Reading through Ephesians 4:26 in the original Greek text, something peculiar will stick out to the reader. The first Greek word in Ephesians 4:26, ὀργίζεσθε (orgizesthe) ,which best translates to “be angry,” comes in the imperative form. At first glance, it would seem as if the verse commands anger. This command becomes even more confusing a few verses later, when Ephesians 4:31 commands removing all anger from life. Now it looks like Ephesians 4:26 contradicts Ephesians 4:31! A thorough exegesis of these verses, however, will reveal how both imperatives work together in harmony.

EXPLAINING THE SCRIPTURES

Look up Ephesians 4:26,27,31. While looking up the passage, consider the overall purpose of the message of Ephesians. The church in Ephesus, the recipient of this epistle, makes things easier on Paul, in comparison to many of Paul’s other churches. Unlike 1 Corinthians or Galatians, in which Paul has to persuade the church to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right thing, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has more to do with motivating, meaning Paul has to encouraging the church to continue doing the right and to continue spiritually growing, both on the individual level and the communal level. In a way, think of Paul becoming a spiritual trainer, and the church in Ephesus as a spiritual bodybuilder. Paul wants the church in Ephesus to continue building up the spiritual body, on both the individual level and the communal. The book of Ephesians splits neatly into two equal halves of 3 chapters each. The first 3 chapters teaches the doctrine, and the last 3 chapters teach the applications. Paul begins this application section with an appeal for unity in the church. Paul recognizes, however, that sin stands as the biggest adversary to this unity. Paul reminds the Ephesians Christians that sin reflects the old self, before Christ. Now in faith, Christians should reflect Christ. In Ephesians 4:25-32, Paul lists off several way to become more like Christ and less like the old, sinful self. Since this study focuses on the subject of anger, this study will only zoom in on Ephesians 4:26,27,31 of 4:25-32.

ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε· ὁ ἥλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν,

~Ephesians 4:26 (NA28)

Be angry and do not sin; the sun [must] not set upon your anger;

~Ephesians 4:26 (my translation)

Although Ephesians 4:26 has become the famous verse among Christians in regard to anger, Paul actually cites the Old Testament here, more specifically, Psalm 4:4. The first half of Ephesians 4:26 quotes the first half of Psalm 4:4 with the exact same words (Psalm 4:4 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, has the same exact Greek words as Ephesians 4:26 in the Greek New Testament). The second half Ephesians 4:26 alludes to the second half of Psalm 4:4, as one can see similarities between “do not let the sun go down on your anger” and “ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” In Psalm 4:4, David’s instructions to anger and not sinning encourages his hearers to trust in Yahweh in dealing with the godly and ungodly. In short, the words of Psalm 4:4 direct towards God. In Ephesians 4:26, Paul’s command to anger and not sin urges how believes should interact with one another. In short, the words of Ephesians 4:26 direct towards the people of God.

The first Greek word in Ephesian 4:26 is ὀργίζεσθε (orgizesthe), an imperative form of the Greek verb ὀργίζω (orgizo) which is literally a verb form of the Greek noun ὀργή (orge), meaning “anger.” Hence, “be angry” fits as the best translation of ὀργίζω (orgizo) at the beginning of Ephesians 4:26. Remember, the Greek verb ὀργίζεσθε (orgizesthe) is an imperative (in Greek, verbs actually look different when in the imperative), just as much as the imperative μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε (me hamartanete), which means “do not sin.” Scholars debate on how to handle which seems as a command to be angry. Some argue for a concessive, meaning the Lord allows sin as long as does not devolve into sin, while others believe a conditional, if somebody just so happens to find himself or herself angry, then do not sin. Recently, an extreme minority of scholars claim that Paul does command anger here, like anger against sin or anger against injustice, yet simultaneously, that anger itself cannot turn into sin or injustice. Thus, all 3 possibilities deserve consideration when trying to understand the implications and applications of this verse. In all 3 instances, it comes down to self-control. Anger should never cause a person to lose control, for if it does, it could lead even the best of Christians to sin. Jesus warned his disciples about this in regards to hate (Matthew 5:21-24), and Paul applies the same principle to anger here in Ephesians 4:26.

Of all 3 theories on how to handle the imperative, the conditional theory seems most plausible. It fits the literary flow of the near context. Ephesians 4:26 acknowledges everybody gets angry, Ephesians 4:27 reminds how harmful anger can become and Ephesians 4:31 rejects all anger. Therefore, ultimately, the command here has to do with not sinning in anger, not anger itself. Thus, Paul’s audience really has no need to discuss and debate the when, why, what of acceptable anger. Even in the case of righteous anger over sin and injustice, the truth remains the same. Andrew T. Lincoln provides an excellent paraphrase of the truth in the Word Biblical Commentary: “Anger is to be avoided at all costs, but if, for whatever reason, you do get angry, then refuse to indulge such anger so that you do not sin.”

A command to anger over sin and injustice seems the next most possible. If the case, a believer must consider a couple things. First, the Christian must consider the heart of the anger, whether the anger comes from reflecting the Lord’s anger over the sin or injustice or if the anger comes from somebody disagreeing with an opinion. Anger over sin and injustice should lead to righting a wrong, making the self right and the others wrong. Similarly, righteous anger can never become an excuse for pride, arrogance or egotism. Too often has Christian used righteous anger as excuse for pride, arrogance or egotism. If anger leads to pride, arrogance or egotism, it has very much literally violated Ephesians 4:26. Second, if Paul does command anger to the church of Ephesus, he instructs it within the church of Ephesus, not outside the church towards the rest of Ephesus. Sin in Ephesus does not catch Paul by surprise. In fact, Paul almost expects it. Paul has issues when that sin enters the church with tolerance toward it. If Paul commands anger towards sin and injustice as the opposite of complacency towards sin and injustice. To bring it up to 21^st century America, Christians should expect sin and injustice in their communities, their state and their country. Sin and injustice is a reality of a corrupt, fallen earth. Christians should never tolerate sin in the church. If the opposite of complacency towards sin and injustice in the church is anger, then so be it.

A concessive imperative seems least likely here. Concessive imperatives also get called permissive imperatives because the imperative allows something, but it does not encourage it. As the best defensive for the concessive imperative, it would seem that the church historically held this position. For example, the medieval friar Thomas Aquinas comments on this passage, “He does not command it [anger] but permits it.” As an argument against this position, in general, concessive imperatives appear rarely in the Bible. If needing a good example, turn to John 2:19, in which Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” With these words, Jesus does not command the Jews to put him to death, yet Jesus allows the Jews to do so to bring about God’s redemptive plan. Even if a concessive imperative, ultimately, it would apply in the same way as the command to anger, just mentioned above. This permitted anger cannot exceed the anger God has, or else it will become sin.

The second half of the Ephesians 4:26 commands to not let the sun go down on anger. Now the Greek noun for anger, ὀργή (orge), appears in the form of παροργισμός (parorgismos). This exact noun form only appears here in the entire New Testament. The next closest is the verb form παροργίζω (parorgizo) in Ephesians 6:5, which commands father not to provoke their children to anger. Therefore, if παροργίζω (parorgizo) means “to provoke to anger,” then παροργισμός (parorgismos) means “a provoked anger” or “a still anger.” Some translators have even go as far to translate it as “temper” to distinguish it. Ultimately, the Greek term still best translates into the English word “anger,” and it should have no distinction from the “anger” mentioned earlier. If a distinction really must happen, it could mean a shorter anger or a less irritated anger, but context, not denotation itself, would determine that distinction.

Paul probably has several sources inspiring this command. As a former Jewish Pharisee, Paul naturally used the Old Testament as his primary source. (Before proceeding any further, remember that, according to the Jewish calendar, a night comes before the day, and thus sunset marks the end of the day.)  As discussed earlier, Paul probably alludes to the second half of Psalm 4:4. Psalm 4:4 talks about pondering in bed, and going to bed finalized the day. On top of consulting the Psalms, Paul perhaps consulted the Torah. According to many laws in the Pentateuch, any business needing completion by the close of the day would have to happen by sunset (see Deuteronomy 21:23 & 24:13-15, for example). Paul includes dealing with anger as business needing completion by the end of the day. Paul maybe consulted the Jewish rabbis of the day. The rabbis taught “Do not flare up, so that you do not sin” and “They shall rebuke each man his brother according to the commandment and shall bear no rancor from one day to the next.” Also quite possible, Paul consulted the Greek philosopher Pythagorus (yes, the triangles guy), who, according to Plutarch, taught his students “if ever they were led by anger into recrimination, never let the sun go down before they joined right hands, embraced each other, and were reconciled.” For the sake of the mixed Jewish and Gentile church of Ephesus, Paul mixes Old Testament theology and Greek philosophy to teach a profound truth about anger. He commands anger should last only a short time, and the new day should start fresh towards forgiveness and reconciliation. When Christians goes to bed, their anger ends when the day ends. When Christians awakes, they should think or even consider what the anger from yesterday. In essence, don’t look back in anger! (See, the reference to the Oasis song in the title does fit the message!) Therefore, a Christian’s final thought of the day should involve pondering whether he or she got angry, and if he or she resolved that anger by the end of the day. After all, that sleep may be the last sleep into death, and no one wants their last words or last actions of the last day on earth involve communicating anger.

μηδὲ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ.

~Ephesians 4:27 (NA28)

do not give a place to the devil.

~Ephesians 4:27 (my translation)

Ephesians 4:27 in the Greek text literally reads, “Do not give a place to the devil,” but figuratively, “place” means an opportunity, hence why the ESV translates Ephesians 4:27 as “and give no opportunity to the devil.” Paul adds Satan into the conversation about anger. Paul constantly reminds the church in Ephesus about the spiritual warfare in which the church engages with devil and his demons. Elsewhere in the epistle, Paul reminds the Ephesian church to prepare themselves for that spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-16). In the Gospels, Jesus linked the devil to lies (John 8:31-45). Here, Paul links Satan with anger, and he does it through Jesus’s link between the devil and lies. If anger can become an opportunity to the devil, and Satan uses lies to provoke anger, then the best way to fight that anger involves speaking the truth and avoiding falsehoods, as prescribed in Ephesians 4:25. Remembering that Ephesians 4:26 argues that indulging anger will lead to sin. Ephesians 4:27 takes it a step further. Ephesians 4:27 adds that indulging anger equates to indulging the devil. Satan always looks for an opportunity to tempt a person to sin. An angry person the devil can easily tempt to sin. As a matter of fact, when anger overcome a person, the person has lost control of himself or herself and gives control over to the devil. Again, it goes back to spiritual warfare. While God the Holy Spirit equips the Christian to fight of sin and temptation, the Christian has to put up that fight against Satan. The Christian has to allow the Holy Spirit to take control in order to prevent losing control to the devil. What a better way than to avoid anger!

πᾶσα πικρία καὶ θυμὸς καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ κραυγὴ καὶ βλασφημία ἀρθήτω ἀφʼ ὑμῶν σὺν πάσῃ κακίᾳ.

~Ephesians 4:31 (NA28)

 

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

~Ephesians 4:31 (ESV)

In Ephesians 4:31, Paul commands the Ephesian Christians to put away 6 vices. At first glance, it may seem like splitting hairs to distinguish the difference of these terms. In actuality, Paul has not only carefully chosen his terms, he has actually carefully choice the word order as well. Bitterness means resenting not having a blessing someone else has. It ignores the blessings the Lord has already given, and it can even sometimes blind the person for how God can bless in the future. In short, the church needs to put away bitterness because bitterness equates to selfishness, which does not belong in the community of the church. Remember, bitterness is an attitude, a heart problem, which will lead to the next attitudes and behaviors, which the church in Ephesus needs to rid of itself.

Bitterness escalates into wrath and anger. In this case, understand these words as synonyms. Do no treats these words as redundancies because Paul repeats himself to add emphasis. The New Testament uses the Greek term for “wrath” usually refers to the Lord’s condemnation of the wicked. Consider this a righteous anger that only God deserves to have. Wrath and anger evolves into clamor and slander. Clamor refers to a loud yell, which one could almost describe as an eruptive yell, deficient any kind of logic and any kind of self-control. Slander means purposely belittling a person in speech, which may or may not contain foul language. Consider treating “cursing” as a synonym (in fact, the Greek term here, βλασφημία [blasphēmiā], is where the English word “blasphemy” comes from). These three terms link together under the commonality of abusive speech. Finally, Paul lists malice, which refers to any act of evil. By keeping malice to any type or any kind of evil, malice in a way serves as an “etc,,” covering any aspect of evil Paul might have missed. Again, go down the list and see how each term intensifies. It begins bitterness, an emotion. It heightens to wrath, it worsens into anger, which turn into abusive speech, like slander, which leads to malice, or evil actions. If the Ephesian church can keep their feelings in check, then they don’t need to worry about their speech or actions getting out of hand. Nevertheless, Paul instructs the church in Ephesus to be put away all of them, just in case one does escalate to another, the body of believers should stop in their tracks.

The verb for these six vices, ἀρθήτω (arthētō), meaning, “to put away” or “to remove” is not only an imperative, but also a passive imperative. A literal translation would best render “be put away” or “be removed” but a better translation or “shall be removed” may drive the meaning better. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can any Christian take off the old self and put on and the new self. The Holy Spirit will do the work. The Christian should merely not avoid it and instead embrace it. A broader study of the Greek verb ἀρθήτω (arthētō) will reveal how much this interpretation makes sense. John loves using ἀρθήτω (arthētō) to explain what Jesus did with humanity sin. Indeed, the gospel message preaches that Jesus did all the work removing humanity’s sin. People merely have to allow Jesus into their life and not resist him. In Ephesians 4:31, Paul teaches the Holy Spirit’s regeneration works the same way. The Lord will take away these 6 vices; the Christian needs to merely allow it.

Paul does not expect perfection from the Ephesian Christians, yet Paul does expect to act less like the old, sinful self and more like the redeemed Christian, who Jesus bought and paid with price. Anger reflects more of the old, sinful self and less like new, born-again Christian. Paul writes the epistle Ephesians to motivate Ephesians to continue building up the church body. Sinful speech, like clamor and slander will not build up the church. If anything, it ruins unity. Therefore, Paul’s instruction to put away these six vices all have in mind preserving the body of believers. The best way to preserve the body of believes requires love, and those 6 vices will not display love. Paul does not want those sinful words or actions to get out of hand, so he commands the Ephesians to end it at the source of the emotions, which include bitterness, wrath and anger.

For a modern-day equivalent to explain Paul’s point here, consider hate speech. Hopefully, this phrase has triggered no one. True, some have tried to argue Christian beliefs as hate speech, causing the phrase to trigger Christians. While worth fearing how Christian belief can become hate speech, the truth of the principle remains the same. Governments realize that hate speech can evolve to hate actions. Even if they do not, verbal abuse can psychologically damage and even schism relationships. Christians must recognize their words can harmful effects, and they must also recognize those sinful words may come from sinful emotions developing in the heart.

ILLUSTRATING THE SCRIPTURES

An Illustration from the Bible

A good example of what Ephesians 4:26 warns comes from the account of Cain and Abel, as found in Genesis 4. In Genesis 4:5-7, Yahweh calls out Cain’s anger because he sees it has led Cain to consider sin, more specifically, murdering his brother. Ultimately, Cain does give into his anger. Cain’s anger turns into hate, and his hate turns into the suffering and death of his brother Abel. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

An Illustration from Pop Culture

Back in the 1990s, screenwriter, director and producer George Lucas decided to reboot the Star Wars franchise with a prequel trilogy, which tells the story of Luke Skywalker’s father, Anakin Skywalker (yes, I have chosen my words carefully). While the Star Wars prequel trilogy has received its fair share of criticism, it illustrates well the dangers of anger.  In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Jedi master Yoda senses fear in Anakin Skywalker. Yoda warns Anakin, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda’s warning becomes prophetic, as Anakin fulfills it in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. In StarWars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, bad dreams has led Anakin to fear the worst has happen to his mother. Anakin discovered that tuskan raiders abducted his mother. Anakin finds his mother barely alive. Happy to see her son one last time, she dies in his arms. As Yoda prophesied, Anakin’s fear turns to anger, anger turns to hate, and hate leads to suffering. He murders every single tuskan raider. Anakin reports back to his girlfriend Padme, “I... I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead... every single one of them. And not just the men. But the women... and the children, too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals! I HATE THEM!” Padme replies, “To be angry is to be human.” Ladies, your boyfriend or husband has just confessed he committed genocide on an entire village. Are you really going to reply, “Everybody gets a little angry every now and then?” In all seriousness, the Star Wars prequel trilogy illustrates two biblical truths about anger. While anger does reflect human nature, and even and reflect the image of God, anger can too easily lead to hatred and suffering.

An Illustration from Science

Researchers Brad Bushman, Roy Baumeister and Angela Stack wanted to test the theory that punching a pillow relieve anger. The researchers invited a bunch of undergraduate students to participate in a study in exchange for extra credit. Of course, the researchers could not tell the students the actual purpose of the study, lest the students consciously or subconsciously mess up the results. Therefore, the researchers told the students they sought to study the effectiveness of peer grading and peer judging. First, the researchers had to make the students angry. What a better way to make undergraduate students angry than to criticize a deeply held belief, so the researchers had them write a paper defending their views on abortion, using whatever means necessary (logic & reasoning, appeal to emotion, etc.) While the students thought their peers would fairly grade their papers, the researchers instructed the peer reviewer to purposely give bad evaluations with very negative comments, like “This is the worst paper I ever read!” Sure enough, students got angry! Then half of the students got the opportunity to punch a punching bag to “relieve steam” while waiting for the next part of the experiment. The other half of the students had to “cool down” by reading a story, listening to music or playing a game.

For the next part of the experiment, the experimenters told the student they would continue testing peer review and peer judging in a different format. Experimenters told students that a peer would answer multiple choice questions, and for every incorrect answer, the student got to blast his or her peer with a loud noise (can’t shock people anymore because that’s unethical). On a scale of 1 to 10, those who punched punching bags blasted noise at a 7.5 on average, whereas those who did not punch the punching bag blasted noise at a 2.5 on average. Yes, those who punched punching bags blasted their peer 3 times as higher than those who had to cool down.

The experimenters rewarded the students with a lunch of tacos. The experimenters allowed the students to decide how much hot sauce to put on their peer grader’s tacos. Again, those who punched a punching bag put on 3 times more hot sauce than those who cooled down with other activities. While waiting for the taco lunch, the experimenters asked the student to fill out a worksheet in which students had to guess the word by figuring out the missing letters. Such examples include, att_c_, cho_e, ki_ _, r_pe. Those who punched the punching bag thought up violent words, like attack, choke, kill and rape. Those who cooled down naturally chose non-violent words like attach, chose, kiss and rope.

The researchers concluded that aggravating anger makes people more aggressive. Thinking about, it only makes sense. One researcher compared it to cooking. When a cook finishes cooking food on a stove or an over and turns the stove or off, the cook does not leave the food in the hot oven or on the hot burner because the food could still burn. Instead, the cook will remove the food from the hot oven or hot burner to prevent it from burning. Likewise, remaining in anger will only make anger worse. Removing the anger will yield the best results.

APPLYING THE SCRIPTURES

Social psychology does not merely say what does not work. It does say what does work, easily summed in four words. First, delay. Do not immediately act when provoked to anger, for the anger makes decision then, not the person. Wait for the anger to subside, and then act. (Not to trigger some people with a controversial topic, but some people argue waiting periods on gun purchase, claiming it will decrease gun-related homicide and suicide because it allows the anger to subside.) Second, relaxation. Do not do something active. Do something passive. It relaxes the muscles and thus relaxes the anger. Third, distraction. Do not dwell upon the anger. Think of anything but the anger. Try looking up other verses in the Bible about anger, and try applying them. Fourth, do the opposite. Do something not associated with anger, liking hugging a person or petting a pet. Even bolder, find the person inciting the anger and do something kind and nice. By doing so, it stops the anger in its place.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anders, Max. Galatians-Colossians. Vol. 8. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.

Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 4-6. Vol. 34A. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

Bushman, Brad, Roy Baumeister, and Angela Stack. "Catharsis, Aggression, and Persuasive Influence: Self-Fulfilling or Self-Defeating Prophecies?". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76 (04/01 1999): 367-76.

Cohick, Lynn H. The Letter to the Ephesians. Edited by Ned B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee, and Joel B. Green. New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.

Dockery, David S. “The Pauline Letters.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Edited by David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Hoehner, Harold W. “Ephesians.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians. Vol. 42. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990.

Richards, Lawrence O. The Teacher’s Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. Ephesians. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909.

Turner, Max. “Ephesians.” Pages 1222–44 in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

The Parable of the Landscaper (Matthew 13:44)

Oliver, a man never good at taking commands from a boss, decided he wanted to be his own boss, so he quit his landscaping job to start his own landscaping business. Unfortunately, Oliver decided to do this at the worst possible time: during the 2008 recession. Because of the housing bubble bursting in 2008, not too many people had yards that needed landscaping, and the few that did manage to hold on to their house couldn’t afford any more landscaping than mowing the lawn. Therefore, most of Oliver’s clients hired Oliver to mow their lawn, something Oliver use to do for his neighbors as his high school job. That did bum Oliver out a bit. He viewed his landscaping as a work of art, even naming his business Masterpiece Landscaping to reflect those views. He wanted decorate people’s yards like a work of art, not just mow their lawn, like he did in high school. Nevertheless, Oliver felt grateful that he had enough lawns to mow to keep his business afloat, and he tried to display that thankfulness to all his clients.

 

One of these clients was Alfred Pennybags. Alfred was an elderly man, so old he could barely take care of himself, yet he insisted he would die in the house he built when he was a younger man. Therefore, he hired maids to tend to the inside of the house, and Oliver to tend to the outside of the house. As so many of Oliver’s client, Alfred could only afford to pay Oliver to his mow his lawn, but what Alfred could not pay with hem, he tried to pay with hospitality. Alfred definitely stuck out to Oliver as his most hospitable client. Every time Oliver visit, it seemed like Alfred would attempt to extend him some sort of hospitality. One day it could be “Gee, it looks like I bought way too many cold cuts at the grocery store. If you want to come in and make yourself a sandwich, you can!” Another day could be, “Boy, it is quite a sunny and hot day! I got ice cold water, lemonade and iced tea in the fridge if you need a drink!” Of course, every day Alfred would remind Oliver, “If you ever need to use that bathroom, my doors are always open to you!” Of the three, Oliver only accepted the offer of the third, but only when Oliver forgot to use the bathroom between jobs. Those few times Oliver entered Alfred’s house, he noticed the walls decorated more with paintings of landscapes instead of photos of people. The few photos of people all seemed to have elderly people, around Alfred’s age. From these few photos, Oliver concluded that Oliver was the youngest of his sibling and had no wife or children of his own. By this time in Alfred’s life, all his family and friends had died. Oliver thought of this sad reality for Alfred a bit, and so Oliver would occasionally engage in small talk with Alfred, just so Alfred would feel less lonely.

One morning, as Oliver prepared for work, his phone rang. Looking at caller ID, it read “Susan Hida, Esquire.” At first reaction, Oliver’s heart sank. “Oh no, I’m getting sued! What did I do wrong?” After briefly thinking about it, Oliver concluded he did do nothing wrong, so no one should sue him. He then thought to himself, “Oh! A new client! An attorney, too! As a lawyer, I bet she has a big yard, which needs a lot of work. This could be a big account!” Oliver picked up the phone and answered the call. Clearing his throat, he said in his most professional voice, “Masterpiece Landscaping: Your yard is our canvas, and we will make you a masterpiece. How may I help you today?” “Oh, excellent, I have the right number,” said the voice at the opposite end of the line. “My name is Susa Hida. I am an attorney representing the estate of Alfred Pennybags. I regret to inform you that Mr. Pennybags died in his sleep last night.” Oliver’s heart sank into sadness. Yes, he was a little bit sad that he had lost a client to death, but he was a lot sad that he would never see and hear from such a friendly man ever again. “Oh, I am sorry to hear that,” Oliver spoke up, showing sympathy. “Yes,” the lawyer continued, “sadly, with no heir or next of kin alive, all of Mr. Pennybags’s household possessions, including the house itself, will be auctioned off to pay off any remaining debts, and the rest will be donated to Alfred’s favorite charities. I see on Mr. Pennybags’s wall calendar that your scheduled to mow his lawn tomorrow afternoon. Would you mind mowing his lawn one last time, so the yard will look neat for the property auction the next day? We will make sure you get your pay once the sale is finalized.” “I would be delighted to,” Oliver replied.

The next morning Oliver found it a lot harder to wake up and get ready for work, still dealing with the grief of Alfred’s passing. As Oliver loaded his truck, he got an idea. He would honor the memory of Alfred Pennybags by planting a tree in his yard. Yeah, sure, nobody else would know what the tree meant, but every time Oliver would drive by the house, he would see the tree and remember Alfred. Before driving to the house, Oliver stopped by a nursey on the way, picked out a nice evergreen, and then finished his journey to Alfred’s house. By the time, he got there, the maid staff was packing up, and they waved at each other passing. It gave Oliver the peace and quiet (besides the hum of the tractor) to reflect on Alfred. After finish mowing the lawn, Oliver found the perfect spot for the tree, where everybody driving by could see it. Of course, Oliver called 811, so he would know before he dug, and they assured him nothing existed below that he could hit if he dug. So Oliver began digging. He dug a pretty good size hole in the ground, but upon further inspection, he decided it could be a bit deeper. He plunged his shovel into the ground once again, but this time, it felt different. Shortly after, a black liquid, which had a distinct smell, slowly came bubbling into that hole. Yes, you guessed it. Black gold. Texas tea. Oil. At first reaction, Oliver panicked. “Oh no!” Oliver panicked. “I hit an oil pipeline! Now I will get sued!” but then Oliver realized something. “Wait a minute,” Oliver thought, “I did call 811, and they assured me nothing existed under the ground. Oliver’s eyes opened wide as he realized put it all together. Oliver had the discovered oil! Quickly, Oliver filled up the hole, threw all his equipment back in his truck and drove home as fast as could.

 

When Oliver got home, he barged into his house, so loudly it startled his wife Pearl. “PEARL! PEARL! How much money do we have in our checking account?” he screamed at the top of his lungs, as he ran around the house, looking for the checkbook.  “Why? Why are you asking that?” Pearl asked. “And how much money do we have in our savings account?” Oliver yelled, as he continued to run aimlessly around the house in search of the bank book. “Why are you asking? What happened? What did you do? Oh my gosh, are we getting sued?” An excited Oliver did not hear. “And how much do we have in our 401K or IRA or whatever our retirement plan is? And how much in stocks? And what about CDs? Do we have any of these?!” “Woah there!” Pearl said, stopping her husband in his tracks. “You’re going to slow down and explain to me what happened.” “Ok,” Oliver said, taking a breath. “So yesterday, I got a phone call from a lawyer…” “Oh my gosh, we are getting sued!” Pearl interrupted. “No, we’re not getting sued!” Oliver continued. “The attorney called to inform me that one of my clients died, and she asked if I could mow his one last time, to which I agreed. I decided that, not only would I mow the lawn, but I would also plant a tree in memory of him. I had nearly finished digging the hole for the tree when a black liquid came bubbling from the ground.” “Oh my gosh, you hit a pipeline! Why didn’t you call 811?” Pearl interrupted again. “Of course, I called 811!” Oliver continued. “They assured me absolutely nothing was there. Honey, I discovered an oil field!” Pearl’s face of concern turned into a face of excitement to match her husband’s.

That next morning, Oliver and Pearl marched down to their bank to withdraw all the money in both their checking and savings account and close the accounts. Then they drove down to the house that once belonged to Alfred, registered for the auction, and sat down in the back row, waiting for the auction of the actual property themselves. When it came time to auction off the property, it came very close, but Oliver and Pearl made the winning bid. They were now the owners of this property. The next day, Oliver went online to register “Oliver’s Oil LLC” as his new business’s name.

What you have just read is what I call The Parable of the Landscaper. This is a 21st century version of a parable Jesus told in the 1st century. Back while in seminary, my preaching professor taught us that when teaching a parable of Jesus, a preacher should re-tell the parable in a 21st century context. I agree with his teaching. All the parable Jesus taught Jesus extremely contextualized, so his open-minded audience would understand the message, while the close-minded audience would not understand. Therefore, Jesus used the 1st century culture as his context, a context which would make no sense to the modern-day culture in the 21st century. Thus, a  preacher should study what Jesus intended the parable to mean, and then teach the parable in a 21st century cultural context that the audience could comprehend. Still, because I am not an omniscient rabbi, my parable fails in comparison to the Lord’s parable, so let’s understand the original parable in light of the 1st century context.

Please turn to Matthew 13 in your Bible. Turning to Matthew 13, it becomes apparent Matthew 13 has plenty of parables, 6 in this chapter alone, to be exact. These 6 parables come in 2 sets of 3 parables each. For the first set, Jesus addresses crowds uncertain about his message. Therefore, the first set of parables seeks to explain why some accept Jesus while others reject Jesus. In regard to the second set, Jesus speaks to people convinced of his teaching, like his faithful disciples. Thus, these parables seek to understand how to take Jesus’s message deeper.

44 ⸆ Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψεν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτοῦ ὑπάγει καὶ πωλεῖ °πάντα ὅσα ἔχει καὶ ἀγοράζει τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐκεῖνον.

~Matthew 13:44 (NA28)

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure that was hidden in the field, that having found it, a man hid it, and out of joy he goes away and sells all that he has and buys that field.

~Matthew 13:44 (my translation)

If reading Matthew 13:44 out of the KJV or NKJV, the verse begins with “again.” Modern scholarship has ruled out “again” belonging in the verse. The word “again” probably got added by a scribe copying the text, attempting to show that the Parable of the Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13:44 links back to the Parable of the Leaven in Matthew 13:33, which links back to the Parable of the Mustard Seed in Matthew 13:31 (and even possible the Parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24. Not only do the earliest manuscripts discovered not have this “again,” but it does not make sense in how Matthew structured his gospel. If Matthew did intend to link all the parables in Matthew 13 as one solid teaching, he would not have interrupted it with an explanation of a parable right in the middle. Most likely, Jesus taught the first 3 parables in Matthew 13 at a different place and time than the last 3 parables in Matthew 13.

In this parable, Jesus uses a simile to compare the kingdom of heaven to a hidden treasure in a field. The kingdom of heaven in Matthew equates to the same kingdom of God in Mark and Luke. The Jewish people held God in such high esteem that they selectively referred to him. Since Matthew, a Jew, writes his Gospel to Jewish people, he uses the same respect and regard to God by calling it the kingdom of heaven. The Greek term θησαυρός (thesauros) literally translates into “treasure,” and its definition stays true for both Greek and English. It refers to something of high value, and it can be anything of high value. The participle used to describe this treasure is κεκρυμμένῳ (kekrummeno). Literally, it translates to “hidden,” but in the context of this verse, it means “buried.”

Simply because Jesus compares the kingdom of God to hidden treasure, no one should think of hidden treasure like a pirate’s buried treasure, like that of Treasure Island (although such stories did exist during the time of Jesus). No one should equate this parable to winning the lottery (although that will be discussed later). For both of those, one can chalk it up to an accident or luck. This parable actually had a very purposeful and very probable likelihood. Remember that banking as known today did not exist until fairly recent in history, around the late Middle Ages. During the time of Jesus, the business of banking solely went to loans. People only used banks to borrow money in the form of a loan and pay back that loan. Banks did not hold people’s money. Therefore, when a person wanted to save or store riches in a safe place away from robbers and raiders, especially in times of uncertainty, they would put their valuables (coins, precious metals, gemstones) in sometimes a wooden box, or more often, a clay jar, and then place it in a secure location, like the innermost closet, a vault under the house or a chosen spot in the field. Those in urban settings could only bury it under the house, while those in rural settings could bury it anywhere on their property, including their fields. Someone at this point may think, “Wouldn’t the treasure be buried safer within the walls in the house?” Maybe, but within the floorplan of the house, the robber or thief only has only a little surface area to cover in comparison to the house and the fields of a farmer, which the robber or thief would have a lot to cover.

Such a process should not sound too foreign, as the New Testament references it many times. When Paul writes “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” in 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV), he refers to this practice. In the Parable of the Talents, as told in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27, when Jesus says that the third servant hid his talent in the ground, he refers to this practice.

 

In the late 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls, scrolls written by the Qumran community, a people during the intertestamental time (between the Old Testament and New Testament), were discovered. The most important discovery among these scrolls were copies of the Old Testament books, the oldest copies still in existence. The second most important discovery among these scrolls was scrolls recording community living. They have given modern scholars an eye into Jewish life during the intertestamental times and the 1^st century Greco-Roman world. In the third cave, a bronze scroll was discovered. One would think it would have some important Scripture passage on it to be worth of bronze. Nope, it did not any Old Testament Scripture. Rather, the bronze scroll had a treasure map! Ok, that’s a little bit of an embellishment, but in cave 3 the bronze scroll did list the hidden treasures of all the households. Scholars hypothesize that the Romans were encroaching in on this Qumran community (the Essenes of the Qumran community were very much a sect), and the Qumran community feared the Romans would make an example by executing the leaders which would be a problem considering only the leaders knew the burial location of the family treasure, so they wrote it down in case somebody became the new leaders. Again, this scroll proves the regular practice of buried treasures.

 

With this knowledge in mind, this one verse in Matthew 13:44 sets up a detailed setting. A rural man, probably a farmer (because he has a field), has passed away, leaving his home and the land on which it resides to an heir. The heir, either unknowing of the buried treasure or forgetful of the buried treasure, has no personal intention for the land, so he decides to sell it to pocket some extra cash. From here, the setting can diverge into two different scenarios. Perhaps the heir hires somebody to tend to the field, overgrown with weeds, so it looks presentable for sale. Upon cleaning up the field, the employee notices something sticking out of the plowed ground, and thus discovers the treasure (the above modern re-telling of the parable went this direction, as do a majority of scholars). Maybe the heir has invited potential buyers to an “open house” of sorts to inspect the land before buying (cf. Luke 14:18). Upon his inspection of the field, he notices that the recent storm has eroded some ground, revealing something buried in the ground. In either scenario, the man fears he will lose the  treasure, so he acts by hiding it again. Perhaps he fears that the heir may change his mind about selling the field if the hear finds out about the discovery, or maybe he fears it will attract even more people to bid on the land, especially the rich who he could not outbid, or even possibly than a thief will rob the land of the treasure, so the finder hides the treasure again.  In either situation, the man discovering the treasure buries it again until he can buy the land, and thus claim rightful possession of the treasure.

Somebody might question the morality of the man who, upon, discovering the buried treasure, hides it again and buys the land to take possession of it, instead of reporting it to the seller. Even if someone from modern times does not question it, someone from the time of Jesus would have definitely questioned it. Interesting enough, though, as crazy as this sounds, believe it or not, the rabbis highly debated the morally right action for the exact scenario depicted in Matthew 13:44. Since such a highly debated situation had a range of answers from the rabbis, the rabbis did come to a general consensus. Most often, the answer depended on what treasure consisted of. Here, the Pharisees and Sadducees did what the Pharisees and Sadducees did best: nitpick the Law down to the letter to make it more complicated. For example, if the treasure consisted of coins scattered about, it belonged to the man discovering it, but if it the treasure consisted of piles of coins, which the religious leaders defined as three coins on top of each other, it belonged to the owner. Generally speaking, the rabbis went by the age-old saying of “finders-keepers, losers-weepers,” but only in the case when the original owner could not prove possession or died and the discoverer proved he represented himself instead of somebody else. If ever unclear, the disputing parties split the treasure in half. Ultimately, the man’s integrity has no impact on the parable, as it concludes the same way, whether the man acted properly or improperly. If anything, the man deserve praise for his discernment and prudence on the fly to give up his possessions in exchange for this property.

That also leads to another clue about the treasure. Somebody might have wondered why the man who discovered the treasure did not, in the words of the Steve Miller Band, “take the money and run.” If the man did take the treasure without buying the field, the original owning family could ultimately accuse him of stealing it, and rightfully so. If the man who found the treasure purchased the land, then everything on or in the land becomes his possession, including the treasure. Quite possibly, though, the man discovered a large treasure, so large that it does not fit in his pockets or his bag. Such a big treasure would fit the metaphor here. Either way, the only way to obtain the treasure would involve obtaining the field.

Before moving on to what the parable means, let it be clear what it does not mean. No one should mistake buying the field to equate to buying salvation. Rather, the man’s willingness to buy the field at all costs represents pursing the kingdom of heaven at all costs. The pursuit of the kingdom of heaven does not limit itself giving up money and other worldly possessions, it also requires sacrificing time and resources in exchange for spiritual discipline

Notice how the buried treasure in this parable laid deep in the ground the whole time. The heir who inherited the land could have found the treasure himself if he would have just looked for it. In fact, the man who discovers the treasure did not go out hunting for treasure, yet he stumbles upon it. The parable may even go as far to hint that only by divine intervention the man found the treasure. Likewise, the presence of the kingdom of God might be out in the open, but the only ones who can see it are those who actively seek it. After all, “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, [Jesus] answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you’”  (Luke 17:20&21 ESV). Through nature, the Lord has revealed his presence, and through the Scriptures, God has revealed his will. Humanity just has to look for it. Some will merely stumble upon him, but others, as seen in the next parable, will seek and find it.  This parable clearly puts emphasis on the man finding the treasure. Likewise, Jesus highlights the importance of seeking the kingdom of God. For those who have found it, they can aid in helping the lost find the kingdom of God. They can help by pointing out the need for salvation or the way to Christ.

Note the man’s heart and mind when it comes to his choice of actions. While the man’s behavior come across as thoughtless, the man actually reveals the decision is a no brainer. The decision to give up all comes with ease and in happiness. The man never feels like he should do it because it ought to do it or it is the right thing to do. He gives up all because he wants to give up all, and he gives up all with joy because he knows the payout is worth it. Anybody pursuing the kingdom of heaven should feel the same way. The kingdom of heaven’s worth far outweighs any earthly riches, so the disciple of Jesus needs to pursue the kingdom of heaven as those of the world pursue wealth. Not only does this pursuit of the kingdom of heaven include giving up worldly possessions, it also requires sacrificing time and resources in exchange for spiritual discipline.

Now here fits the lottery analogy. Back in January 2016, the Power Ball lottery reached an all-time high of $1,590,000,000, setting a record for any U.S. lottery. The odds of winning that Power Ball jackpot is 1 in292,200,000 because there are 292,200,000 possible combinations of Power Ball numbers. Power Ball tickets go for $2.00 per ticket. 292,200,000 x $2.00 = $584,400,000. Not counting taxes, and assuming one sole person won that lottery, if that person bought $584,400,000 worth in lottery tickets, he or she would have spent $584,400,000 to make $1,590,000,000. That’s a 172% profit! For the Christian who finds the lottery sinful, remove the premise, but keep the numbers. If somebody promised someone else $1,590,000,000 in exchange for a $584,400,000, and that somebody could assure that investment wasn’t a scam, a pyramid scheme or a cult (if your business’s motto is “It’s not a [insert name of good/service here]; it’s a lifestyle!” then it’s a cult because the Christian’s lifestyle is Jesus, not some good/service, no matter how effect said good/service is), of course that someone would do everything in his or her power to get that $584,400,000 because of the 172% profit! What would that involve? It would involve liquidating assets. It would involve withdrawing all money. All in all, it would have to mean prioritizing the drive for the money. Anything less, and the person would not achieve the funds needed. If someone would make such a pursuit for worldly wealthy, how much more for the Christian pursuing the kingdom of heaven!

Honestly, Jesus asked for a lot in exchange for the kingdom of heaven. For example, Jesus commanded a man with great wealth to sell all his possessions and donate the money to the poor (Matthew 19:21/Mark 10:19/Luke 18:22). Jesus instructed this command, not because the man with great wealth had to buy his ticket into heaven, but because the man’s wealth got in the way of his full loyalty to God and his kingdom. Jesus instructed his disciples that he had to become a priority over their own family (Matthew 10:37/Luke 14:26). Jesus taught that a human must give us the world and his or her life in exchange for a life that may lead to the cross, or death (Matthew 16:24-26/Mark 8:34-37/Luke 9:23-25). If anyone thinks Jesus asked for too much, that person should not forget how much Jesus gave up for them. Philippians 2:6-8 reminds everyone of the three-fold self-sacrifice Jesus gave. First, Jesus gave up his divine, godly throne in heaven. Second, Jesus gave up the right to have a royal or priestly birth, and in exchange, he took up a birth in a lower-class family. Third, Jesus gave up the right to a long life and peaceful death for a short life and horrible execution. Jesus gave that all up to seek after and chase after humanity, then the least humanity could do in exchange involves sacrificing worldly wealth, family and freedom! If Jesus can give up so much for his contribution to the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of heaven most definition expects the same self-sacrificing contribution from believers.

In conclusion, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure teaches 4 truths about kingdom living. First, always look out for the kingdom of heaven. Second, the kingdom of heaven costs the Christian everything, yet it profits far exceeds its expenses. Third, pursuit of the kingdom of God must become a priority for the Christian, and any business that gets in the way must be rejected. Fourth, the Christian should appropriately respond to the kingdom of God with joy. In the Greek text, the phrase “out of joy” is fronted. Jesus emphasized that joy is the right emotional response to the kingdom of God.

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