Gegraptai

Καὶ ἔλεγεν, Οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ τὸν σπόρον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ καθεύδῃ καὶ ἐγείρηται νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, καὶ ὁ σπόρος βλαστᾷ καὶ μηκύνηται ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν αὐτός. αὐτομάτη ἡ γῆ καρποφορεῖ, πρῶτον χόρτον, εἶτα στάχυν, εἶτα πλήρη[ς] σῖτον ἐν τῷ στάχυϊ. ὅταν δὲ παραδοῖ ὁ καρπός, εὐθὺς ἀποστέλλει τὸ δρέπανον, ὅτι παρέστηκεν ὁ θερισμός.

And he was saying, “Thus is the kingdom of God: as if a person scatters seed upon the ground and sleeps and wakes night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The ground produces on its own: first grass, then the ear, then full grain in the ear. But whenever the crop permits, he immediately sends out the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

If your blogging service doesn’t show you the search terms that lead people to your blog, that is too bad. Sometimes they’re hilarious — other times a little disturbing. Here are a couple of recent searches leading to my blog that I find a little curious:

what the heck does Cody mean

recent Jesus sightings

Today’s reading is from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17:

Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ λέγητε πάντες, καὶ μὴ ᾖ ἐν ὑμῖν σχίσματα, ἦτε δὲ κατηρτισμένοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ νοῒ καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ γνώμῃ. ἐδηλώθη γάρ μοι περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί μου, ὑπὸ τῶν Χλόης ὅτι ἔριδες ἐν ὑμῖν εἰσιν. λέγω δὲ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἕκαστος ὑμῶν λέγει, Ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι Παύλου, Ἐγὼ δὲ Ἀπολλῶ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Κηφᾶ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Χριστοῦ. μεμέρισται ὁ Χριστός; μὴ Παῦλος ἐσταυρώθη ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἢ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Παύλου ἐβαπτίσθητε; εὐχαριστῶ [τῷ θεῷ] ὅτι οὐδένα ὑμῶν ἐβάπτισα εἰ μὴ Κρίσπον καὶ Γάϊον, ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ ὅτι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα ἐβαπτίσθητε. ἐβάπτισα δὲ καὶ τὸν Στεφανᾶ οἶκον: λοιπὸν οὐκ οἶδα εἴ τινα ἄλλον ἐβάπτισα. οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν ἀλλὰ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου, ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

I encourage you, brothers and sisters, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you might all be in agreement and no division be among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been made known to me by Chloe’s people concerning you, my brothers and sisters, that there are contentions among you. I mean this: that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I give thanks that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. But I also baptized the house of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, not with cleverness in speaking, lest the cross of Christ be rendered vain.

From Matthew 10:39:

ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν.

The one who finds one’s life will lose it, and the one who loses one’s life for my sake will find it.

Note that I have added a page on which I list online resources for biblical studies by category. (The link is at the top right. Also, here.) I will continue adding to the list when I find new useful resources. If anyone knows of anything that I’ve missed, I would love to know about it. I hope someone may find the page useful.

UPDATE: I’ve updated the resources page. I added a few more resources and categories, and I changed the layout so that it is better organized.

Today’s reading is from Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector:

Εἶπεν δὲ καὶ πρός τινας τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι εἰσὶν δίκαιοι καὶ ἐξουθενοῦντας τοὺς λοιποὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην: Ἄνθρωποι δύο ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν προσεύξασθαι, ὁ εἷς Φαρισαῖος καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τελώνης. ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο, Ὁ θεός, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοί, ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης: νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου, ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι. ὁ δὲ τελώνης μακρόθεν ἑστὼς οὐκ ἤθελεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπᾶραι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλ’ ἔτυπτεν τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ λέγων, Ὁ θεός, ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ. λέγω ὑμῖν, κατέβη οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ παρ’ ἐκεῖνον: ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.

And he also told this parable to some who persuaded themselves that they were righteous and held others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying these things to himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I tithe everything I acquire.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, was not even willing to lift up his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner.’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified instead of the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Today’s reading, from Matthew 6:1-2:

Προσέχετε [δὲ] τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς: εἰ δὲ μή γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Οταν οὖν ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων: ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.

Pay close attention not to practice your righteousness in front of people to be seen by them; otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, whenever you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet in front of you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they might be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their full reward.

From Philippians 2:1-4:

Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί, πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες, σύμψυχοι, τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες, μηδὲν κατ’ ἐριθείαν μηδὲ κατὰ κενοδοξίαν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν, μὴ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστος σκοποῦντες, ἀλλὰ [καὶ] τὰ ἑτέρων ἕκαστοι.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any comfort from love, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, if there is any affection and compassion, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, united, minding one thing. Do nothing out of hostility or empty conceit, but in humility, regard one another as better than yourselves, each looking not only to one’s own interests, but also to [those of] others.

I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks. My January course on Acts has kept me too busy to find the time to keep my blog updated. I intended to post a major entry this weekend after finishing up my J-term course, but then I got the flu (and now my three housemates have it too). Since I’m feeling rather swimmy-headed and tired, anything I write will probably be incoherent. So, I’m putting productivity off for the next couple of days. I do still plan to take full advantage of this week of freedom, though. Here’s what I still hope to accomplish in the next eight days:

• Post one major blog entry;
• Continue blogging my NT Greek readings daily;
• Review Greek morphology, syntax, and vocabulary;
• Read Dennis R. MacDonald, Does the New Testament Imitate Homer? It should prove … um … interesting.
• And last, but not least, spend an hour each morning in prayer.

So, this flu has held me up, but look for something new up here in the next few days. And pray that I and my housemates get over this mess quickly!

Besides all of that, I’m getting very excited about beginning the Spring term next week. My classes are really going to be a lot of fun. Here’s what I’m taking:

• Biblical Archaeology
• Non-Canonical Writings for NT Studies
• Directed study in Ecclesiastical Latin
• Directed study in Classical Greek

I’m anticipating an exciting semester! Now, I must rest so I can take advantage of this next week off…

By the way, the latest Biblical Studies Carnival is here. It is extremely thorough, and quite worth reading.