Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
All Saints’ Day
Eccles. 44.1-10, 13-14 Ps. 149 Rev. 7.2-4, 9-17
Matt. 5.1-12
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44.1-10, 13-14
1. Ecclesiasticus is
the longest book in the Bible. It was
written in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries in
2. Ecclesiasticus
(the title can be translated as “The Church Book”) is modeled after Proverbs,
as an example of Wisdom Literature, designed to instruct in right living.
a. The purpose of the book was to
instruct the many Jews in
Hellenism.
3. Chs. 44 to 50 comprise the final section of the book, “Praise of the
Ancestors of Old.”
a. The section begins by
listing 12 categories of “godly people”
(with
the number 12 being representative of the 12 tribes of
b. The purpose of these
verses is to encourage Jews to take pride
in their ancestry, and to remain loyal to the
traditions of
4. As Christians we may look to the “great
cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12.1), the saints, as our forerunners in the faith,
and be encouraged to remain loyal in the faith.
a. As ben Sira encouraged the
Alexandrian Jews to remain loyal to
the covenant of
Covenant
of Jesus.
Psalm 149
1. Psalm is a communal hymn of praise in two
parts:
a. vv. 1-4, praise of
the divine Creator
b. vv.
5-9, praise of God, who leads His people to victory.
c. The
psalm is probably late in composition (after
from the Babylonian Captivity).
2. The reference to a “new song” (v. 1) is
liturgical. (Cf. Ps. 33.3) Worship requires a new offering under Jewish law,
and the psalm is characterized as a new offering.
3. This translation of v. 5 is misleading. “Let the faithful rejoice in triumph” refers
in the original to kābôd (“glory,” as
a Divine title):
a. The sense in the
original is “Let the faithful exult in the
Glorious
One.”
Revelation 7.2-4, 9-17
1. This section of Revelation concludes the
section in which the seven “seals” in heaven are described.
a. The first four seals
(which precede this section) are thought to
refer to past events known to John.
b. The fifth seal refers
to the persecution of the faithful.
c. Consonant with rabbinnic tradition, the souls of the faithful rest
under the heavenly altar.
2. The sixth seal is here described in an
inserted vision.
a. The seal refers to
the punishment which awaits the persecutors
of the faithful.
3. The key verse in this section refers to the
salvation which awaits the followers of the Lamb.
a. The angels serve as
the agents of God’s regulation of the
cosmos.
b. The
number 144,000 is symbolic of the 12 tribes of
(12,000 from each
tribe), and thus of the righteous under the old
covenant.
c. The
salvation of the faithful is the climax of the seven seals.
§
The contrast between
“a great multitude that no one could count” and 144,000 is deliberate. People from every nation are subject to
salvation.
Matthew 5.1-12
1. The Sermon on the Mount is found, as such,
only in Matthew, being based in part on the record in Mark, and on a common
oral tradition shared by Matthew and Mark (referred to by scholars as “Q,” from
the German word for “source” [“quelle”].
a. The Sermon on the
Mount is the first of five major teaching
discourses in Matthew.
2. Matthew records eight beatitudes; Luke four.
a. The first three
(common to both) are doubtless authentic
sayings.
§
Luke’s
addition probably reflects early church tradition.
§
Matthew’s
additions are taken from the Psalms.
§
Both Luke and
Matthew also reflect Jesus’ own paraphrasing of parts of Isaiah 61.1-4.
3. A beatitude is an exclamation of congratulations that
recognizes an existing state of happiness.
a. The blessedness
referred to is a recognition of the nearness of
the
b. Those in
need are subject to the special care of God.
c. The
extended beatitude referring to persecution reflects the
experience of the Matthean
community in being expelled from
the synagogues.