Advent 4C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 22, 2024

Madonna of the Magnificat

Madonna del Magnificat (Madonna of the Magnificat), tempera painting on panel (1483) by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Micah 5:2-5a

God’s active, liberating preference for the poor and the oppressed is made manifest in Sunday’s readings. This theme may seem surprising at first, but it is in fact a deeply significant message for the impending birth of Jesus, who will hold up the poor, the hungry, the ill, and imprisoned and oppressed as the central focus of his good news. We begin with a reading from Micah, one of the earliest prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Micah has warned the people of Jerusalem that their injustices against the weak and the poor will bring down God’s wrath. In Sunday’s verses, Micah foretells that a new ruler was to come from the village of Bethlehem – the birthplace of King David – to reunite the surviving remnant of Israel as a shepherd leads his flock, all under God’s protection in peace.

Psalm: Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46b-55)

The Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise, may either be sung as Sunday’s Psalm or read as the second portion of the Gospel of the day. In this beloved story as told by Luke, the pregnant Mary sings out grateful praise for God. She rejoices in all that God has done for her, celebrating a powerful yet merciful God who loves us and calls us to acts of mercy and justice. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly, she sings. God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. God’s justice is restorative – taking from those who have much and giving to those who have none.

Alternate Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7

Psalm 80 was likely written during a time of exile and destruction or recalls such a time. The place names in the second verse suggest lamentation over the loss of the Northern Kingdom – Israel – to the Assyrians. The first seven of its 18 verses resonate in sorrow as the people call on Israel’s God to come and help. The people, we hear in a memorable metaphor, have been fed with the bread of tears and given tears to drink. Though they have suffered the derision, laughter, and scorn of their enemies, including their own neighbors, the Psalmist expresses the belief that God has the power to save them through the light of God’s own countenance.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10

We return for this one Sunday to the Letter to the Hebrews, which we had visited extensively for several weeks this past autumn. Consistent with its theme of contrasting Jewish Christianity against Temple Judaism, it echoes prophecies of Isaiah and Amos, who warned of a God who “takes no pleasure” in temple sacrifices. Instead, it proposes that God’s promise to Israel at Sinai has now been fulfilled through the Incarnation of Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross.

Gospel: Luke 1:39-45

This lovely reading includes the narrative that immediately precedes the Magnificat, the Song of Mary. The evangelist we know as Luke tells the story of Mary’s visit to her older cousin Elizabeth. Both women were pregnant – Elizabeth with John, Mary with Jesus – and both had conceived in miraculous ways after being visited by angels with the news that they would give birth. When the women meet, Elizabeth feels her child leap in her womb with what she perceives as joy. Elizabeth, suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit, declares Mary blessed among women. Elizabeth wonders in amazement, “Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” Then, in the following verses, Mary responds with the Magnificat, the revolutionary song that we heard in the Canticle appointed for this day.

Advent 3C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 15, 2024

Saint John the Baptist Preaching

Saint John the Baptist Preaching (c.1735-1745), oil painting on canvas by Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788). Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. (Click image to enlarge.)]

First Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

This week we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath for the Third Sunday of Advent, traditionally called Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday or Rose Sunday. A common thread in the day’s Lectionary readings calls us to be joyful even in times of stress. The minor prophet Zephaniah warned that Jerusalem would be destroyed because its people had turned away from God. But then, in this passage from the third and final chapter of this short book, the prophet’s thoughts turn to hope: After an exile, a joyous time will follow, when God will gather Israel’s righteous people, restore their fortunes, and bring them home.

Psalm: Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6)

Even in modern times, a seasonal drought is a serious threat to crops, farmers, consumers, and even a nation’s economy. In biblical times, drought was even worse: A failed crop could mean life or death. Isaiah, the major prophet who foretold Israel’s destruction, exile, and return surely knew that water is one of the most important things that God gives us. This Canticle, drawn from the first portion of Isaiah before the exile, called on the people to thank God with joy whenever they draw precious, life-giving water from the springs of salvation.

Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-7

Last Sunday, in the opening verses of Philippians, we heard Paul express his love. Now, near the end of this affectionate letter from prison in Rome to the people of this little church in Northeastern Greece that he had founded years before, he urges them to be gentle and kind: Rejoice in God’s love and trust in God’s mercy and peace. Paul’s words to them, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” have become a familiar blessing through the ages.

Gospel: Luke 3:7-18

At first glance, it’s not easy to find the joy in this Gospel portion, which concludes Luke’s account of John the Baptist in the desert that we began last week. Luke shows us a long-haired, ranting prophet, yelling at the crowds who came to be baptized by him, declaring them “a brood of vipers.” John is no Messiah, he tells them. But he shouts that one more powerful than he will soon come to baptize with the Holy Spirit, separating the good wheat from the unworthy chaff. Get ready, John demands. Share your clothing and food with those who have none. Don’t cheat. Don’t be selfish! These are the themes that we’ll hear repeatedly in Luke’s Gospel this Lectionary year. Jesus too will proclaim them as he spreads the Good News, the joy.

Advent 2C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 8, 2024

Saint John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness

Saint John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness (c.1640), oil painting on canvas by Pier Francesco Mola (1612-1666). National Gallery, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9

A messenger is coming to make the way ready for the Messiah! Two alternative passages from minor prophets both draw this hope to our attention in Sunday’s first reading. The first option is found in the book of Baruch, whose name in Hebrew means “Blessed.” His is one of the apocryphal books placed at the end of the Hebrew Bible. Echoing a more familiar passage from Isaiah, Baruch tells Israel in exile that it no longer needs to mourn, for God will lower the mountains and fill up the valleys to make level ground upon which the people may walk safely home. In Sunday’s Gospel, we hear Luke repeat Isaiah’s verses in the voice of John the Baptist.

Or:

First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

In this alternative first reading, the minor prophet Malachi – whose name actually means “my messenger” in Hebrew – brings a dire warning to the people living in Jerusalem generations after the return from exile: God’s messenger must cleanse the people with fire, he prophesies, an action necessary to make them pure and pleasing to God. “Who can endure the day of his coming?” the prophet sings, in words that Handel would make unforgettable 2,000 years later in The Messiah. “He is like a refiner’s fire!”

Psalm: Canticle 16 (Luke 1: 68-79)

We sing Canticle 16 from the Book of Common Prayer – a direct quote from Luke’s Gospel – in place of a psalm. These verses tell the story of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple. When Zechariah had refused to believe that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had really become pregnant after an angelic visitation, God struck him mute. Now Zechariah’s voice is restored as he holds the infant and names him John. This child, Zechariah declares, is to be a prophet like Abraham, the messenger who will “go before the Lord to prepare his way.”

Second Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

The Christian community at Philippi in Greece, according to Luke’s account in Acts, was the first church formed by Paul in Europe as he traveled west from Asia Minor. This brief letter, written from a Roman prison several years later, is full of love and gratitude. In these opening verses, Paul offers greetings, love, thanks for their friendship, and prayers for their well-being. Recalling how eagerly they had accepted the Gospel, Paul prays for this congregation’s continued spiritual growth and insight, which he hopes will lead them to a harvest of righteousness and justice.

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

Zechariah’s son John is a grown man now, and he has begun his public life as John the Baptist, a prophet crying in the wilderness along the Jordan. Beginning his account with a detailed roster of Roman and Jewish leaders of John’s time, including John’s father, Zechariah, Luke tells how John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Then, in words we also hear in Handel’s Messiah, Luke roots John’s prophecy in Isaiah’s call to prepare the way of the Lord, making his paths straight, filling every valley and making every mountain and hill low so that all humanity may see God’s salvation.

Advent 1C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 1, 2024

The Great Last Judgement

The Great Last Judgement (1617), oil painting, altarpiece, by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

Advent has come, and we begin a new Lectionary year centered on the Gospel according to Luke. The commercial celebration of Christmas may already be in full swing, but the quieter, gentler celebration of Advent comes as a blessing. Advent is a time to prepare, to wait for the celebration of Jesus’s birth – the Incarnation – and for the final coming of Christ’s kingdom in power and glory. Sunday’s readings begin with a prophecy from Jeremiah to Israel in exile. Jerusalem and the temple have been destroyed, and King David’s dynasty has ended after 400 years. But there is hope, Jeremiah assures the people: A new branch – a messiah – will spring up and grow in David’s line, and will restore justice and righteousness in a new Israel.

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-9

Echoing Jeremiah’s promises to Israel in Sunday’s first reading, this passage from Psalm 25 speaks of a people facing the threat of humiliation and defeat. Trusting fully in God for salvation, relying on God’s everlasting compassion and love, the Psalmist asks God to forgive the people’s youthful errors and wrong turns while teaching them the right path. The Psalmist asks God to remember us not for our sins but with all God’s compassion and steadfast love – “chesed” in the original Hebrew – an emotion-laden word that may also be translated as “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.”

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

This short passage is drawn from the earliest of Paul’s known letters. It was written to a beloved community in Northern Greece, seeking to strengthen their hearts in holiness so as to remain blameless before God when Jesus and his saints return: an outcome that in those early days was still expected to happen at any time. Writing from far away, Paul calls God’s blessings on the lives of the Thessalonians, expressing hope that he may soon be reunited with them. In the meantime, he prays that the people of this community will love one another and everyone, just as he loves them.

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

Jesus is teaching the apostles after they have left the Temple, not long before they gather for the Last Supper and his passion begins. In alarming apocalyptic language reminiscent of the Gospel from Mark that we heard the Sunday before last, Jesus warns of the destruction of the Temple and of hard times to come. There will be frightening signs in the earth and heavens and the seas; false prophets speaking in Jesus’s name; nations rising against nations, famines, and wars and rumors of wars. But these signs will reveal, Jesus tells them, that the world’s redemption is drawing near. So don’t be alarmed, he assures them: This is but the beginning of the birth pangs, the Kingdom of God drawing near.

Christ the King B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 24, 2024 (Christ the King B/Proper 29)

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), Christ before Pilate

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), Christ before Pilate (c. 1860-c. 1880), oil painting by Antonio Ciseri (1821-1891). Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Samuel 23:1-7

The six-month-long string of Sundays after Pentecost concludes this Sunday with the feast of Christ the King – sometimes called the “Reign of Christ” to set a less patriarchal tone. This reading from the Second Book of Samuel offers a poetic passage called “The Last Words of David.” A hymn of praise, likely written in David’s memory long after his death, declares that David was God’s favorite: a just ruler, the one through whom the God of Israel speaks. God has made an everlasting covenant with David, its verses declare. It is a covenant that will bring prosperity to the king’s reign and success to all the king’s descendants.

First Reading (Track Two): Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

It might seem a little awkward for us as Americans, remembering our nation-founding revolution against the British king, to depict our God as a monarch and Jesus as a warrior king. Yet we do just that on Christ the King Sunday as we look to the culmination of history with Christ as our king. This reading from the Book of Daniel portrays a mighty God on a fiery throne. As modern Christians, we might prefer to visualize a transcendent Creator whose very nature lies beyond our ability to imagine. For early Christians living in a time of empire, though, it must have been reassuring to imagine an all-powerful God giving dominion over all nations and peoples to “one like a human being,” who they would identify as Christ.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19)

Sunday’s Psalm continues in the spirit of this week’s first reading about David and God’s covenant to bless and bring prosperity to him and to his descendants. Remembering the hardships that David endured in keeping his oath to God, the Psalmist vows not to rest until Israel builds a temple on Mount Zion, a dwelling place on earth where God can rest. If Israel’s children keep the covenant that their kingly ancestor made with God, then Israel will sit on David’s throne forever.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 93

God is king! God is majestic! God is powerful! How this mighty hymn must have thundered through the ancient temple, celebrating the power and the kingship of God in metaphors of sound and fury: Roaring floods and massive ocean waves thundering, calling out the glory of God our king. Unlike earthly kings, the Psalmist sings, God’s world is certain, immovable and mighty. God’s kingdom will endure, sure and holy, for ever and evermore.

Second Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8

This greeting from the first page of Revelation gives away the simple secret of this mysterious book: It is not a strange and frightening prediction of the End Times, nor does it conceal coded information about our times, or any other time or place. It was a subversive sermon for persecuted Christians in Asia Minor, carrying this simple message: God our King, who was with us at the beginning and will be with us at the end, loves us and frees us from our sins through Christ. In words that echo the Daniel reading, we hear that Jesus our Savior, God, ruler of all the kings of the earth, will come back with the clouds to deliver justice.

Gospel: John 18:33-37

Finally, in John’s Gospel, Jesus makes his kingship clear as he stands before Pilate. Or does he? Accused of declaring himself king of the Jews, an act of treason against the powerful Roman Empire, Jesus answers, clearly and firmly, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate remains puzzled. Jesus stakes his claim to a kingdom and claims his kingship, but it’s “not from here,” adding that he came into the world to testify to the truth. Is he a king? “You say so,” Jesus replies to Pilate. But when and how will this kingdom come? Will it come in the future with trumpet blasts and fire and brimstone? Or do we build it every day when we act as Christ’s hands in the world?

Pentecost 26B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 17, 2024 (Pentecost 26B/Proper 28)

The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem

The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem (1867), oil painting on canvas by Francesco Hayez (1791-1882). Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 1:4-20

At the beginning of the season after Pentecost back in June, we read about the Prophet Samuel, who followed God’s commands to find the young shepherd David, who would become Israel’s king. Now, as the Pentecost season nears its end, we return to the first book of Samuel to hear the story of Samuel’s mother, Hannah, who was anguished and suffered verbal abuse because she couldn’t bear a child. She opened her heart in prayer and discovered that God remained with her in her time of trouble and pain. Her prayers were answered. She found joy, giving birth to Samuel, who became the last of the great judges who governed Israel before the time of its kings.

First Reading (Track Two): Daniel 12:1-3

The long Pentecost season is drawing to its close. In two weeks, Advent will begin, starting a new Lectionary year. Sunday’s readings foreshadow a central theme of Advent: our hope of resurrection and new life. Our Track Two first reading is from the book of Daniel. Its narrative reflects Israel’s persecution under Greek rule in the 2nd century BCE. This reading begins Daniel’s lengthy “apocalyptic” vision – a genre similar to Revelation – that envisions ultimate triumph. It introduces the idea of a general bodily resurrection of all the dead, the first time that this theological concept is raised in the Hebrew Bible.

Psalm (Track One): 1 Samuel 2:1-10

In place of a psalm, this alternative Track One reading steps forward a page or two in 1 Samuel to sing the prayer of Hannah, celebrating her joy at the birth of her child Samuel. These words of hope and strength clearly foreshadow the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, that the mother-to-be of Jesus sings in Luke’s Gospel. Both Hannah’s and Mary’s prayers celebrate the God who lifts up the lowly and the poor while casting down the rich and powerful. But Mary won’t echo the strong words of vengeance against enemies that we hear in Hannah’s song.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Just as the first reading from Daniel promises a heavenly reward to those who remain faithful, Psalm 16 reassures the people that God will not abandon those who always follow God. But, the Psalmist goes on, a different, harsher fate awaits the unfaithful, those who follow other gods: They may see their troubles multiplied, and God will not so much as speak the names of their gods. God will never abandon those who remain faithful, though: The hearts of the faithful will be glad and their spirits will rejoice.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25

We come to the end of our seven-week journey through the letter to the Hebrews. This passage concludes its lengthy narrative describing Jesus as a great high priest who offered himself as one sacrifice for all times, superior to the sacrifices by the priests in the Temple of Jerusalem, who had to perform sacrifices again and again. Echoing themes in Sunday’s other readings, this passage calls on its audience to hold fast without wavering, provoking each other to love and good deeds, encouraging one another all the more as they see the Day of the Lord approaching.

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Jesus’s words about wars, earthquakes, and famines in Sunday’s Gospel give us a taste of the apocalyptic prophecies that will draw our attention through Advent. These verses follow immediately after last week’s account of Jesus watching the poor woman giving her last two coins to the Temple treasury. Jesus, still angered by the hypocrisy of the scribes, utters his own version of an apocalypse, declaring that the Temple will be destroyed, thrown down, not one stone left upon another. As Mark’s Gospel now turns toward the cross, these words will soon be held against Jesus before the Temple’s high priest.

Pentecost 25B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 10, 2024 (Pentecost 25B/Proper 27)

The widow's mite

The widow’s mite (1876), oil painting on canvas by João Zeferino da Costa (1840-1915). Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Ruth, a recently widowed young Moabite woman, has settled in Bethlehem with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, who is also a widow. In the tough world that widows and orphans faced in those times, one of them needs to find a husband to save the family from poverty. Through a bit of trickery suggested by Naomi, Ruth persuades her kinsman Moab to marry her. It works, and the couple has a child named Obed. Why is this little story placed in context with the books about Israel’s evolution as a nation that bracket it in the Hebrew Bible? The final verses of this reading reveal the answer: The child Obed will become the grandfather of King David, placing Ruth and Moab in the ancestral line of Israel’s Messiah.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 17:8-16

Both tracks of Sunday’s first readings introduce us to tough widows who do what needs to be done; and they foreshadow another generous widow in Mark’s Gospel. In this Track Two first reading, God commands the prophet Elijah to go to a poor widow – a foreigner, not an Israelite – who will feed him. When Elijah arrives, the widow is, quite reasonably, reluctant. She has nothing but crumbs, she says. The region is suffering a famine, and she and her son are near death from hunger. But they all trust in God, and a miracle ensues: She follows Elijah’s instructions, makes cakes from the paltry provisions, and her tiny supply of oil and meal feed everyone and last until the drought ends.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 127

Resonating with the themes In the passage from Ruth, Psalm 127 celebrates the importance of maintaining home and family. In the ancient Near East, it was difficult for a family to survive without strong sons to build the home, grow crops, and protect the family from invaders. Sons like these are gifts that can come only as a blessing from God, the Psalmist sings. God builds the house, watches over the city like a watchman keeping vigil, and provides children as a gift to God’s people: a quiver full of God-given arrows to help protect against enemies.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

Psalm 146 begins as a hymn of praise to God, but it soon turns to earthly matters: God can be trusted, but earthly rulers cannot. “Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, the Psalmist warns, “for there is no help in them.” We should place our hope in God, our creator, instead, who gives hope to widows and orphans; help for the poor, justice for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoner, and help for those who are disabled, alone, strangers in strange lands. God shall reign forever, through all generations.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

The Letter to the Hebrews continues its extended discourse contrasting Jesus favorably as the great High Priest, against the writer’s view of the deficiencies of the Jerusalem Temple’s earthly high priests. The Temple, in this account, is merely a copy of God’s domain, and its high priests found it necessary to sacrifice animals on the people’s behalf repeatedly, year after year, in a ritual that does not last. But, it continues, Jesus sacrificed himself once for all. When Jesus returns, there’ll be no need for further sacrifice to deal with sin – that work has already been done. Jesus will come to save his faithful people who eagerly wait for him.

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem on his final journey, and he is challenging the religious and political establishment in ways that will turn them angrily against him. First he scorns the scribes for their arrogance and hypocrisy. He mocks them for flaunting their wealth and power with ostentatious dress and prayer while they “devour widows’ houses.” Then, as Jesus sits near the Temple treasury, watching believers make their donations, a poor widow appears. She has little, but in contrast with the scribes, she gives two small coins: all that she has. Jesus praises her, not for giving all that she had, but because she gave it from her heart. It was not the quantity but the quality of her giving that mattered.

Pentecost 24B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 3, 2024 (Pentecost 24B/Proper 26)

Christ Among the Scribes

Christ Among the Scribes (1587), triptych by Frans Francken I (1542-1616). Cathedral of our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 1:1-18

In the midst of the Hebrew Bible’s books that tell the stories of Israel and its kingdom, tucked in between Joshua and Judges, Samuel and Kings, we find the short, charming book of Ruth. These opening verses tell a love story about Ruth, a young Moabite widow, who follows her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, back home to Bethlehem after Ruth’s husband’s death. In today’s verses – a passage often chosen for use in weddings – we hear Ruth promise Naomi that she will loyally stay with her: “Where you go, I will go; you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

First Reading (Track Two): Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Foreshadowing Sunday’s Gospel, our Track Two second reading tells of Moses giving the people the Shema, the short prayer that is central to Jewish worship in Jesus’ time and on to today: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” God commanded that the people keep this prayers in their hearts, teach it to their children, bind it to their hands and foreheads, and fix it on their doorposts.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 146

Singing the praise of God who cares for God’s people and loves us deeply, the Psalmist calls us to look beyond earthly rulers, who cannot help us in the long run. Rather, place our hope in God, creator of the earth and all that is in it, who reigns forever, the Psalmist sings. God’s caring justice favors the poor and the oppressed, those most in need: Hungry people, prisoners. those who are blind; the stranger, the widow, the orphan; those weighed down by life’s load. In caring for the least among us, as Jesus would later call on us to do, God cares for us all.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 119:1-8

Psalm 119, the longest of all the Psalms, devotes all its 176 verses to a consistent message: God’s decrees, God’s law and teaching given in the Torah, are wonderful, and following them makes us happy. The ideas that we hear today in the first eight verses of the Psalm continue throughout, and they echo the covenant between God and Moses at Mount Sinai: Those who follow God’s teaching and walk in God’s ways will be rewarded. Keep us steadfast in following this teaching, the Psalmist prays, asking in turn not to be forsaken.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

We continue reading in the letter to the Hebrews, and the author is sticking with the theme we heard in last week’s passage: In his effort to bring backsliding Jewish converts back to the infant church, the author of Hebrews continues to lift up Jesus as a great high priest superior to the old high priests of the Temple. Jesus serves as priest in a perfect tent that is not part of this creation, we are told; he entered the Holy Place not through the blood sacrifice of goats and calves but with his own blood. Through this sacrifice, we are told, we all are purified in body and soul.

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

A lot has happened since we left Jesus with the no longer blind Bartimaeus in Jericho last Sunday. We have skipped over Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem amid waving palms and high hosannas; Jesus has overturned the money changers’ tables and gotten into several arguments with the Scribes and Pharisees, who have started plotting to kill Jesus. But now another kind of scribe emerges. This scribe approaches Jesus kindly and asks him to name the greatest commandment. Jesus replies, as a proper rabbi should, with the Shema. Then he adds a second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe agrees, adding that all this is greater than burnt offerings and sacrifices.

All Saints B

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Thoughts on the Lectionary readings for All Saints B, Nov. 1, 2024

The readings for All Saints Day may be moved to the following Sunday, Nov. 3, 2020.)

The Raising of Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus (1304-1306), fresco by Giotto di Bondone (c.1266-1337). Cappella degli Scrovegni nell’Arena, Padua, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

We are an Easter people. All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” On All Saints Day, as when we bury our dead, we dress the altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return; yet we celebrate the communion of saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas all come together in the Lectionary readings for All Saints Day, beginning with Wisdom’s promise that peace, love and joy with God await God’s faithful people.

Alternate First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9

On All Saints Day we dress our altar not in the black of mourning but the white of hope and joy. We remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. On this day we celebrate the communion of all the saints, the living and the dead, all bound together in Christ. These ideas are all knit together in today’s readings, beginning with the Prophet Isaiah’s vision of a banquet table that will welcome all the people of all the nations, a delicious feast of rich food and aged, clear wines for a people united at last in a kingdom “where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.” It is no coincidence that these verses are also often chosen for our burial liturgy.

Psalm: Psalm 24

The psalm designated for All Saints Day, like the first readings, celebrates the rewards for those who live as God would have us live. Originally it was an ancient liturgy, a responsive chant sung by priests and people as they approached the Temple for worship. The priest calls out, “Who can stand in his holy place?” The crowd roars back, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts!” The priest responds, “Who is the king of glory?” “The Lord of hosts,” the crowd shouts back with joy.

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a

Our second reading is also frequently read at funerals, as one of the readings used in the liturgy for celebration of a life. Continuing the All Saints Day theme of a glorious life after death for those who love God, it describes a holy city coming down out of heaven, a new Jerusalem. This shining city stands in stark contrast to the dark and demonic earthly city of Rome, portrayed in Revelation as Babylon. We hear that death and pain will be no more in this heavenly city, for God will be with us every day, wiping the tears from our eyes.

Gospel: John 11:32-44

Lazarus has died, and Jesus weeps. Jesus knew his friend was dead, so he took his time getting to Bethany, which angered Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha. Maybe he could have done something, if only he had hurried. So often death in the family brings not only sadness but anger and rage. And then, whispering a quiet prayer to God, Jesus calls out and Lazarus answers. Jesus says “No” to the death of Lazarus, just as God will say “No” to death for Jesus and for us all on Easter Day. Death does not have the last word.

Pentecost 23B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 27, 2024 (Pentecost 23B/Proper 25)

Christ Giving Sight to Bartimaeus

Christ Giving Sight to Bartimaeus (1799-1800), tempera, pen and black ink on canvas by William Blake (1757-1827). Yale University Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): Job 42:1-6, 10-17

The cosmic conversation between God and Job comes to its happy conclusion. Earlier we have heard Job angrily wondering why God would not respond to him. Then we saw Job standing awestruck as God spoke from a whirlwind about the magnificence of the divine creation, in comparison with which Job is tiny and insignificant. Now, in the last chapter of the book, Job responds. He quietly, faithfully accepts God’s power. Having seen and heard God, he can only despise himself, repenting in dust and ashes. But then the world turns and the story ends in restoration: God ensures that Job’s fortunes are double what they had been before. Job lives a long life amid riches, a big family and the respect of his friends.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 31:7-9

When God is with us, when God saves us; when God makes us well and showers grace upon us, we can hardly help but express our gratitude and joy with shouts of thanksgiving and praise. Hold this theme of gratitude and grace as we reflect on Sunday’s readings. First, we turn to Jeremiah after having heard Isaiah’s meditation last week on Israel’s Suffering Servant carrying the pain of exile. Now we hear Jeremiah speaking to Israel in exile with loving words of comfort and joy. God will bring the remnant of Israel out of exile, the prophet foretells. The weak and the strong, mothers and children, those who can’t see and those who can’t walk, all will return home together, weeping with joy, praising God and giving thanks.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

A good thematic fit with the Track One readings for the day, this portion of Psalm 34 meshes nicely with the story of Job. Titled “Praise for Deliverance from Trouble” in the New Revised Standard Version, it begins with a song of praise, singing our intention to bless and praise God at all times. When King David, imagined as the author of this Psalm, found himself in a dangerous place, he prayed for deliverance from his terror. God indeed saved him from all his troubles, and he responded with joy: “Taste and see that God is good; happy are they who trust in the Most High!”

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 126

The pain of exile and the joy of return resonate through many of the psalms, as they do in Psalm 126. Its joyful verses harmonize with Jeremiah’s hopeful prophecy of return and repose. The Psalmist celebrates Israel’s restoration on Mount Zion, the home of the Temple in Jerusalem: “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” In a striking agricultural metaphor, the people sing in memory of ancestors who sowed with tears but reaped with songs of joy. They went out weeping, carrying seed, but then brought home ripe sheaves of grain, joyfully shouting thanksgiving.

Second Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28

Seeking to bring Jewish converts back to the infant church, the author of Hebrews compares Judaism unfavorably to Christianity in words that sound less than generous to modern ears. These verses, building on those that went before, declare that Jesus is a far greater high priest than the old high priests of the Temple: The Jewish high priests were mere mortal, sinful humans, who had to purify themselves repeatedly through constant sacrifices because they were weak. Unlike the other high priests, this passage concludes, Jesus has no need to offer sacrifices day after day: Jesus did all this for everyone when he offered himself.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52

Like other disabled people in Jesus’s time, a blind person had little option but to beg for basic sustenance. Their neighbors often assumed that their disability was punishment for some grievous sin. Even now, physical blindness remains an enduring metaphor for willful refusal to “see” or believe. So Bartimaeus’s neighbors had little but pity to offer Bartimaeus as he sat at the side of the Jericho road begging for alms. So when Bartimaeus heard Jesus passing by, he yelled as loud as he could, asking Jesus to have mercy on him. Jesus listened and healed him, declaring that his faith had made him well. And Bartimaeus, his sight restored, chose to follow Jesus.