Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 9, 2017
Rebekah and Eliezer at the Well (1661), oil painting on canvas by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). National Gallery, London.
Our First Readings through the remaining five months of Sundays after Pentecost will continue to follow God’s chosen people on their long road to the Promised Land, from Abraham to Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua. Occasionally among these patriarchs, we hear the story of a matriarch like Sarah, Hagar, and now Rebekah, who responds with faithful trust to God’s call. Much as Abraham did when he took family to a new land, Rebekah leaves home and family to marry Abraham’s son, Isaac, a man she has not yet met. God promised Abraham that his offspring would become “a great and mighty nation.” Rebekah hears that her children will become “thousands of myriads.” Her faith may be as great as Abraham’s.
First Reading (Track Two): Zechariah 9:9-12
The prophet Zechariah, celebrating the people’s return from exile and their hope of restoring the Temple, envisions a humble yet powerful king who will come to reign in peace and restore the nation’s prosperity, a Messianic foreshadowing that Christians can easily shift forward to Jesus. Matthew later will find Jesus so vividly foretold in these verses that he adopts the wording precisely, including the poetic repetition of Hebrew verse, “riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey,” in his portrayal of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on two animals on Palm Sunday.
Psalm (Track One): Psalm 45:11-18
Today’s psalm is a wedding blessing addressed to a princess bride of Tyre, an ancient island kingdom and occasional rival to Israel, who has come to Israel to be joined in a royal marriage. The verses chosen for today celebrate the pomp and joy of her coming wedding, and they also highlight the Psalmist’s hope that the bride will be remembered and praised in future generations, a prayer for future blessing that echoes God’s promise of myriad descendants to Abraham and Rebekah.
Alternate for the Psalm (Track One): Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The Song of Solomon, also known as Song of Songs, is a lyrical collection of ancient Hebrew love poetry. Curiously, it, along with the book of Esther, is one of the only books in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God. Rather, we are left to find the image of God in the joy of giving and caring love. These verses are understood as a rhapsodic song of springtime, but their metaphorical evocation of love in the midst of an awakening springtime Earth speaks to our hearts even during summer’s heat.
Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 145:8-15
This psalm of praise, traditionally attributed to King David, serves well to echo today’s reading from Zechariah in its vision of a humble, powerful king who reigns in peace and prosperity. This kingdom of glorious splendor is not just a kingdom for here and now, but one that is known in glory to all people, an everlasting kingdom that endures through all the ages: A kingdom of God indeed.
Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23
We have recently heard Paul’s assurances to the ancient Christians of Rome that through baptism we “die” to our old lives enslaved to sin only to be “born” to a new life freed from sin through the free gift of grace from God. In today’s reading, though, using himself as a bad example of a “wretched man,” Paul points out that it’s not necessarily easy to leave sin behind, even when we want to do the right thing. He tries, but he can’t get rid of the sin that lives within him. He can’t fight sin on his own – and neither can we – without God’s help through Jesus, who frees him from the slavery of sin.
Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Doesn’t Jesus seem frustrated and angry in the beginning verses of today’s Gospel? He compares the crowds surrounding him at Capernaum to children, and observes that the same people who called John demonic because he didn’t eat and drink now call Jesus a glutton and a drunk because he does! But then, after we skip over a few more angry verses not included in today’s reading, Jesus pauses and thanks God, turning from anger to gentle humility, and invites all who carry heavy burdens to come to him and find rest for their souls.
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What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.