Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 14, 2024 (Epiphany 2B)

Nathaniel Under the Fig Tree (c.1886-1894), gouache drawing over graphite on gray paper by James Tissot (1836-1902). Brooklyn Museum, New York City. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Listen for God’s voice in the world, and take care to grasp the reality that we hear. Listen for this theme as it resonates through Sunday’s Lectionary readings. Our first reading introduces young Samuel, puzzled by a mysterious voice as he lies near the Ark in the Temple in Jerusalem. Samuel thinks the voice is his guardian Eli, the high priest and judge of Israel. But Eli, who is elderly and nearly blind, was sound asleep. After a few repetitions, Eli realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of God. Eli advises the boy to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then Eli accepts the words that Samuel hears from God, although they are harsh and stern: God plans to punish Eli and his blasphemous sons who have corrupted the Temple priesthood.

Psalm: Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

It is rarely easy for us to be certain of what God is asking of us. But we can be sure that God fully and completely knows our every thought, the Psalmist sings in verses traditionally attributed to King David. God knows us, God knows when we move forward and when we sit down; God knows every word that we speak and every word that we think. God’s thoughts are more countless than Earth’s grains of sand, the Psalmist continues. It would take an infinity of time to count them.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

At a glance, this reading might reinforce our modern doubts about Paul’s occasional ruminations on sexuality and sin. Read in its original context, though, we see a kinder and gentler image. As he so often does in 1 Corinthians, Paul is offering pastoral counsel to a loving but often quarrelsome little church community. They’ve been arguing about all sorts of theological issues. They’re split into factions. Some of them really haven’t been behaving well, fired by an odd notion that being baptized in the Spirit allows them to behave immorally without sin. Paul’s advice is not angry but clear and firm: Listen for God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. Remember that our bodies are parts of Christ’s body and temples of the Holy Spirit, so honor God by behaving well.

Gospel: John 1:43-51

We are called to respond to Christ in faith through the revelation of his divinity in the gospels of the Epiphany season. In the first chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus calls his disciples, one and two at a time. In the verses preceding Sunday’s gospel, Andrew, Simon Peter and now Philip have joined Jesus. Now we learn that Philip wants his friend Nathanael added to the growing band. Nathanael, though, is wary at first. This Jesus comes from Nazareth? That’s not where the Messiah is supposed to come from! But when Jesus speaks to Nathanael in words that seem to echo the Psalm’s “Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb,” Nathanael accepts Jesus’s call and declares him the Son of God and King of Israel.