Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 21, 2024 (Epiphany 3B)

Call of the Sons of Zebedee (1510), oil painting on panel by Marco Basaiti (1470-1530). Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

As we continue through the Epiphany season, our readings again this week speak to us of God’s call and our response. Even after we do wrong, when we repent and return, God is quick to forgive and to welcome us back. Our first reading is a brief passage from the familiar story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, who ran away when God called him to prophesy to the people of Nineveh. Just before this passage, Jonah had been spewed out on the beach by the giant fish that God sent to bring the fleeing prophet back. Jonah is ready to cooperate after this experience, and his concise prophecy has great effect: The people of this huge city all put on sackcloth, fast and repent; whereupon God shows mercy and forgives them.

Psalm: Psalm 62: 6-14

We enter Psalm 62 at Verse 6, joining a narrator who has been assailed, battered, and defamed by foes who seek to bring him down. Can this troubled person turn to God for refuge and stability in a world gone fearsome? Yes, the Psalmist asserts: Wait, hope, trust in God. Do not be shaken: when all else fails, God remains our strong rock and our refuge. Our faith and hope in God’s power and steadfast love will be rewarded. Trust in God alone, the Psalmist tells us over and over again. No one else can be trusted. God is always there, always holding the power, always ready to repay us according to our good deeds.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31

No marriage, no mourning, no joy? No things? What in the world is Paul going on about this time? Paul’s letters can sound very confusing to modern ears, but we can usually hear the voice of the Spirit when we understand them in the context of their time and place. Paul was convinced that Christ was coming back very soon, bringing God’s kingdom and a new way of life. Nothing was more important than that, Paul preached. Not husbands and wives, not mourning or joy. All that is passing away, Paul assures his fractious flock; but God abides.

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

The Gospel according to Mark is moving along very quickly, as Mark’s Gospel does. We are only 14 verses in, and already Herod has arrested John the Baptist, and soon will have John killed. Jesus has just returned from the 40-day fast in the desert that he took on immediately after John baptized him. Now Jesus has taken over John’s call to proclaim repentance from sin and to declare the good news of God’s kingdom. Then, just like that, Mark’s narrative shifts again as Jesus calls his first disciples from fishers working on the Sea of Galilee: Two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, and James son of Zebedee and John. Without any discussion or question, they all get up, leave their former lives behind, and follow Jesus.