Category Archives: Pentecost

Pentecost 4C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 3, 2022 (Pentecost 4C)

Jesus Healing a Leper (1864), Jean-Marie Melchior Doze (1827-1913). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes, France

Jesus Healing a Leper (1864), Jean-Marie Melchior Doze (1827-1913). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 5:1-14

No matter whether our lives are going well or things are going badly, trust in God. Trust, and be thankful for God’s blessings. This hopeful theme recurs through Sunday’s Lectionary readings. In our Track One first reading, Naaman, a proud commander of the Aramean army, risks going to Israel, an enemy nation, to visit the prophet Elisha, seeking a cure for his leprosy, a disfiguring disease that could render the sufferer unclean, cut off from his community. Elisha sent out a servant with advice that sounded too simple to be true: Go wash yourself in the Jordan River. Fortunately for Naaman, his servants came to the rescue again, calming his rage at Elisha’s disrespect. It couldn’t hurt to try, they advised him … and just like that, Naaman was cured.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 66:10-14

Our Track Two first reading takes us to the final chapter of Isaiah. The people were filled with joy when they returned to their beloved city after the exile, but it lay in ruins. They faced the daunting labor of rebuilding the city and constructing a new temple. Still, the prophet declares, it was a time to rejoice and a time to heal. God will shower prosperity on the city, Isaiah declares; and, in beautiful language that imagines God as a loving mother, he tells them that God will nurse and carry the people as a mother comforts her child.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 30

We can surely imagine the recovered Naaman singing this hymn of thanksgiving, which offers grateful thanks to God for recovery from a grave illness. The Psalm goes on to celebrate the gifts of God that may bring even more joy: ending the sadness and depression that so often accompanies illness … turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn … and turning the mourning of sickness into the dancing of health.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 66:1-8

Echoing the theme of trust in God’s protective power that we heard in the Isaiah reading, the Psalmist calls on all the earth to be joyful in God and sing the glory of God’s name. Recalling how God protected the people of Israel escaping slavery in Egypt by turning the sea into dry land, we sing out in full voice, making our voices heard in praise of the God who protects us.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16

We now reach the end of Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Galatia in Asia Minor. Throughout this letter, Paul has consistently argued that Christ’s message is universal – for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free. Writing from far away, he stood strongly, sometimes angrily, against the arguments of opponents who tried to persuade the Galatians to follow a more exclusive way. Paul’s final response clearly echoes Jesus’s message: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

In last week’s Gospel, we saw Jesus beginning his final journey toward Jerusalem, setting his face in the direction of the cross and telling his disciples in no uncertain terms not to tarry. Now Jesus organizes an advance team of seventy witnesses to go on ahead, telling residents in villages along the way that the Kingdom of God has come near. Those who reject these messengers – like the Samarian villagers in last week’s Gospel – are rejecting Jesus; they deserve to be left behind like the dust shaken from the apostles’ feet. Those who welcome them are welcoming Jesus himself. Soon the disciples return, full of joy: In Jesus’s name, they say, they have healed the sick and even cast out demons.

Pentecost 3C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 29, 2025 (Pentecost 3C/Proper 8)

Calling of the Apostles

Calling of the Apostles (1481), fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448-1494). Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading (Track One): 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Here’s a Bible trivia question for you: Other than Jesus, which Bible figures were welcomed into heaven in their earthly bodies? Sunday’s Track One first reading tells us the story of the prophet Elijah taken up in a chariot of fire. The Apocrypha tell us that the prophet Enoch was “taken up,” too. In the Transfiguration we see Moses joining Elijah to meet Jesus, both of them embodied and shining; and modern Catholic doctrine holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was “assumed” bodily into heaven. Imagine the challenge that faces Elisha in this reading as he prepares to take over from a prophet important enough to be taken up in such a spectacular way!

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings, from the reign of David to the fall and exile of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Sunday’s Track Two first reading opens with the prophet Elijah, who had been chosen by God to speak truth to Israel’s kings and to warn them that disaster lay ahead. Elijah was in despair because he feared death at the hands of foes unwilling to hear such prophecy. But God gives Elijah strength and sends him along with instructions to choose Elisha as his successor.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

This Psalm’s stormy images of dark clouds, thunder, lightning, and pounding rain stand as metaphors for God’s majestic deeds that reveal power and might. Deeply troubled and crying out without ceasing, the Psalmist calls on God tirelessly. He seeks comfort for the soul, yet declines to accept it when it comes. Then hope appears as we reflect on God’s power in the storm and remember how God gently led the people out of slavery and protected them in the desert.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Psalm 16, titled “Song of Trust and Security in God” in the New Revised Standard Edition, is attributed by tradition to the hand of King David, as are nearly half of the 150 Psalms. The Psalmist, writing in David’s name, calls for God’s protection and guidance. Those who follow false gods will only increase their trouble, the poetic verses sing. But by accepting God as his “portion and cup,” the Psalmist’s heart will be glad, and his spirit will rejoice, knowing that God will not abandon him to the grave.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

This week in our passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul continues his argument that the way of Christ is open to all humankind: God’s covenant with Israel extends through Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. The law of that covenant, he goes on, requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves, not to “bite and devour” one another. The Spirit binds us to our neighbors in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

Jesus, in the company of his followers, now sets his face to go to Jerusalem. From now through the end of the long Pentecost season at the end of November, we will follow Luke’s account of Jesus’s long journey from his home in Galilee toward Jerusalem, his Passion, and the Cross. In this reading, we see a side of Jesus that may surprise us with his seeming frustration and impatience. Is his call to follow him so urgent that disciples must leave their dead unburied? Is there really no time for them to bid their families farewell? Jesus is now fiercely focused on urgency in bringing in the Kingdom. Nothing else appears more important to him than that.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two alternative tracks each week for the Hebrew Bible reading. 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 tracks.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Pentecost 2C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 22, 2025 (Pentecost 2C/Proper 7)

Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac

Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac (early sixth century), mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy.

First Reading (Track One): 1 Kings 19:1-15

This Sunday we return to the long season after Pentecost. Although it was once called “ordinary time,” we should not think of it as less important than the liturgical seasons around the Incarnation at Christmas or the Resurrection at Easter. Now the life and works of Jesus come to the fore. Our Track One first readings during this season will draw from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. We begin with Elijah, a bold prophet who fought the priests of Baal and spoke truth to King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. In this reading, fleeing an angry Jezebel’s revenge, Elijah is worn down and afraid. Fighting despair, he hides under a broom tree and begs God to take his life. But God has other plans and sends winds, an earthquake, and fire to get Elijah back to God’s work.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 65:1-9

The season after Pentecost, with its green liturgical colors, now begins. In the past six months, we have marked the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now we begin almost six months following the life and works of Jesus as told by Luke. In our Track Two first reading, we are near the end of Isaiah’s great book of prophecy. God, speaking through the prophet, is angry because the people who returned from exile are already breaking the covenant, ignoring the Law, eating unclean food, and even worshiping idols. God is beyond anger and is ready to kill them all. But God will be just: Those who have been rebellious, who have provoked God’s anger, must pay with their lives. But God will not destroy them all. A remnant will remain to inherit Zion, God’s holy hill.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 42 and 43

We sing two connected Psalms in Track One this Sunday. The initial hymns in the second of five books within the Psalms resonate with beautiful poetic language. Both are filled with lamentation, yet they end at last in hope and faith. The Psalmist’s soul longs for God as a deer longs for water; his soul thirsts for God. But when faith falters, the Psalmist asks over and over why God has forgotten him. Finally, faith wins as he begs God to send out light and truth and lead him to God’s holy hill.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 22:18-27

This passage from Psalm 22 feels consistent with God’s response to Isaiah’s plea in the first reading not to slay all of Israel. We call on God to stay close, to protect the people from danger, from the sword, and from wild animals. Let all the congregation praise the Lord, we sing. Let Israel stand in awe of God and know that God works justice and righteousness to all who seek and praise God, not least the hungry poor who seek God for protection and food.

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

In his letter to the churches of Galatia (a region in Asia Minor that now includes Ankara, Turkey), Paul makes a strong argument to the communities’ largely Gentile new Christians: Gentiles are welcome into the infant church, and they need not strictly follow Jewish laws. They need not keep kosher nor be circumcised. Gentiles are in no way second-class Christians, Paul proclaims, in beautiful, inclusive language that rings through the ages: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of us are one in Jesus. All are heirs to God’s covenant with Abraham.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39

Having just landed in a Gentile community on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, following a stormy trip in which Jesus calmed the fierce waters, Jesus and the disciples encounter a noisy, scary man, naked and in chains. The man, or perhaps the legion of demons within, loudly greets Jesus as “Son of the Most High God.” Jesus sends the man’s demons into a herd of pigs, who rush into the Sea of Galilee and drown! This odd story may seem strange to us, but it might have made Luke’s original audience laugh: Its allusions to the hated Roman army in the name of the demon, “Legion,” residing in a naked man living in the ritually unclean setting of tombs and swine, would have seemed hilarious. Luke is likely making clear, as Paul did in Galatians, that God’s love through Jesus is unlimited and available to all.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two alternative tracks each week for the Hebrew Bible reading. 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 tracks.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Pentecost C

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 8, 2025 (Pentecost C)

Pentecostés

Pentecostés (1615-1620), oil painting on canvas by Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649). Museo del Prado, Madrid. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading or alternate Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21

Just 50 days after the disciples had found an empty tomb from which Christ had risen, then saw him in a series of mysterious appearances before being taken up into the clouds, his followers have gathered to celebrate Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the Jewish spring harvest festival also known as Pentecost. While they are gathered, the Holy Spirit comes down in a mighty wind and tongues of fire. Then every person in the crowd of spectators from many nations hears the apostles speaking in their own native tongue. Finally, Peter preaches to the crowd in the apocalyptic words of the Prophet Joel, who foretold that God will pour out the Spirit on all people in the last days.

Alternate First Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

The story of the Tower of Babel is one of the many ancient narratives in Genesis that children and adults alike enjoy hearing re-told. It follows immediately after the stories of Noah and his family, and it clearly hadn’t taken long for humanity to get into trouble again. Now they are building a huge city and a mighty tower that can reach the heavens. This development troubles their creator, not so much because they wanted to reach heaven, but because – echoing Adam and Eve’s desire to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil – they would learn too much and become too wise. By causing this prideful people to speak different languages that others could not understand, God encouraged them to scatter out and fill the earth.

Psalm: Psalm 104:25-35, 37

This portion of Psalm 104 begins with images that surely bring pleasure to anyone who loves ships, the sea, and the whales who do indeed seem to “sport” in it as they leap and spout under God’s blue skies and brilliant sunlight. Then we sing of the breath of God that moves over the waters and brings us life, just as in the first moments of creation when God’s spirit-breath blew over the waters like a mighty wind separating land from sea and night from day.

Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17

In this short passage from his letter to the early church in Rome, Paul quickly sketches an idea that the church would gradually work out as Trinity over the next few centuries. God the Creator inspires us – literally, breathes belief into us – through the Holy Spirit. This action, according to Paul, redeems us from the slavery of fear, making us adopted children of God, sharing our heritage with Jesus, the Son of God, with whom we suffer and through whom we are glorified.

Gospel: John 14:8-17,25-27

Through much of Eastertide, our Gospels have taken us through Jesus’ farewell discourse to the apostles as told by John. This week we return to verses that we heard just a few weeks ago, when Jesus assured the apostles that God would send the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – in Jesus’ name, to guide them and remind them of all that Jesus taught. Jesus has told the apostles that he will be leaving them soon. Now Jesus assures them that he remains in God and God in him; and that God’s Holy Spirit will be with his followers forever. The Holy Spirit comes as an eternal Advocate, sent in Jesus’s name to teach us, to lead us, and to comfort us with that great peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

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.