gregoryjenks

Category: Lectionary

Links to lectionary notes from the Jesus Database site.

  • Insignificant God

    A prayer for Tuesday in Holy Week

    Mysterious, pervasive and persuasive God,
    ever present in our lives,
    yet seemingly insignificant and ineffectual.
    Underwhelming when we want to be impressed,
    inexplicable when we seek the answers to life’s questions,
    your foolishness is wiser than our best wisdom
    and your vulnerability disarms our bravado.
    Teach us how to follow and serve your Christ,
    to surrender ourselves into your purposes
    like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth,
    dies,
    and bears much fruit. Amen.

     © 2012 Gregory C. Jenks

  • Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

    A prayer for the Third Sunday of Lent (Year C)

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

    Living Lord, you spread a table before us,
    and draw water for us from the well of salvation.
    Give us the passion to embrace your invitation,
    to respond whole-heartedly to your summons,
    and to enter deeply into the waters of repentance.

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.          Amen.                                                     [Matt 5:6]

    © 2012 Gregory C. Jenks

  • Pentecost 25B (18 November 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • 1Samuel 1:4-20 and 1Samuel 2:1-10
    • Heb. 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
    • Mark 13:1-8

     

    First Reading: Birth of Samuel

    The RCL turns to 1Samuel for its reading from the Hebrew Bible this week, and that is a natural sequel to the last couple of Sundays with their focus on Ruth.

    Samuel is the dominant figure in the first of the books that now bear his name, even appearing from the other side of the grave to deliver his final condemnation of King Saul (1Sam 28). This birth narrative features several puns on the name of Israel’s first king, since sha’ul is the Hebrew word for ask or petition:

    • 1:17 – “Go in peace, the LORD has heard the sha’ul you have made to him …”
    • 1:20 – She named him Samuel (God hears), for she said, “I have asked (sha’al) him of the LORD.”
    • 1:27 “… the LORD has granted me the sha’ul that I made to him …”
    • 1:28 “… I have lent (sha’ul) him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is sha’ul to the LORD.”

    The presence of such a strong theme within the text has led some scholars to ask whether this may originally have been the birth story of Saul, rather than Samuel.

    Apart from providing a suitably auspicious birth narrative for Samuel, the tale also serves to introduce the Song of Hannah which is used as this week’s Psalm and may have been the model for Luke when he composed the Magnificat, or Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55).

    These songs both express an eschatological perspective, although it is most likely that neither is explicitly “apocalyptic” in tone. Still, they affirm a vision of hope and the expectation that God would act to bring justice to the people.

     

    Daniel 12

    The book of Daniel is a key apocalyptic text within the Hebrew Bible, and it was a book that continued to grow as time passed. We know from the additions found in the Greek versions of Daniel that this archetypal man of faith, who could serve as such a positive role model for the young scribes that studied the book as part of their own training, continued to attract new episodes in which his wisdom and faithfulness were celebrated.

    Daniel seems to have been a legendary figure in the West Semitic cultural tradition, as he features in the texts from Ugarit from before the time of the Exodus as well as getting a passing mention (along with Noah and Job) in Ezekiel:

    even if Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three, were in it,
    they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God. [Ezek 14:14]

    The text is well chosen as a preparation for this week’s Gospel as it represents an earlier version of a similar tradition. Several classic literary features of an apocalyptic text are to be seen here:

    • Michael, the archangel, will be the savior of God’s people
    • unparalleled troubles just before the End
    • timely deliverance of the faithful
    • a book of life with the names of the faithful recorded
    • resurrection of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
    • final judgment leading to bliss or punishment
    • unsuccessful attempts to calculate the timing of the End

     

    Second Reading: Jesus the eternal high priest in Hebrews

    The extended metaphor of Jesus as a priest continues this week, but it seems best to focus on the apocalyptic and eschatological themes that will be so prominent between now and Christmas.

    Gospel: Jesus’ apocalyptic discourse

    The major western lectionaries all draw upon Mark 13 for this week’s Gospel:

    • 13:1-8 = RCL
    • 13:14-23 = ECUSA
    • 13:24-32 = RC

    This interest in eschatological themes alerts us to the proximity of Advent, with its focus on the One who comes and the associated themes of judgment and salvation.

    All of these excerpts are from a discourse on eschatological themes that Mark attributes to Jesus, and which both Matthew and Luke retain with some amendments (see Matthew 24 and Luke 21).

    There has been considerable debate among scholars concerning Jesus’ relationship to the well-attested apocalyptic eschatology of Second Temple Judaism. Some definitions may be helpful as we consider these issues:

    • eschatology is theology with a focus on the “last things” (Gk: eschaton = end) and deals with doctrines about the end of the world, judgment, afterlife, etc. Essentially, eschatology introduces a sense of meaning by reference to the goal or purpose of life, and there is no need to suppose a significant delay between the present time and the inauguration of God’s reign (a.k.a., “the kingdom of God”).
    • apocalyptic eschatology is a common variant of “endtime theology” and its particular hallmark is the assumption that the anticipated future golden age will only arrive after a cataclysmic intervention by God to punish the evil and to vindicate the faithful. Apocalyptic preachers and their writings are typically concerned to stress the extreme evil of the present world in contrast to the idyllic conditions of the world to come. That information usually rests upon some special revelation conveyed to the seer by God through the agency of a vision, or an angelic visitation.

    John the Baptist is widely recognized as a 1C Jewish apocalyptic prophet, but it is not clear whether Jesus belongs in that tradition, or more in the tradition of the sages and miracle-workers of ancient Judaism.

    While the majority view among NT scholars seems to be that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, the Jesus Seminar has adopted a dissenting opinion.

    Whether or not Jesus himself was an apocalyptic prophet, the most influential interpreters of Jesus certainly were, foremost among them Paul and Mark. As a result, the Gospel of Mark attributes to Jesus the classic early discourse on the end of the world now found in Mark 13 and parallels:

    13:1-2 Temple’s doom
    13:3-8 The last days
    13:9-13 Trials and persecutions for the faithful
    13:14-20 The desolating sacrilege
    13:21-23 Confusion over the Messiah’s appearance
    13:24-27 The coming of the Son of Man
    13:28-32 This generation will see it all
    13:33-37 Appeal to stay alert

    The point of such apocalyptic traditions (including the Book of Revelation) was to encourage the faithful in the face of persecution, not to publish a theological puzzle to confuse and alarm readers. The apocalyptic writings explain the present chaos and lawlessness of human society while assuring the faithful that God will act on their behalf in good time.

    Long after apocalyptic had settled into a domesticated role within Christian theology, the association of Jesus with the prophecies of the end time can be seen even in the Muslim traditions about him:

    /71/ The disciples said, “Christ of God, look at the house of God—how beautiful it is!” He replied, “Amen, Amen, Truly I say to you, God will not leave one stone of this mosque upon another but will destroy it utterly because of the sins of its people. God does nothing with gold, silver, or these stones. More dear to God than all these are the pure in heart. Through them, God builds up the earth, or else destroys it if these hearts are other than pure. (mid-ninth century CE) [Tarif Khalidi, The Muslim Jesus, p. 91]

     

    Jesus Database

    • 002 Jesus Apocalyptic Return: (1) 1 Thess 4:13-18; (2) Did. 16:6-8; (3) Matt 24:30a; (4) Mark 13:24-27 = Matt 24:29,30b-31 = Luke 21:25-28; (5a) Rev 1:7; (5b) Rev 1:13; (5c) Rev 14:14; (6) John 19:37.
    • 008 When and Where: (1a) Gos. Thom. 3:1 & P. Oxy. 654.3:1; (1b) Gos. Thom. 51; (1c) Gos. Thom. 113; (2) 2Q: Luke 17:23 = Matt 24:26; (3) Mark 13:21-23 = Matt 24:23-25; (4?) Dial. Sav. 16; (5) 1Q?: Luke 17:20-21.
    • 049 Temple and Jesus: (1) Gos. Thom. 71; (2a) Mark 14:55-59 = Matt 26:59-61; (2b) Mark 15:29-32a = Matt 27:39-43 =(!) Luke 23:35-37; (2c) Acts 6:11-14; (3) John 2:18-22.
    • 062 Spirit under Trial: (1) 1Q: Luke 12:11-12 = Matt 10:19-20; (2) Mark 13:11 = Matt 10: 19-20 = Luke 21:14-15; (3) John 14:26.
    • 064 The Last Days: (1) Did. 16:3-5; (2) Matt 24:10-12; (3a) Mark 13:3-10,12-20 = Matt 24:3-22 = Luke 21:7-13,16-24; (3b) Matt 10:17-18; (3c) Luke 17:31-32.
    • 265 Within this Generation: (1) Mark 13:28-32 = Matt 24:32-36 = Luke 21:29-33.

     

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Pentecost 24B (11 November 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 and Psalm 127 (or 1Kings 17:8-16 & Psalm 146)
    • Hebrews 9:24-28
    • Mark 12:38-44

     

    First Reading: Ruth and Boaz

    The two excerpts from Ruth that serve as the first reading in the RCL, provide the book ends for this critical part of the story:

    3:1-5 Naomi instructs Ruth how to secure her future with Boaz
    3:6-15 Ruth spends the night with Boaz
    3:16-18 Ruth reports the events of the night to Naomi
    4:1-6 Boaz negotiates for the right to marry Ruth
    4:7-12 Boaz gains the legal responsibility for Ruth as a childless kinswoman
    4:13-17 Boaz marries Ruth
    4:18-22 Davidic genealogy

    This story reflects ancient customs, some of them no longer practiced at the time the account was composed:

    • matters of inheritance, marriage and other social obligations were settled in open discussion with the elders of the community (cf: Exod 3:16; Deut 19:12; 22:15; 25:7; Josh 24;1; 1Sam 16:4) “seated at the gates of the city” (cf: Deut 21:19f; 22:15; 25:7; Josh 20:4; Isa 29:21; Amos 5:15)
    • the selection of 10 elders reflects traditions that a synagogue required 10 adult males, as the letters of the Hebrew word for congregation (qahal) have a numerical value of ten
    • symbolic use of dusty sandals as a public shaming ritual (cf: the words of Jesus in Mark 6:7-13, and in recent events in the Middle East with the treatment of a fallen statue of Sadam Hussein by residents of Baghdad and the throwing of a shoe at the then US President George W Bush by an Iraqi journalist)

    The traditions preserved in Deut 25:5-10 provides the legal basis for this transaction:

    When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. But if the man has no desire to marry his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to the elders at the gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I have no desire to marry her,” then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” Throughout Israel his family shall be known as “the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”

    As neither Boaz nor the anonymous kinsman are actual brothers of Ruth’s dead husband, neither has an obligation to marry Ruth and raise up children for Mahlon.

    The legal transaction that lies at the heart of this story may be offensive to us. However, in the context of a patriarchal society, levirate marriage seems to have served as a social security safety net to provide for women who were widowed before having sons that might take possession of the family property and care for them in their own turn.

    Such a story may also prompt us to think about the inevitability of the Gospel being expressed within and through the cultural context of a given period of time, even if (like the Book of Ruth) it challenges and confronts contemporary practices and prejudices. We can never escape our cultural context to hold a timeless expression of some “pure religion.”

     

    The Widow of Zarephath

    The RC and ECUSA lectionaries both draw on the story a desperately poor widow in 1 Kings 17 for the first reading.

    This story links with the Gospel but also illustrates the plight that widows such as Naomi and Ruth typically faced in the ancient world.

    The needs of people without recognized social protection were understood within the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. The protection of widows and orphans, along with the resident alien and the poor, was considered to be the particular concern of Israel’s God. The prophetic tradition within ancient Israelite religion kept alive the vision of a just society in which the most vulnerable were protected.

    In the Epilogue to his massive study, The Birth of Christianity, John Dominic Crossan cites Psalm 82 as “the single most important text in the entire Christian Bible” while noting that “it comes, of course, from the Jewish Bible.”

    God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
    “How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked?
    Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
    Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

    They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

    I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
    nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
    and fall like any prince.”

    Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
    for all the nations belong to you!

    Crossan comments:

    … that short psalm best summarizes for me the character of the Jewish God as Lord of all the world. It imagines a mythological scene in which God sits among the gods and goddesses in divine council. Those pagan gods and goddesses are all dethroned not just because they are pagan, nor because they are other, nor because they are competition. They are dethroned for injustice, for divine malpractice, for transcendental malfeasance in office. They are rejected because they do not demand and effect justice among the peoples of the earth. And that justice is spelled out as protecting the poor from the rich, protecting the systematically weak from the systematically powerful. Such injustice creates darkness over the earth and shakes the very foundations of the world. (Birth of Christianity, p. 575)

     

    Second Reading: Jesus – eternal priest in an otherworldly temple

    The lectionaries all converge for the second reading as they continue the current series of readings from Hebrews.

    In a passage such as this we can observe Christian theology in the process of being developed under the impetus of a powerful metaphor. Despite Jesus’ own antipathy to the Temple and to its functionaries, this community of first-century Christians is actively developing a priestly (re-)interpretation of Jesus using categories drawn from the Jewish cult.

    The significance of Jesus’ death is being understood in sacrificial terms, as with Paul in a passage such as Romans 3:21-26. However, unlike Paul, this writer opts to imagine Jesus as the priest rather than simply as the victim. here we see the origins of the priest-victim metaphor that was to prove so powerful in later theology.

    Some Christian traditions continue to find such imagery meaningful, but for others the image is too far removed from present experience. The very idea of sacrifice to appease God and secure some divine blessing seems inadequate, if not offensive.

    Gospel: The widow’s gift

    This week’s Gospel for all three major Western lectionaries features the story of Jesus observing a poor widow making her offering at the temple, and commending her gift above the large donations made by the powerful and wealthy (Mark 12:41-44).

    Such a story really does embody the core Kingdom values that Jesus himself taught and practiced. It challenges our (sometimes hollow?) affirmations of a value system that places the worth of persons above any calculation of the contribution they are able to make toward our shared projects. We say that the thought counts more than the gift, but do we practice that set of values?

    One of the places in the life of Church where such a Kingdom dynamic is still celebrated is the Baptism of an infant. In the church as in life generally, a baby calls forth from us the very best of the human spirit. We do not look to an infant to provide us with anything, to contribute to our pet projects, or even to attend to us. We lay no expectations upon them and we appreciate them simply for being who they are.

    The story of the widow’s gift is a simple story that celebrates that kind of uncomplicated devotion to God.

    Samuel Lachs (Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, 375) offers some Jewish perspectives on this story:

    The importance of this passage is best summed up in the rabbinic saying,
    “It does not matter whether your offering be much or little,
    so long as your heart is directed to Heaven.” [M.Men. 13:11]

    There is a story of a woman who brought a handful of meal as an offering. A priest despised it and said, “See what they offer! What is in it that one could eat, and what is in it that can be sacrificed?” It was shown to him in a dream., “Do not despise her; it is as if she has sacrificed herself [Heb. nafshah] as the sacrifice.” If in regard to one who does not sacrifice himself, the text uses nefesh [soul], how much more of one who does! [Lev. R. 3:5]

    What is the peculiarity of the meal offering that nefesh is used [Lev 2.1]? Who brings the meal offering? The poor. ‘I reckon it,” says God, “as if he has offered himself before ME.” [Yal. Lev. 447]

    God prefers the one handful of a free-will offering of the poor to the heap of incense which is offered by the high priest.” [Koh. R. 4:6]

    It can be helpful for Christians to recognize and appreciate the convergence of Jewish and Christian piety here, and especially in view of the negative stereotyping of Jewish religious leaders (“the scribes”) in verses 28-40.

    Jesus Database

     

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site.

    Other recommended sites include:
    * Iona Community
    * Laughing Bird
    * The Text This Week

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Pentecost 23B (4 November 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Ruth 1:1-18 and Psalm 146 (or Deut 6:1-9 and Psalm 119:1-8
    • Hebrews 9:11-14
    • Mark 12:28-34

     

    First Reading: Ruth

    The Book of Ruth is one of the most attractive short stories in the Bible, and also a story that celebrates the autonomy and freedom of women even when living within a clearly patriarchal society. Naomi and Ruth are individuals who take control of the situation in which they find themselves. For the most part circumstances require them to act in the absence of their menfolk and they are the dominant characters in the story.

    Writing in the HarperCollins Bible Commentary, Adele Berlin observes:

    According to rabbinic tradition, the main theme of Ruth is chesed, loyalty or faithfulness born of a sense of caring and commitment. Chesed is a Hebrew term used to describe God’s relationship to Israel as well as the relationship among members of a family or a community. All of the main characters in the book, Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, act with chesed. Naomi, although she technically had no responsibility for her widowed daughters-in-law, was concerned that they find new husbands; she went out of her way to see that Ruth did. Ruth, on her part, had no obligation to Naomi, but she remained steadfastly with her, even giving up her native land and religion; all of her actions were directed toward finding support and protection for Naomi. Boaz too took upon himself a commitment beyond what was required; not only was he willing to redeem the family’s land, but he was eager to marry Ruth and enable the family name to be perpetuated. God also manifested his chesed, by virtue of which the individuals are repaid for their loyalty by finding security and fulfillment, and the family that came close to destruction finds new life and continuity. (p. 262)

    In the Greek Bible and later collections influenced by the Latin Vulgate, Ruth is found between Judges and 1 Samuel. This places the story in its natural setting prior to the development of a Jewish monarchy. Indeed, Ruth is identified at the end of the book as the great-grandmother of David.

    In the Jewish Bible, Ruth is placed among the Megilloth (“Five Scrolls” – Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther) used as liturgical texts for various festivals. Ruth is read on the Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost).

    Within the RCL, Ruth provides the first reading this week and next.

    Ruth is also a story about inclusion of the foreigner, and may originally have been crafted as a protest against the narrow theology that developed in the time of Ezra as the post-exilic Jewish community sought to ensure its own survival by excluding those without a specified pedigree. The “foreign wives” and their children were repudiated in a mass divorce ceremony (see Ezra 9-10).

    In such a time of crisis some unknown “liberal” has penned this delightful story that celebrates the human dignity and theological virtue of a particular foreign wife, Ruth the Moabite. Ruth embodies the essential character of God (chesed, steadfast love—cf. Exod 34:6-7). In a striking protest at the theological thought police of the day, this ancient scribe notes that one of Ruth’s descendants would be none other than King David himself!

    At a time in history when so many Christians are obsessed with the issues of gender identity and human sexuality, we may do well to reflect on the story of Ruth. Like gays and lesbians in our world, women and especially foreign women, were the focus for the projected self-loathing of the theological purists in Jerusalem. No matter how many biblical and canonical authorities may be invoked in support of prejudice and fear, the biblical tradition also celebrates inclusion and tolerance. Tolerance may be a minor theme in a Bible that also endorses genocide as divine justice on the tribe’s competitors, but it is there as a “light to the nations.” Like a candle flame on a dark night, the persistent affirmation of inclusion and tolerance may not penetrate far into the surrounding darkness, but it is an important signal of the Kingdom values we see embodied in Jesus.

    When (spiritual) famine and (ecclesial) hardship compels us to find refuge and welcome beyond the traditional lands of the covenant community, we may find as Naomi did that there are beloved strangers living there who share our experience of being human and have much to offer us.

    Are we able to open our community to include those we have previously imagined as frightening and dangerous? Will we know the blessing of hearing those who were once strangers say to us, “Your people shall be my people; your God my God.”

    Deuteronomy 6 – the Shema

    Both the RC and ECUSA lectionaries use the passage from Deuteronomy 6 for the first reading.

    In doing so they present congregations with the living tradition of Judaism as the context for Jesus and also his teachings. It never hurts Christians to remember that everything Jesus said and did was as a Palestinian Jew whose understanding of God was nurtured by and expressed within Judaism.

    The Shema (named after the first word in the original Hebrew form of this prayer) continues to be a key ingredient of Jewish identity and prayer, perhaps somewhat like the Lord’s Prayer in Christian circles.

    The following passage from the Talmud illustrates how reflection on the essential Torah enriched Jewish piety:

    Six hundred and thirteen commandments were given to Moses, three hundred and sixty-five negative ones, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and two hundred forty-eight positive commandments, corresponding to the parts of man’s body…
    David came and reduced them to eleven: A Psalm of David [Psalm 15] Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle, and who shall dwell in thy holy mountain? (i) He who walks uprightly and (ii) works righteousness and (iii) speaks truth in his heart and (iv) has no slander on his tongue and (v) does no evil to his fellow and (vi) does not take up a reproach against his neighbor, (vii) in whose eyes a vile person is despised but (viii) honors those who fear the Lord. (ix) He swears to his own hurt and changes not. (x) He does not lend on interest. (xi) He does not take a bribe against the innocent,…
    Isaiah came and reduced them to six [Isaiah 33:25–26]: (i) He who walks righteously and (ii) speaks uprightly, (iii) he who despises the gain of oppressions, (iv) shakes his hand from holding bribes, (v) stops his ear from hearing of blood (vi) and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he shall dwell on high.
    Micah came and reduced them to three [Micah 6:8]: It has been told you, man, what is good and what the Lord demands from you, (i) only to do justly, and (ii) to love mercy, and (iii) to walk humbly before God…’
     Isaiah came again and reduced them to two [Isaiah 56:1]: Thus says the Lord, (i) keep justice and (ii) do righteousness.
    Amos came and reduced them to a single one, as it is said, For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek Me and live.
    Habakkuk further came and based them on one, as it is said [Habakkuk 2:4], But the righteous shall live by his faith.
    — Talmud, b. Makkot, 24(a)
    [cited in Jacob Neusner, The Way of Torah, 22]

     

    Second Reading: Jesus as priest

    Jesus as priest (the metaphor continues)

    The major western lectionaries continue their reading of Hebrews this week:

    • RC: Heb 7:23-28
    • ECUSA: Heb 7:23-28
    • RCL: Heb 9:11-14

    These selections all come from the central section of Hebrews (4:14-10:31) with its focus on Jesus as the eternal high priest:

    4:14-5:10 Christ as “a great high priest”
    5:11-6:20 Appeal for steadfast hope (“an anchor for the soul”)
    7:1-28 Melchizedek as a superior order of priesthood
    8:1-6 Jesus as the “more excellent” priest seated in divine glory
    8:7-13 The new (and “better”) covenant mediated by Jesus
    9:1-10 The limited and symbolic character of the tabernacle
    9:11-28 Christ’s priestly action as “priest and victim”
    10:1-18 Christ’s offering of himself “once for all”
    10:19-31 Concluding appeal and warnings

    This way of interpreting Jesus is distinctive within the NT.

    Creative spiritual imagination is at work here. In our own time so much effort has been invested in determining precisely what Jesus “actually said” and what events “really happened.” Hebrews shows us a rather different approach to the questions, Who is Jesus? and, What am I called to do in response to him?

    Is it possible that we have been seduced by the narrative format of the Gospels and have accorded them far more historicity than they require? Perhaps the Gospels, like the Letter to the Hebrews or the Book of Revelation, are better understood as imaginative expressions of what Jesus meant to some of his followers in the 1C rather than as historical descriptions of the man and his message?

    To rephrase a question posed last week: How best do we honor the sage of Galilee? Is it by excluding one another on the basis of our differing historical assessments of the Gospels, or by fashioning lives and communities around his message?

     

    Gospel: The Chief Commandment

    Samuel T. Lachs [Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, 280f] notes that the form cited in Mark begins with the traditional opening phrase of the Shema (“Hear, O Israel …”). This may reflect the influence of Jewish devotional practices, since none of the other versions have that form. He also notes that the combination of Deut. 6.4 and Lev. 19.18 is already found in the Testament of Issachar and in the Testament of Dan. It is reasonable to assume that this combination was already commonplace in rabbinic teachings by the time of Jesus, since it combines the love of God with the love of others.

    Testament of Issachar

    Keep the Law of God, my children;
    achieve integrity; live without malice,
    not tinkering with God’s commands or your neighbor’s affairs.
    Love God and your neighbor;
    be compassionate toward poverty and sickness. (TIss 5:1-2) [OT Pseudepigrapha]

    Testament of Dan

    Observe the Lord’s commandments, then, my children,
    and keep his law.
    Avoid wrath,
    and hate lying.
    in order that the Lord may dwell among you,
    and Beliar may flee from you.
    each of you speak truth clearly to his neighbor,
    and do not fall into pleasure and trouble making,
    but be at peace, holding to the God of peace.
    thus no conflict will overwhelm you.
    Throughout all your life love the Lord,
    and one another with a true heart. (TDan 5:1-3) [OT Pseudepigrapha]

    David Flusser, a Jewish scholar with a major interest in NT studies comments:

    Jesus’ saying about the double commandment of love was clearly coined before his time. … both verses from the Bible (Deut. 6:5 and Lev, 19:18) begin with the same word. It was typical of rabbinic scholarship to see similarly phrased passages from the Bible as connected in content also. The first great commandment of Jesus—love of God—was thus in harmony with the spirit of contemporary Pharisaism. … the double commandment of love existed in ancient Judaism before, and alongside, Jesus. The fact that it does not appear in the rabbinical documents that have come down to us is probably accidental. Mark (12:28-34) and Luke (10:25-28) show that on the question of “the great commandment” Jesus and the scribes were in agreement. [Jesus, 89f]

    The commentary in The Five Gospels (104f) notes the secondary character of the narrative framework for each version of this saying in the Gospels: a friendly scribe in Matthew, a hostile scribe in Mark, and as a prelude to the parable of the Samaritan in Luke. This passages provides a classic example of the function of a Gray result in the Jesus Seminar’s deliberations:

    The majority of the Fellows thought that the ideas in this exchange represented Jesus’ own views; the words, however, were those of the young Jesus movement. Those Seminar members who voted pink argued that Jesus might have affirmed the interpretation of the law given by Hillel, a famous rabbi who was a contemporary of Jesus:

    A proselyte approached Hillel with the request Hillel teach him the whole of the Torah while the student stood on one foot. Hillel responded, “What you find hateful do not do to another. This is the whole of the Law. Everything else is commentary. Now go learn that!”

    Tarif Khalidi [The Muslim Jesus] records the following version of this tradition in Muslim literature:

    /170/ Jesus said to his disciples, “The sign that you shall use to recognize each other as my followers is your affection for one another.” And Jesus said to his disciple Yashu’, “As for the Lord, you must love Him with all your heart. Then you must love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus was asked, “Show us, Spirit of God, what difference there is between these two loves, so that we may prepare ourselves for them with clarity of vision.” Jesus replied, “You love a friend for your own sake and you love your soul for the sake of your Lord. If you take good care of your friend, you are doing so for your own sake, but if you give your soul away, you do so for the sake of your Lord.” [Eleventh century]

    Whether or not Jesus said these words, he lived and died within the Jewish tradition that imbued him with precisely this set of values. They are values seen in his own passionate embrace of God’s call upon his life. For Christians, Jesus is the one who did not simply teach the double commandment, but actually embodied it.

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    Liturgies and Prayers

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    Music Suggestions

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  • Pentecost 22B (28 October 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Psalm 34:1-8
    • Hebrews 7:23-28
    • Mark 10:46-52

     

    First Reading: Job’s fortunes restored

    This week the RCL completes its series of readings from the book of Job.

    There is no intellectual resolution to the questions posed by Job’s undeserved suffering, but the narrative provides a kind of “they lived happily ever afterwards” ending for the tale.

    • 42:1-6 provides the final exchange between Job and God. Job seems to acknowledge that it is sufficient for him to embrace his own condition as a mortal. He relinquishes any claim to vindication and withdraws his demands for an explanation from God. It is enough to have a proper sense of his own place in the divine economy. Religion itself almost disappears in this resolution. Job stands in the presence of the Holy Other, and abandons any claims (religious or moral) on the Sacred. Simply to be a creature of this God is enough.
    • 42:7-9 portrays God rebuking the friends. They have not represented God accurately in the discourse and are advised to seek Job’s intercession on their behalf:

    After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

    • 42:10-17 rounds off the tale with a description of Job’s fortunate life being restored, including new children and a long life. The fairy tale quality of this ending may distract us from an interesting theological issue. The community whose values are enshrined in this ancient classic was apparently quite able to imagine an entirely satisfying and meaningful human existence without any recourse to the idea of life after death. A rich and full life, lived in the company of one’s neighbors and loved ones, has not been fully appreciated by Christians. The Christian ideal of a truly blessed life has tended to focus much more on divine blessing after death, rather than on material and psychological wellbeing in this life. As contemporary Christian belief is losing its focus on life after death as the chief benefit and value in religion, the simpler focus of the biblical community responsible for Job may provide the stimulus to seek a holistic vision of human existence as part of the complex web of life on our planet and within the cosmos.

    While Christians may not wish to jettison belief in life beyond death, we may wish to set such a belief within a more robust appreciation of life before death.

     

    Second Reading: Jesus as priest

    The major western lectionaries continue their reading of Hebrews this week:

    • RC: Heb 5:1-6
    • ECUSA: Heb 5:12-6:1,9-12
    • RCL: Heb 7:23-28

    These selections all come from the central section of Hebrews (4:14-10:31) with its focus on Jesus as the eternal high priest:

    4:14-5:10 Christ as “a great high priest”
    5:11-6:20 Appeal for steadfast hope (“an anchor for the soul”)
    7:1-28 Melchizedek as a superior order of priesthood
    8:1-6 Jesus as the “more excellent” priest seated in divine glory
    8:7-13 The new (and “better”) covenant mediated by Jesus
    9:1-10 The limited and symbolic character of the tabernacle
    9:11-28 Christ’s priestly action as “priest and victim”
    10:1-18 Christ’s offering of himself “once for all”
    10:19-31 Concluding appeal and warnings

    This way of interpreting Jesus is distinctive within the NT:

    • The Synoptic tradition (Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts) does not give any ground for thinking that Jesus was from priestly circles, although Luke turns John the Baptist into both a cousin of Jesus and the son of a priest from the Jerusalem temple. The Pauline writings use a considerable array of images and categories to express the significance of Jesus, but do not draw on priestly themes. The Johannine communities shared Hebrews interest in Jesus’ divinity, but found no need to employ priesthood as the title “Son” seemed to meet their needs.
    • The nearest we come to Hebrews seems to be 1Peter where we find some themes derived from the sacrificial cult are applied to both Jesus and the Christian:

    Christians are to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus (1Pet 1:2)
    Christ is like a lamb without defect or blemish (1Pet 1:20)
    Christians are fashioned into a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1Pet 2:5,9)
    Jesus suffered abuse and hardship in an exemplary manner (1Pet 2:20-24)
    Christ suffered in the flesh (1Pet 4:1)
    Christ has entered into heaven and is at the right hand of God with the angels (1Pet 3:22)

    It seems that a case could be made that Hebrews and 1Peter share much the same theological outlook, and yet there is not the slightest hint in 1Peter that Jesus was (or could be imagined as) a Jewish priest.

    Hebrews perhaps acknowledges the imaginative leap involved when it assigns Jesus to the mythical priestly order of Melchizedek, and makes not the slightest attempt to assert his physical descent from Levi. Indeed, making a virtue of necessity, Hebrews argues for the supremacy of the pre-Torah priesthood of Melchizedek over Israel’s traditional priestly pedigree.

    Creative spiritual imagination is at work here. In our own time so much effort has been invested in determining precisely what Jesus “actually said” and what events “really happened.” Hebrews shows us a rather different approach to the questions, Who is Jesus? and, What am I called to do in response to him?

    Is it possible that we have been seduced by the narrative format of the Gospels and have accorded them far more historicity than they require? Perhaps the Gospels, like the Letter to the Hebrews or the Book of Revelation, are better understood as imaginative expressions of what Jesus meant to some of his followers in the 1C?

    Do we honor the sage of Galilee better by treating theological fictions as history, or by fashioning lives and communities around his message?

     

     

    Gospel: Blind Bartimaeus

    The Gospel story of Jesus healing the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, is common to all of the major western lectionaries this weekend.

    This story can be understood as the other end of the extended exploration of the meaning of discipleship created by Mark (8:22-10:52). The Greek word hodos (translated as “way” or “road”) was a code word for “Christianity” (cf. Acts 9:2; 18:25; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22 and 2Pet 2:2) and occurs several times in this section:

    • 8:27 – “On the road, he started questioning his disciples …”
    • 9:33,34 – “What were you arguing about on the road?”
    • 10:17 – “As he was traveling along the road …”
    • 10:52 – “And right away he regained his sight, and he started following him on the road.”

     

    In the first section of his Gospel, Mark has set up various scenes in which Jesus acts as a person of spiritual power. According to Mark, only the demons recognized his true identity as the hero sent by God to rescue people from the Evil One. Disciples and opponents alike seemed unable to determine his identity and mission.

    The central section stretching from 8:22 to 10:52 provides an opportunity for Mark to present the true meaning of Jesus and, by extension, the authentic character of discipleship. Writing on the other side of 70 CE (when the Romans destroyed the temple), Mark interprets Jesus as the messiah of an empire that has power but exerts no violence. This mother’s son (a paraphrase of “son of man”) comes to give his life away for the sake of others. This mother’s son has no special privileges, not even a safe place to sleep of a night. This mother’s son will drink the cup prepared for him by God, and will be baptized in the ordeal that is his destiny. Those who grasp his identity and are drawn into the mission as disciples will do likewise.

    In the final section of the Gospel (11:1-16:8) Mark sketches the final outcome of that interpretation of Jesus. It is easy to forget that our oldest copies of Mark end the story of Jesus without any Easter appearances. Neither Matthew nor Luke felt able to imitate Mark’s boldness at that point. Mark looked beyond the fate of both Jesus and Jerusalem, and told his readers that Jesus had gone ahead of them to Galilee. They were not to linger around the graveyards of Jerusalem, but to go find Jesus in the places where they had first encountered him; in the communities of the Galilee. Their job was not to protect the relics of the past, but to catch up with Jesus who was already ahead of them and blazing new trails into the future.

     

    In the context of that brilliant literary fiction created by Mark, Bartimaeus has a symbolic role. Here is someone empowered to see Jesus clearly. He immediately follows Jesus “on the road” (Greek: en te hodo). No one else in this central section makes the connection.

    • A blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-26) eventually sees clearly but is sent home
    • Disciples (8:27-9:1) cannot embrace a suffering messiah
    • Transfiguration (9:2-13) does not achieve enlightenment for disciples
    • Disciples have not understood prayer at healing of the mute spirit (9:14-29)
    • Disciples argue over status in the kingdom (9:30-50)
    • Disciples fail to welcome the children (10:13-16)
    • Man with money (10:17-31) fails to become a disciple
    • James and John seek special favors (10:32-45)
    • Bartimaeus regains his sight and becomes a disciple (10:46-52)

    Bartimaeus is part of a very small cast of characters in Mark’s Gospel who actually understood the identity and mission of Jesus. The others include:

    • An unnamed woman who anoints Jesus for burial (14:3-9)
    • Roman officer in charge of the crucifixion (15:39)

     

    Jesus Database

     

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

    See David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

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