gregoryjenks

Category: Lectionary

Links to lectionary notes from the Jesus Database site.

  • Pentecost 21B (21 October 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Job 38:1-7, (34-41) and (or Isaiah 53:4-12 & Psalm 91:9-16
    • Hebrews 5:1-10
    • Mark 10:35-45

     

    First Reading: God replies to Job

    This week’s excerpt from Job takes us into the long-awaited divine response to Job’s complaint. The speech extends from 38:1 to 42:6, with Job having almost nothing to say in response to God:

    • 38:1-40:2 First divine speech
    • 40:3-5 Job’s first response
    • 40:6-41:34 Second divine speech
    • 42:1-6 Job’s second response

    Job 38 is a fine example of the natural sciences in the late first millennium BCE. We are given a catalogue of cosmic processes and phenomena that were understood as signs of God’s unparalleled power over creation, and all creatures. This is not to be taken as a timeless benchmark for human knowledge of the natural world, but as a conscious drawing on the best current information for theology. The challenge for the contemporary theologian is to make similar use of our own best knowledge, rather than to fight yesterday’s battles in defence of empty castles.

    The divine speech begins with a theophany: God answers out of a whirlwind. This is reminiscent of other biblical theophanies:

    • Exod 3 (Moses at the burning bush)
    • Exod 19 (giving of the Law at Sinai)
    • 1 Kings 19 (Elijah at the cave)
    • 2 Kings 2 (ascension of Elijah)
    • Ezek 1 (chariot vision)
    • Psalm 83, 97, 104, etc
    • Isa 29:6
    • Jer 23:19

    Nahum 1:3-6 may reflect a similar tradition to what we find in Job 38:

    The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 1:4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the bloom of Lebanon fades. 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who live in it. 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.

    The divine speech does not directly address Job’s complaint. His troubles are never explained. It seems sufficient for the author that the clearer vision of God’s reality makes everything else fall into place. The awesome reality of God glimpsed in the splendor of the cosmos does not resolve human questions of meaning and justice. However, a vision (or even a glimpse) of the sacred Other may frame those questions with a sense of our own vulnerable and yet essential place in the web of life. That may suffice to allow us to continue living faithfully even if we never cease to wrestle for both meaning and justice.

     

    Suffering Servant

    The RC and ECUSA lectionaries both draw on Isaiah 53 with its famous description of the suffering servant of Yahweh. This theme will link well with both the reading from Hebrews (a son who learns obedience through suffering) and Mark (can you drink my cup or undergo my baptism?).

    Isaiah 53 is one of a series of “songs” in the second half of the book that seem to describe the community of ancient Israel as a suffering servant, destined for great things and with a mission to illuminate the nations with the light of the sacred Torah.

    There is some debate about the number and exact delineation of these servant songs, but the following passages seem to work with the theme of “servant” as a way to explore the meaning of Israel’s existence:

    • Isa 41:8-16
    • Isa 42:1-9
    • Isa 49:1-6
    • 50:4-11
    • 52:13-53:12
    • 61:1-4

    The four passages underlined are those usually recognized as the Servant Songs of Isaiah.

    Early Christians understood these texts are prophecies of Jesus. While it is not certain that Jesus himself drew on these texts to understand his mission, it is clear that his followers did so. The passage used this week seems closely connected to the Jewish tradition of the innocent victim that shaped the early telling of the passion narrative.

    After many centuries, they continue to evoke the ideal of a non-violent mission to share the divine Torah with all humanity.

     

     

    Second Reading: A high priest in the order of Melchizedek

    The RCL moves to the distinctive representation of Jesus as a priest in Hebrews 5.

    There is no historical basis for the way that this author has re-imagined Jesus in terms that were familiar and significant to himself and his community. Only in Luke’s infancy traditions do we get the slightest hint that Jesus was connected with priestly circles, and then only by inference since his supposed cousin, John the Baptist, was the son of a priest. The twin birth narratives of John and Jesus that we find in Luke 1-2 are clearly the creation of the author and do not provide any reliable information about the social status of Jesus’ family.

    The priestly Jesus of Hebrews is just as much a creative fiction as the well-connected Jesus of Luke-Acts. In Hebrews, Jesus is not simply a priest, but a High Priest; and not merely a human High Priest, but a divine figure in the “order of Melchizedek.”

    There are three passages in Hebrews that develop this link to Melchizedek:

    In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek … [Heb 5:7-10]

    This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever … [Heb 7:1-3]

    It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of him, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” [Heb 7:15-17]

    The origins of this line of thought are to be found in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110:

    And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.  He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave give one tenth of everything. [Gen 14:18–20]

    The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,
    “You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” [Ps 110:4]

    This rudimentary tradition was elaborated in Jewish texts as diverse as the Qumran scrolls and Philo of Alexandria, extracts from which are available here: Melchizedek.

    Gospel: Status in the kingdom

    The Gospel reading from Mark continues the “master class” in discipleship that is found in Mark 8:31-10:52.

    In this case, the disciples are portrayed as still failing to understand the character of Jesus and their own parts in the Kingdom. Their inability to see beyond opportunities for personal benefit serves as a teaching moment for the narrator.

    Jesus has come with a destiny. He must drink the cup prepared for him, just as others will in their turn. And he must undergo the baptism that is reserved for him and for those who are his disciples.

    The cup symbol will recur in the Last Supper (Mark 14:23-25) and in the solitary prayer vigil in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). The symbol of Jesus’ baptism (now understood in a metaphorical sense, rather than as an allusion to his baptism by John the Baptist) is less familiar, but presented Mark’s readers with the challenge to remain faithful to their suffering master as they went through their own personal and communal baptisms of suffering.

    Mark then presents a classic text on servant leadership, with repeated use of the term “deacon” —

    whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant [diakonos],
    and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave [doulos] of all.
    For the Son of Man came not to be served [diakonethenai] but to serve [diakonesai],
    and to give his life a ransom for many.

     

    One of the recent signs of new life in the churches has been the recovery and revival of the diaconate as a distinctive and significant ministry. Despite the pious imagination of Hebrews, Jesus was not a priest. He is not even described in the NT as a bishop [episcopos], although he is called a shepherd. Is it possible that the authentic and distinctive Christian ministry role, is neither bishop nor priest, but deacon? This is a role without pretensions to status or power, being defined by its role in preparing for the meal of the gathered community. In the “kingdom of nobodies” that constitutes the empire of God, what better model for leadership?

    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.

  • Pentecost 20B (14 October 2012)

    Contents

    [hide]

    Lectionary

    • Job 23:1-9,16-17 and Psalm 22:1-15 (or Amos 5:6-7,10-15 & Psalm 90:12-17)
    • Hebrews 4:12-16
    • Mark 10:17-31

     

    First Reading: Wisdom from Job

    It can be helpful to have some sense of the overall structure of the Book of Job:

    1:1-2:13 – Narrative prologue

    3:1-31:40 – The Dialogue of Job and his friends
    – First Cycle of Speeches (3:1-11.20)
    – Second Cycle of Speeches (12:1-20:29)
    – Third Cycle of Speeches (21:1-28:28)
    – Job’s final summation (29:1-31:40)

    32:1-37:24 – The Speeches of Elihu

    38:1-42:6 – Job’s Dialogue with Yahweh

    42:7-17 – Narrative epilogue

    This week’s RCL first reading picks up part of Job’s “speech” in the third cycle. Here the hero of the tale asserts his confidence that God would vindicate him and yet finds that God seems strangely absent. The passage is a spiritual classic with its sense that the Absent One cannot be produced on demand, and seems sometimes to leave us to our fate. This is not the final position of the Book of Job, nor of the Bible as a whole, but it is interesting to reflect on the integrity of a spiritual text that can face its own worse fears (God cannot be found), name them, and then move beyond them into a sense of the One who is greater than both our questions and our traditional answers.

    The RCL matches this text with Psalm 22, the ancient lament that the Christian author of the passion story would place on the lips of Jesus as he hung on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

    While Christians have grown accustomed to reading this psalm through the lens of the cross, perhaps it can be read as a reflection of the Job story — or maybe just the common human experience that God seems so distant, and our own troubles seem to evoke horror and scorn.

    The following links may also be of interest:

     

    Amos 5

    In ECUSA communities, the words of Amos provide a preparation for the Gospel story of the rich young ruler.

    It is interesting that the lectionary planners could not find a prophetic text that demanded obedience to the Ten Commandments in the way that Jesus is said to have done in Mark 10:17-31. The covenant law codes of Exodus-Numbers and the great deuteronomic code are actually strangely absent from the preaching of the prophets (as recounted in the Hebrew Bible).

    Had these codes in fact been given to ancient Israel as the Bible now depicts we might have expected the prophets either to cite them as authorities when demanding reform, or at least refer to them as requirements that have not been fulfilled. This suggests that the codes may have taken shape more as a response to the preaching of the prophets, rather than the prophets having been shaped by the Decalogue.

    The spirit of the decalogue can be discerned in the words of Amos. Had he known the Decalogue, surely he would have quoted it as preachers and prophets have done ever since?

     

    Wisdom of Solomon 7

    In RC communities the following text from the 1C Jewish text, the Wisdom of Solomon, prepares for the Gospel story of the the rich young ruler:

    I prayed, and prudence was given me;
    I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
    I preferred her to scepter and throne,
    and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
    nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
    because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
    and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
    Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
    and I chose to have her rather than the light,
    because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
    Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
    and countless riches at her hands.

    Unlike the rich man in Mark’s tale, here we have a wise young ruler who prefers wisdom over wealth. As we have seen in recent weeks, the Jewish wisdom writings often imagined divine Wisdom as a woman who the sage does well to court. This feminine imaging of God may itself be one of the aspects of wisdom that the contemporary church needs to pursue and embrace as we seek to live more deeply into the mystery of the God who is beyond all our creeds and liturgies—even our Scriptures?

    Second Reading: Hebrews

    The RCL and RC cycles draw on Hebrews 4 for the second reading. This short passage has provided several biblical images that have entered deeply into the imagination of the Christian community:

    • the Word of God as sharper than a two-edged sword
    • Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin
    • approaching the throne of grace with boldness

    The first is often misunderstood as a description of the Bible, when it is really a description of Jesus as the divine Logos or Word. Much of the contemporary debate over faith and practice seems also to reflect that misunderstanding. The Bible is not the “Word of God” but a sacred text through which we may–by God’s Spirit–encounter the divine Logos, the Living Word. It is Christ that Christians experience as the living and active one who penetrates deeply into our lives and reveals/challenges our hearts’ intentions.

    The second takes us deeply into the Christian devotion to Jesus. He is revered as the eternal Word, yet seen as a truly human one subject to all the temptations that any other human person faces. In traditional Christian devotion we find it hard even to imagine Jesus as ever having sinned. The idea of his personal intrinsic sinless status probably derives from the metaphor of Jesus as the perfect sacrificial offering (the lamb without spot or blemish) rather than from any historical memory of him as “sinless.”

    Still, it is worth reflecting on what such a sinless humanity might look like? Would it mean Jesus never lost his temper? As a child did he always accept his parents instruction? Did he not ever need discipline? Was doubt never a part of his journey to wholeness? Was there a journey to wholeness, or did he escape such incompleteness? If so, how “like us” was he in reality?

    The value of such questions lies not so much in the ways we answer them in relation to Jesus, as in the ways they open up our own concept of what it means to be truly human and entirely authentic in our own living.

    The third of these classic images is the idea that we have access to a source of divine life and grace that enables us for authentic living. The metaphor of the powerful patron to whom the supplicant goes seeking mercy and assistance comes out of the ancient world and may no longer be an appropriate way to imagine God or ourselves. But the reality that we draw on the loving presence of God for the vision and strength to live authentic human lives as disciples of Jesus and children of God can perhaps be expressed in contemporary terms.

     

     

     

    Gospel: A question of wealth

    This week’s Gospel story is commonly known as the “rich young ruler” although none of the Gospel versions of this story (Mark 10:17-22 = Matt 19:16-22 = Luke 18:18-23) present all three characteristics.

    This is a story that is familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of the Gospel tradition, but for that reason it also repays close attention.

    The story of the man with money (who Matthew describes as a youth and Luke describes as a ruler) is a good text to illustrate the literary processes by which the Gospels were created. It is most unlikely that we have accounts of three different events, in which three different persons approached Jesus for a very similar conversation, and which each Gospel has recorded independently. A close reading of the stories and their literary contexts suggests we are dealing with the same story which Matthew and Luke have borrowed from Mark and developed in slightly different ways.

    If you are using these notes in a small group, it is well worth the trouble to copy the parallel texts and ask people to read closely through the three versions of the story. They should look for those places where the stories converge as well as those points where they diverge. They might then wish to discuss the following questions:

    • What is the significance of these differences?
    • What insights into the formation of the tradition emerge for us from these observations?
    • What are the larger implications for our appreciation of the Gospels from this glimpse into their formation?
    • In what ways are we richer for having all three accounts rather than just a single “life of Jesus”?
    • What does “inspiration” mean for books of this kind when used by people such as us?

    We also need to ask ourselves whether we are able to embrace Jesus’ radical call to let go of wealth so that we can truly be his disciples? Do we walk away “shocked” (Mark), “grieving” (Matthew) and “sad” (Luke) because we have “so many possessions”? Are we unable to let them go even if only to free our hands to receive the gift of life held out to us by the Beloved?

    On the significance of the eye of the needle aphorism, see 199 Kingdom and Riches including the cited parallels from Rabbinic and Islamic texts.

     

     

     

    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.

  • Pentecost 19B (7 October 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Job 1:1; 2:1-10 and Psalm 26 (or Genesis 2:18-24 & Psalm 8)
    • Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
    • Mark 10:2-16

    First Reading: Job

    This week the RCL begins a series of readings from the Book of Job as part of the extended exploration of ancient Israel’s wisdom tradition in these final months of Year B.

    Job has had a profound impact on Western culture as a classic of the human quest for meaning in a world marked by suffering. It is rightly seen as an example of wisdom literature and yet it also offers a critique of traditional wisdom, as Jay Williams observes:

    … though Job begins with the thought-forms and the questions of the wiseman, the book must be said to stand ‘at the edge of wisdom.’ It is, in fact, an impassioned assertion of the awareness that the simple moralism of most wise men is hardly enough. Proverbs is full of the kind of ‘practical’ advice which a father might offer to his son who is starting out to seek his fortune in the big wide world. Work hard, act and speak honestly, beware evil women and you will succeed. Job avoids all such cliches. In fact, the more one reads the book the more difficult it becomes to know just what answer is being given. Only the most superficial reader will put down the book fully convinced that he has understood it. Like Plato, who also wrote in dialogue form and who often ended his dialogues inconclusively, the authors of Job involve the reader in an intense debate which ends, not with a final Q.E.D., but with a new set of questions. If there is truth to be found in the book, therefore, it is born in the midst of struggle. Perhaps the truth is the struggle itself. [Jay G. Williams, Understanding the Old Testament, 267-268]

    The ambiguity and ambivalence of Job is one of its most attractive features for many modern (and postmodern) readers. Here is a biblical text that celebrates the lack of a compelling answer, and instead calls us to faithfulness that sees beyond suffering to a meaning beyond human comprehension.

    The literary origins of this text are unclear:

    It is even more difficult to say when the book was written. Ezekiel referred to Job as an important person alongside Noah and Daniel (Ezek. 14:14-20). Moreover, tradition put him in the patriarchal period and made the book one of the oldest in the Bible. Modern scholars are skeptical of such claims to antiquity, but proposed dates range from the tenth to the third century B.C. The book itself is completely silent about its time, with no allusions to historical events or topical subjects … Job 3:4 is a parodistic allusion to Gen. 1:3, a creation account usually dated after the Exile in the sixth century B.C. Such evidence suggests but does not prove that Job was composed and completed after the Babylonian exile. [Edwin M. Good, Harper Bible Commentary, 370]

    This week we begin with the classic opening scene in which God and Satan are engaged in a wager over the strength of Job’s love for God. For many people this will raise questions about the Satan figure as an embodiment of evil, but that is really an aside in the reading of Job. Here, Satan is effectively the Director of Public Prosecutions in the divine court; one of the “sons of God” with a specific portfolio, rather than a rival to the Almighty.

    The following advice from Edwin Good’s introduction to Job in the Harper Bible Commentary appears under the heading, “On Reading Job”

    It was suggested that Job be approached as fiction. That means to think of Job, the friends, and the deity as characters in the story. Like characters in any story, they may be presented with mixed motives and attitudes, with both knowledge and ignorance. Readers may find it hard to think of God as a character in a story, but the thought may allow perception of the unexpected in the divine speeches. Some interpreters have proposed that the deity comes across as a blustery windbag! That thought is worth considering as at least a possibility–it doesn’t have to be adopted if it doesn’t fit.
    The Book is carried by the speeches, so attention must be paid to the words themselves. Reading aloud may help the hearing of tones of voice, inflections, anger, sarcasm, irony, humor, despair, or many other ways of talking. Job is complex. Consideration must be given to the ways people reply–or fail to reply–to what others have said, and how any speech carries on the debate or stalls it. Do Job and friends talk past each other, as some have proposed? Is it a mixture of conversation and scoring debating points? Perhaps the crucial part for reading is chaps. 38-42. What is Yahweh’s tone of voice? What is Job’s? Is Job responsive to Yahweh’s words? Does Yahweh respond to what went on in the rest of the book? Does he suggest a solution to the problem of Job’s suffering?
    The fact that firm conclusions cannot be reached about many of these things is not a cause for concern. It only means the book needs to be read again and again, and minds challenged about it again and again. [Harper Bible Commentary, 371]

    Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh …

    The ancient creation story in Gen 2-3 tells the tale of paradise lost. From idyllic beginnings in the garden the “earth creature” (as Phyllis Tribble suggests we translate “adam” with its intentional echo of “earth, adamah“) becomes a being who lives in relationship with another and yet loses the original blessing of paradise.

    In RC and ECUSA communities, the first reading this week takes up the creation of sexual difference within the human person, and the origins of marriage.

    It is timely that the Guardian newspaper this week (30 September 2012) has a story about the end of the church’s wars over sexuality. That story notes the growing acceptance of gay and lesbian sexual orientation even among Evangelical leaders, and concludes that the “war” over sexuality is almost over; and that the liberals have won.

    The ancient Jewish legend imagines the original human person as an asexual being, but the divine purposes only come to completeness with the appearance of two sexually differentiated individuals. The creation poem in Gen 1 speaks of a single humanity created in both male and female forms:

    So God created humankind in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (1:27)

    The relational dimensions of authentic humanity are also expressed in this ancient story of the solitary earthling becoming two persons of the same substance.

    Some biblical interpreters have chosen to stress the chronological priority of “the man” over “the woman.” However, this seems a culturally-determined (and, for males, a quite self-serving) interpretation. There may be a deeper truth in the story’s assertion that women and men are all constituted of exactly the same material. We share a common humanity and exist only in relationship to one another.

    Second Reading: The Letter to the Hebrews

    Through the remainder of the liturgical year, the three major lectionaries will all select the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.

    The following comments are based on the commentary by Harold W. Attridge in the HarperCollins Bible Commentary (pp. 1149-61):

    The work known as the Letter to the Hebrews was not originally a letter; nor were its addressees likely to have been “Hebrews.” Though often though to be Paul, the author is unknown. …

    The general range within which Hebrews was written runs from ca. A.D. 60 to ca. 95. The earlier date is suggested by the author’s reference to himself and his community as second generation Christians (2:3-4). The advanced state of the traditions used in the text, especially its Christology (the way it identifies Jesus), also presupposes some time for development. …

    Many critics argue that Hebrews was written prior to A.D. 70 because it refers to the Jewish Temple worship as a present reality and does not mention the destruction of the Temple, but neither argument is probative. Both Jewish and Christian authors writing after 70 refer to the Temple in present terms. More important, Hebrews is not interested in the actual cult of the Herodian Temple, but in the depiction of the cult of the desert tabernacle. …

    The genre of the work is problematic because it ends with standard epistolary formulas, but lacks an initial address and greetings. … The document as a whole is as much a scripturally based homily as are its component parts, and its self-description as a “word of encouragement” (13:22) is apt. The conclusion suggests that the exhortation was sent to a congregation at some distance from its author. …

    The designation of the addressees as “Hebrews” seems to be a later scribal inference based on the contents of the text …

    Although the ethnic origin of the intended readers is unclear, Hebrews does give some data about them. They had been Christians for some time (5:12) and, because of that commitment, had experienced persecution (10:32-34), which is expected to continue (12:3-13; 13:3). Part of Hebrews’ function is to inspire the faithful endurance necessary to meet such threats. Of equal importance, the community seems to be undergoing a crisis of confidence. Some have been neglecting the community assembly (10:25). Such behavior may be a reaction to outside threats or even to the attractions of traditional Judaism, but it could equally well derive from a waning enthusiasm with complex causes. It is also not clear how well informed the author was about these causes. He senses, however, the possibility of apostasy and wants to prevent it by rekindling faith.

    In this week’s passage we see the author drawing on OT texts to interpret Jesus as the divine Son through whom God has revealed himself “in these last days.” Various citations from the Psalms are understood as either descriptions of Jesus or as statements by Jesus.

    At the same time, the author seems unaware that these are Bible citations. We do not find the familiar claim that Jesus “fulfilled the Scriptures” or that his life was lived “according to the Scriptures.” Rather, we have the vague, “someone has testified somewhere …” (Heb 2:6). The author seems to be working with a convenient collection of “testimonia” texts, rather than directly from the Bible.

    Gospel: Jesus and divorce

    The forms of the sayings that we have in the Synoptic tradition have clearly been worked over by Mark, Matthew and Luke. In the case of 1 Corinthians 7, it is not even clear that Paul is citing a historical tradition associated with Jesus rather than an equally authoritative tradition derived from the risen Lord speaking through a prophet in the early Christian communities. The Shepherd of Hermes provides an insight into the sexual politics of the Christian communities in late 1C period.

    At the same time, I do think that there was most likely a saying from Jesus, probably couched in direct and uncompromising terms, that rejected the practice of a husband discarding his wide in order to marry someone else. My suggestion is that such a statement would fit well into the historical situation of Jesus around the time of Herod’s arrest/murder of John the Baptist. Just as JBap attacked Herod’s action in divorcing his Nabatean wife to marry Herodias, it seems highly likely that Jesus would have opposed such shabby treatment of Herod’s wife.

    I suggest that Luke 16:18a may be very close to the original saying of Jesus:

    Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.

    For these reasons, had I been attending the Jesus Seminar session that voted on this cluster, I suspect that I would have voted as follows:

    • 1 Cor 7: Black (Paul is citing the risen Lord not the HJ)
    • Luke 16:18: Pink
    • Matt 5:31-32: Black (scribal interests dominating this version)
    • Mark 10:11: Pink
    • Mark 10:1-9,12 // Matt 19:3-12: Black (again, scribal interests)
    • HermMan: Black (reflects sexual ethic of later community)

    Crossan [Historical Jesus, 301f] considers this complex as part of his discussion of Jesus against the patriarchal family. He notes the androcentric tradition of Jewish divorce laws at the time meant that the core issue was the defence of the man’s honor. Drawing on the work of John Kloppenborg (“Alms, Debt and Divorce: Jesus’ Ethics in Their Mediterranean Context” Toronto Journal of Theology 6: 1990, 182-200) Crossan highlights the significance of Jesus’ teaching against divorce. In Jesus’ novel ethic, the male who expels his wife and marries someone else has committed adultery against the rejected spouse; bringing shame on himself. Crossan concludes:

    The opposition here is not just to divorce. To forbid divorce one has only to say that divorce is never legal. That is exactly what happens in the much less radical 252 Moses and Divorce [2/1]. The attack is actually against ‘androcentric honour whose debilitating effects went far beyond the situation of divorce. It was also the basis for the dehumanisation of women, children, and non-dominant males’ (Kloppenborg, 1990:196).

    I find this interpretation of the ideological basis of Jesus’ condemnation of wife-dumping in 1C Palestine to be evocative.

    Even if we think Jesus adopted a strong view against divorce, that does not translate into a simple view of how we handle the issue in our kind of society. For instance, should the principle of “the sabbath was made for Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve for the sabbath” also be applied to Jesus’ strictures on divorce? Can we affirm an underlying value while also acknowledging that the needs of people always come before the impartial imposition of an abstract rule?

    As always in any discussion of this particular cluster, I declare my personal interest as a divorced and re-married white male.

    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.

  • Pentecost 18B (30 September 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Esther 7:1-6,9-10;9:20-22 and Psalm 124
    • James 5:13-20
    • Mark 9:38-50

    First Reading: Esther

    This week the RCL provides for a reading from the Book of Esther as part of its series of texts from the Wisdom literature of ancient Israel. The excerpt from Esther comes from the climax of the story, when Esther achieves the reversal of a royal decree calling for the murder of Jews across the Persian empire and has its author executed.

    The following extract provides a helpful summary of the book:

    The Book of Esther is named after its Jewish heroine. It tells the story of the plot of Haman the Agagite, jealous and powerful vizier of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) of Persia (485-464 B.C.), to destroy in a single day all the Jews living in the Persian Empire. He is moved to this out of hatred for the Jewish servant Mordecai, who for religious motives refuses to render him homage. The day of the proposed massacre is determined by lot. Meanwhile Esther, niece and adopted daughter of Mordecai, is chosen queen by King Xerxes in place of Vashti. She averts the pogrom planned against her people and has the royal decree of extermination reversed against Haman and the enemies of the Jews. Mordecai replaces Haman, and together with Esther, works for the welfare of their people. The event is celebrated with feasting and great joy, and the memory of it is to be perpetuated by the annual observance of the feast of Purim (lots), when the lot of destruction for the Jews was reversed for one of deliverance and triumph by Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai. (New American Bible)

    Within the Hebrew Bible, Esther is the last of the five scrolls (Heb: megilloth) that are read on special feasts of the Jewish liturgical year. It is the liturgical text for the feast of Purim.

    Esther is not a historical document, but more like a story set in a past historical situation. It reflects the reality that the Jewish community has often been the object of racial and communal violence, and it celebrates the hope that God will intervene to rescue the covenant people. Similar themes are celebrated in the biblical story of Joseph (Gen 37 & 39-45) and in the deuterocanonical story of Judith (Jud 8-16).

    Like the account of the Innocent Victim in WisSol 2:12-5:23, such stories of the oppressed innocents triumphing over all foes provided the model for early Christians to understand Jesus as the vindicated one. Paul’s statement “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4) reflect precisely these “scriptures.” A similar idea can be seen in the interpretation of Psalm 16 (“you will not abandon my soul to hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption”) attributed to Peter in Acts 2:22-28.

    The Book of Esther is a story that assumes communal violence and celebrates a vindictive attitude towards the enemies of the covenant community. These themes are not restricted to Esther, but are to be found in many parts of the Hebrew Bible and — in spectacular form — in the Book of Revelation within the NT. Apocalyptic literature is especially prone to such violent imagery as it emerges from communities in crisis and draws hope from the dream of divine violence against the enemies of the present victims.

    A reading of Scripture that is informed by the wisdom and spirit of Jesus will reject such violent imagery for the divine re-ordering of society. While some of the canonical representations of Jesus found in the NT have themselves mortgaged the legacy of Jesus to such violent apocalyptic fantasies, the core of Jesus’ teaching and the clear example of his own practice is non-violent even when confronting lethal oppression.

    Unlike the story of Esther, which finds its climax in the hanging of Haman, in the story of Jesus it is the Holy One who hangs on the cross. In that counter story of redemption, God draws the violence into her own self rather than projecting it upon the enemies of the Beloved.

    Alternative first reading: Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29

    At the heart of this passage is the story of Moses’ divine blessing being shared with a wider circle of people, rather than being restricted to him alone. The focus is clearly the declaration of Moses:

    Are you jealous for my sake?
    Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets,
    and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!

    This celebration of a generosity of spirit on the part of both Moses and God is one of the key texts for an inclusive interpretation of faith, one able to embrace diversity and eschew clutching at exclusive privileges. It is a similar “mind set” to that attributed to the Christ figure in the early hymn cited by Paul in Phil 2:5ff:

    Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
    who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
    but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave …

    This is a very different “spirit” from that seen in a defensive traditionalism that needs to exclude those who are different and restrict the life-giving presence of the Spirit to certain groups or classes of people. The outlook celebrated in this ancient story seems more akin to that attributed to Jesus in the Sayings Gospel Q:

    For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine,
    and you say, ‘He has a demon;’
    the Son of Man has come eating and drinking,
    and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
    Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children. [Luke 7:33–35]

    Second Reading: James 5:13-20

    One of the many themes that James shares with the early Jesus traditions is a suspicion of wealth. These are uncomfortable words for those of us wealthy enough to own and use a computer, as that indicator alone places us high in the relative prosperity stakes.

    Prayer and Healing

    The RCL reading takes up the classic NT text for the sacrament of Holy Unction, or anointing.

    Prayer for healing continues to be an important part of many Christian communities, and its appearance in James is yet another of the points where this book seems to be preserving authentic traditions that have their roots in the practice and teachings of Jesus.

    However we seek to explain this dimension of Christian practice, it remains the case that Christians find strength and healing (if not always a “cure”) when prayers are said on their behalf. The emphasis on miraculous cures in some Pentecostal communities may strike us as exaggerated, but it is one expression of the same instinct expressed in James as much as the votive candles lit for the sick at a Mass for Healing.

    * See also Jesus as Healer

    Gospel: Gentle words, hard words

    The Gospel extract presents us with some “comfortable words” as well as some of the most harsh teachings attributed to Jesus.

    The gentler words are to be found in Jesus’ response to the self-serving angst of the disciples who have just “bounced” an unauthorized exorcist who was invoking the name of Jesus to heal people but was not one of their band. Jesus rebukes the disciples and encourages a more open and inclusive attitude on their part.

    Of course, elsewhere in the tradition Jesus is remembered as saying precisely the opposite: 057 For and Against

    Following these attractive sentiments, Jesus is represented as giving his disciples some very stern instructions and warnings:

    These injunctions are expressed in the severe terms we now know as Sharia law from the Muslim world, and their presence in the Jesus tradition may remind us that the Christian community has had periods of barbarity and injustice in the way it dealt with those who deviated from communal expectations.

    It seems likely that Jesus is using hyperbole as an instructional device; exaggeration for the sake of impact.

    In the wisdom of the Church, it has not been normative to take these words literally:

    • Few Christians amputate limbs or excise their eyes in obedience to these words. If they did so, most of us would support legislation to ban such inhumane interpretations.
    • The same hermeneutical generosity is not always applied to biblical texts that condemn homosexuality, even though it is often claimed for those who have been divorced.

    Jesus Database

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    Other recommended sites include:

    Music Suggestions

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

  • Pentecost 17B (23 September 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalm 1 (or WisSol 1:16-2:1,12-22)
    • James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
    • Mark 9:30-37

     

    First Reading: Wisdom, the perfect life partner

    The classic description of an ideal wife in Prov 31 has often been read simply as a reflection of a male point of view. We cannot get away from the fact that the passage reflects the patriarchal values of ancient Israel, but we may miss a hidden treasure if we too lightly pass this passage by.

    Taken at face value the text may act as a mirror for us to recognize the continuing distortions of male-female relationships that arise from uncritical acceptance of traditional patriarchy. So-called “traditional family values” that are so staunchly defended by conservative religious leaders are often a thin disguise for self-serving male domination of women. It is well-attested that men tend to gain most in financial and personal well-being from marriage, while women tend to lose on both counts. At the very least, when a passage such as this is read in church, the Spirit may be whispering in our ears about the desperate need to redress that historic imbalance.

    But there may be much more to this passage.

    Like the majestic Psalm 119 with its extended theological reflection on the divine Torah, Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic poem. These are not words that have been casually cast alongside one another. Someone with a love for the beauty of well-chosen words has gone to the trouble of composing a poem with each line beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

    It may be that what we have in Prov 31 is a thoughtful celebration of Sophia/Wisdom as the soul’s true spouse.

    Elsewhere in Proverbs we have many references to Sophia/Wisdom as the ideal woman (both lover and wife):

    • 1:20-33
    • 3:13-20
    • 4:5-13
    • 8:1-36
    • 9:1-6
    • 14:1
    • 24:3-7

    In addition, Sophia/Wisdom is explicitly contrasted to the “loose woman” who posed a mortal threat to the young sage:

    • 2:16-19
    • 5:1-14
    • 7:1-27
    • 9:13-18.

    There may even be a delightful little “signature” hidden away in verse 12, as the Hebrew word ‏צוֹפִיָּה tsopiyyah translated as “she looks well to” is — possibly a pun on the Greek word, sophia (wisdom):

    Proverbs31Acrostic.jpg

     

    The Innocent Victim

    Many congregations will read from the Wisdom of Solomon this weekend.

    The designated passage is a portion of a Jewish text, written around 40 CE and therefore contemporary with both Jesus and Paul, that describes the evil ones plotting against an innocent “righteous one” with the intention of destroying their victim. In this traditional Jewish genre, however, the innocent victim is vindicated by God and his foes find themselves facing someone dispensing God’s judgment on them all.

    It is now widely recognized that this traditional Jewish version of the classic Greek hero myth has profoundly influenced the way that early Christians chose to present the story of Jesus. Paul’s tantalizing references to Jesus’ death and resurrection as being “according to the Scriptures” may well have WisSol in mind, a point missed by those who search the OT for prophetic predictions of a suffering Messiah raised to life “on the third day.” The “scriptures” (Gk: graphai, or writings) Paul had in mind may not have been restricted to the Hebrew texts that the Reformers (some 1,500 years after Paul) substituted for the Greek Bible that had served as the Christian Old Testament since the beginning of the church.

     

    Second Reading: Wisdom from above

    If there was any doubt that the Letter of James is an example of Christian wisdom literature, this week’s passage puts that to rest:

    • Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. (3:13 )
    • Such wisdom does not come down from above, … (3:15 )
    • But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. (3:17 )

    The passage begins with questions about the wisdom of the readers, and looks for them to exhibit characteristics that derive from wisdom — literally, “with Sophia’s gentleness.”

    The Wisdom in the author’s mind is not a human quality, but something that derives from God. The term “from above” [Gk: anothen] is the same word used in John 3 and variously translated as “from above” or “again” (see John 3:3,7).

    This wisdom from above is then described in terms that seem to echo familiar passages from WisSol:

    For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. 7:27 Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; 7:28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom. 7:29 She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, 7:30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail. 8:1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well. … 8:9 With you is wisdom, she who knows your works and was present when you made the world; she understands what is pleasing in your sight and what is right according to your commandments. 8:10 Send her forth from the holy heavens,and from the throne of your glory send her,that she may labor at my side,and that I may learn what is pleasing to you. 8:11 For she knows and understands all things,and she will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory. (WisSol 7:26-8:11)

    For examples of the Sophia tradition in Jewish and Christian sources, see the following pages:

     

    Gospel: Master class in discipleship

    While we tend to think of the Gospel of Mark as a simple story of Jesus’ ministry, it may be better to think of it as a textbook on discipleship. The focus on discipleship is particularly clear in the extended section that runs from 8:22 to 10:52, and is clearly identified by its two “book end” as Jesus heals two blind people.

    One of the threads that runs through this section is the nature of discipleship. Time and again Jesus is portrayed as teaching and mentoring the disciples on their own callings as he reflects on his own.

    Like the first blind man, who at first only sees with blurred vision, the disciples seem to have trouble with their vision of what Jesus is about and what that all means for them. Mark makes this all the more obvious by his insistence that Jesus was now saying everything openly and plainly. Yet still the disciples do not get it.

    Three times Mark has Jesus tell the disciples about his impending death in Jerusalem:

    • Mark 8:31-33
    • Mark 9:30-32
    • Mark 10:32-34

    Status in the Kingdom still loomed large in their imaginations. Coming as they did from a society governed by status and privilege, it was not surprising that they could not get their hearts and minds around the idea of a “kingdom of nobodies” (the phrase from comes Crossan, Historical Jesus, 266-68).

    Crossan notes that children were not the objects of sentimental affection as they can be in our culture:

    But what would ordinary Galilean peasants have thought about children? Would “like a child” have immediately meant being humble, being innocent, being new, being credulous? Go back, if you will, to those papyrus fragments quoted in chapter 1 of this book and think for a moment of the infants, often female but male as well, abandoned at birth by their parents and saved from the rubbish dumps to be reared as slaves. Pagan writers were, according to Menahem Stern, rather surprised that Jewish parents did not practice such potential infanticide (1976-84:1.33, 2.41), but still, to be a child was to be a nobody, with the possibility of becoming a somebody absolutely dependent on parental discretion and parental standing in the community. That, I think, is the heart of the matter with all other allusions or further interpretations clustering around that central and shocking metaphor. A kingdom of the humble, of the celibate, or of the baptized comes later. This comes first: a kingdom of children is a kingdom of nobodies.’ (Historical Jesus, 269)

    Jesus seems to have been strangely free of the need to cling to life, power, status. The early Christ Hymn quoted by Paul in Phil 2:5-11 actually identifies that as the essence of his divinity:

    Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
    who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
    but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness …

    The Child of Sophia has prepared the table and issued the invitation: “Come, eat. Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Christ/Sophia is both host and menu at the Table of Life.

    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.

  • Pentecost 16B (16 September 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Proverbs 1:20-33 and Psalm 19 [alt. WisSol 7:26-8:1]
    • James 3:1-12
    • Mark 8:27-38

     

    Introduction

    This week’s readings draw on the ancient Wisdom tradition of the Bible and invite us to reflect on the significance of Jesus through the lens of Sophia, Lady Wisdom.

    First Reading: Lady Wisdom, the divine Sophia

    The passages from Proverbs and WisSol are classic texts from the wisdom tradition of ancient Judaism. In both cases we find wisdom personified as a woman—in Proverbs as a woman prophet, and in WisSol as an eternal spiritual reality that comes to historical expression in the prophets.

    For examples of the Sophia tradition in Jewish and Christian sources, see the following pages:

    Mark seems already to have bought into the Pauline understanding of Jesus as the powerful Son of God who offers his life as a ransom for others, but there were other ways to think of God present and active in human experience. The early 1C Jewish text, the Wisdom of Solomon, shows us that there were Jewish contemporaries of Jesus and Paul who imagined God coming among us as Lady Sophia, the Divine Wisdom.

    For she is a reflection of eternal light,
    a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
    Although she is but one, she can do all things,
    and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
    in every generation she passes into holy souls
    and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
    for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
    She is more beautiful than the sun,
    and excels every constellation of the stars.
    Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
    for it is succeeded by the night,
    but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
    She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
    and she orders all things well. [WisSol 7:26-8:1]

    As this week’s Gospel invites us to ask ourselves the ancient question (“Who is Jesus?”) all over again, we may find that some of the less familiar voices in the biblical tradition offer helpful insights for us today. Even if time makes ancient truth uncouth, as the hymn writer predicted, we may still find that the storehouse of faith has other treasures that have been lying unappreciated for generations.

    Sophia Christology may be one of those treasures old and new that the scribe trained for God’s Kingdom will know when to bring out from the storehouse (Matt 13:52).

    The song Enemy of Apathy by John Bell and Graham Maule from the Iona Community is one modern expression of this ancient biblical tradition:

    She sits like a bird, brooding on the waters,
    hovering on the chaos of the world’s first day;
    she sighs and she sings, mothering creation,
    waiting to give birth to all the Word will say.

    She wings over earth, resting where she wishes,
    lighting close at hand or soaring through the skies;
    she nests in the womb, welcoming each wonder,
    nourishing potential hidden to our eyes.

    She dances in fire, startling her spectators,
    waking tongues of ecstasy where dumbness reigned;
    she weans and inspires all whose hearts are open,
    nor can she be captured, silenced or restrained,

    For she is the Spirit, one with God in essence,
    gifted by the Saviour in eternal love;
    she is the key opening the scriptures,
    enemy of apathy and heavenly dove.

     

    Second Reading: Wisdom beyond doctrine

    The reading from James offers an example of the generic spiritual wisdom that characterizes the ancient Wisdom literature.

    Typically, biblical Wisdom writings are the least “religious” texts in the Bible. There is little reference to God, no interest in the covenant, and not much time for the arcane traditions of the Temple. The sage looks to nature and to daily life—in the home, in the work place, and in society—for inspiration and insight.

    Interestingly, Jesus himself seems rarely to have looked to Scripture and instead to have drawn on his observations of people in everyday life: a man building a tower, a farmer sowing the seed, a woman searching for a lost coin, etc. The episodes that portray Jesus as citing the Scriptures or engaged debate over their meaning are precisely the texts that seem to have been produced by the later Christian tradition, and they often construct a Jesus who is a moralist rather than a radical sage.

    A texts such as James 3:1-12 could be used in almost any religious tradition. It is a reminder that the great religions have much in common, even if we mostly define them by their distinctive hallmarks. Anthologies such as Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings (edited by Marcus Borg), or the bestseller Living Buddha, Living Christ (by Thich Nhat Hanh) help us recapture an appreciation of the wisdom all the great religions offer.

    None of which excuses us from facing the existential questions posed in this week’s Gospel:

    • Who is Jesus?
    • What do others say about him?
    • What do we say about him?
    • What do I say about him?
    • Who is Jesus for me?
    • Who am I for Jesus?

     

    Gospel: Who is this man?

    The Gospel passage for this week is widely seen by scholars as the turning point in Mark’s Gospel. There is much more going on here than the record of a historical memory. Mark has carefully set the scene for this episode, although we miss his literary craft with our lectionary fragments week by week.

    Before looking at the immediate context, it is worth noting the larger design of Mark’s Gospel:

    Mark has two major divisions: 1:1-8:26 and 8:27-16:8. We find no use of the word “Christ” apart from the title line in 1:1 until we get to the second half of the book. “Christ” then occurs several times, starting at 8:30. The first half has a focus on Jesus and the public, while the second half has a focus on Jesus and the disciples. in the first half of the book we find repeated questions about the identity of this man, while the second half offers repeated instruction on Jesus’ identity. In the first half we have many miracles (15), but just a few (3) in the second half. The earlier section hints at Jesus’ death, but the second section has a sustained focus on Jesus’ death. [see Chapman, The Orphan Gospel. 1993:39]

    Mark has set the stage for this disclosure scene with a double set of stories:

    There were two sets of miracles –

    1a – Jesus rebukes the wind and sea (4:35-42)
    2a – Jesus heals the demoniac at Gerasa (5:1-20)
    3a – Jesus cures Jairus’ daughter (5:21-24a,35-43)
    4a – Jesus heals the woman with the vaginal hemorrhage (5:24b-34)
    5a – Feeding of the 5,000 (6:30-44)

    1b – Jesus walks on the sea (6:47-52)
    2b – Jesus cures a blind man (8:22-26)
    3b – Jesus cures the Greek woman’s daughter (7:24b-30)
    4b – Jesus cures a deaf-mute (7:31-37)
    5b – Feeding of the 4,000 (8:1-9)

    There may also be a connection between this week’s episode and two additional healing stories that feature blind people –

    • Mark 8:22-26 – Blind man healed
    • Mark 10:46-52 – Blind Bartimaeus healed

    These stories frame an important section on discipleship in Mark’s narrative of Jesus.

    The first of the blind persons to be healed can only see clearly after a struggle. Jesus’ initial efforts to heal him were only partly successful. The man had gained fuzzy sight (“I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”) It took a second attempt by Jesus before the man was able to see clearly.

    The second blind person, Bartimaeus, regains his sight immediately. Unlike the others who Jesus healed and sent home with instructions to keep silent, Bartimaeus regains his sight and follows Jesus “in the way”—the way of the cross, a story that begins in the very next sentence.

    This week’s Gospel comes directly after the healing of the first blind man. It shows the disciples glimpsing—with a rather fuzzy vision—something of the significance of Jesus but not quite getting it. They saw a sacred hero, but were not clear about just what kind of hero this might be. They begin by rubbing their eyes and straining to make sense of what they think they can see.

    By the end of the extended reflection on discipleship (8:31-10:52), the disciples seem to have gained a clarity of vision. They are found with Jesus in Jerusalem as his destiny comes to pass.

    There may not be much of the historical Jesus in this week’s episode. Jesus seems not to have gone around speaking of himself and requesting feedback from others about how they saw him. But this story does capture the deep historical truth that his living and dying presented people with a demand that they decide what to make of a person who could live and die like this. Jesus may not have asked, “Who do people say that I am?” But his followers certainly found themselves asking, “Who is this?” and “What difference does this man make in my life?”

    Jesus Database

     

    Liturgies and Prayers

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    Other recommended sites include:

     

    Music Suggestions

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