Psalm Reading for May 5, 2024

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 98
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a song of praise to the Creator and Savior of the world.  Not only are the human worshippers called upon to praise the Lord using every means available, but even nature itself is summoned to glorify God.

The motivation for this praise is revealed in all the marvelous things that God has done:

His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him.
Yahweh has made known his salvation.
He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel.

Not only has this salvation been made manifest for the nations (i.e., non-Israelite Gentiles), and to Israel — all creation has experienced the salvation of God.

And every available means of music-making and celebration are to be used in this chorus of praise — shouting, jubilant song and music, the harp, trumpets, the ram’s horn. Even nature itself joins in this mighty song:

Let the sea roar with its fullness;
the world, and those who dwell therein.
Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the mountains sing for joy together.

We note that the ram’s horn was blown to herald important feast days and holy days in the liturgical year of the Israelites.  This is a particularly special time of worship.

And what is the occasion of all this joy and jubilation?  Yes, they are celebrating the salvation that God has worked by creating the world and delivering his people; but the Psalmist especially draws attention to the righteousness of God, and his impending judgment of all the world:

he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

APPLY:  

How are we to respond to the magnificence of creation, the salvation of all the earth, and the justice that God brings in his judgments?  With all the earth, we join together in a chorus of praise.

The image that seems to fit here is that of a full symphony and a massive choir, with every instrument and voice joining together in harmony to praise God!

And there is in this also a cautionary note — this Psalm is not anthropocentric.  The Psalmist is not setting humankind in the epicenter; even creation is a part of this vast harmony of praise.  No, the one at the center of all of this praise is the Lord of all creation.

In a way, this Psalm is a reminder to us that we are not saved merely individualistically.  We are part of the vast and complex network of God’s creativity.  As Paul says in Romans 8: 19-21:

 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

This is why we Christians cannot divorce ourselves from concerns and interests in the world around us — the economic, environmental and, yes, even political systems in which we live and work and even worship.  God’s ultimate goal is to redeem, deliver and liberate his entire creation from its bondage to decay.  And that is worthy of our worship!

RESPOND: 

When I read this Psalm, I am reminded of recent hikes in a state park, with the bluest of skies and the greenest of trees, and the occasional snort of a deer nearby, or the hoot of an owl.

I am reminded when I walk through that cathedral that all creation will unite to praise the Creator, and the day is coming when:

 at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

Judgment won’t be merely a sifting of good and evil (although there is that too), but a restoration of what was meant to be.

So I respond to my Creator and Savior with unceasing praise, together with angels and archangels, and with oceans and mountains and rivers!

Lord, how can I not praise you when I consider the contrasts of delicacy in a wildflower, and the magnificence of a mountain? How can I not praise you for your mercy revealed in Jesus, who though God became man to bring my nature together with yours, thus cleansing me of all unrighteousness? How can I not praise you that you will bring justice to a broken and sinful world, and finally make it all right?  Amen!

PHOTOS:
"Lectionary visual reflection based on Psalm 98.7" by Baptist Union of Great Britain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for March 24, 2024 (Liturgy of the Passion)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 2:5-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is one of the clearest and most concise statements in the New Testament about the nature and work of Christ. This passage is believed by some to be part of an early Christian hymn.

The Apostle Paul anticipates the Nicene Creed which was written 300 years later.  The Nicene Creed says that Jesus is:

the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God….
…. for us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.

Paul rehearses what is called the kerygma (i.e., the proclamation of the saving work of Jesus Christ) about what Christ has done:

• He has come to earth for us, though he was preexistent and equal with God.
• He has been perfectly obedient by accepting death on the cross.
• He has been exalted to the highest place with God the Father.

Paul begins with an exhortation to the Philippians that they are to imitate Christ:

Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus

The theme of the “imitation of Christ” appears repeatedly throughout the New Testament, not least when Jesus tells his disciples:

Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34).

Paul unpacks his exhortation to have the mind of Christ by exploring the character and ministry of Jesus.

First, Paul’s doctrine supports the doctrine established in the Gospel of John, that Jesus is the preexistent Son of God, and that he is divine.  However, Paul tells us that Jesus voluntarily humbled himself. Jesus:

existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped…

There is a paradox here — Jesus is God, and is equal with God; and yet, Jesus does not presume to exploit his divine nature, but fulfills his unique role as Son of God.  He becomes a human being.

Instead of arrogating power and position to himself, Jesus:

emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

Not only does Jesus, the divine Son of God, take upon himself human form, he takes upon himself the form of a slave!  We see this clearly in the Gospel of John in the Upper Room, when Jesus washes the feet of the disciples as an example to them of the servanthood they need to emulate (John 13:1-20).  We see it when Jesus says of himself in the Gospel of Mark:

whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.  Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all.  For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:43-45).

And then there is the twist, the reversal that should astonish us, except that we’ve become too accustomed to the story — as low as Jesus humbles himself, even unto death, he is raised even higher!

Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

While Paul doesn’t mention the resurrection here, it is assumed.  Jesus is exalted, and given the name above every name — Lord. 

Here we are reminded of Paul’s roots in Judaism.  The name of God in the Hebrew Bible is holy and transcendent.  This is the name I AM revealed in Exodus 3.  In the Septuagint (which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), the name Lord is the equivalent of I AM.  Paul is clearly identifying Jesus as God.

So we have here the true nature of Christ. He is of the nature of God — which becomes very important in understanding the deity of Christ and the Trinity; but he humbles himself and takes on the form of a servant, which means he is also fully human.

The only Savior who can save us is one who is both fully God and fully human.

There is a cycle that is completed — Jesus is equal with the Father, but descends to the lowest place, even death; and then because he is obedient even unto death, he is exalted again to the highest place.

Therefore, those who follow Jesus and seek to emulate his servanthood will worship him as Lord.  Not only that, every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord!

This is an eschatological statement.  In the end all will acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus — whether they are willing to do so or not.  For some, this will be the essence of heaven — for others, who rebel against surrender to God’s authority, it will be hell.

APPLY:  

There is so much doctrine packed into these few verses!

We have here a kind of synopsis of Trinitarian theology.  Jesus Christ is the preexistent Son of God, who was present with the Father at the beginning, who shares in the nature of God.  He is fully God, and yet distinct from the Father.

We are reminded of the doctrine of the Trinity as historically taught since the church Fathers— God is one God in three persons.

And Jesus is also the Word made flesh, who empties himself and takes upon himself the form of a servant, identifying with our sin on the cross so that we may receive his righteousness in exchange.

And he is the exalted High Priest who returns to his rightful place at the right hand of the Father.

Therefore he deserves our unrestrained worship and praise.

But we mustn’t neglect Paul’s injunction, that we are to have the mind that was in Christ.  For us to have his mind requires that we worship him, study his life in the Scriptures, and imitate him.  And we become most like him when we humble ourselves and serve others.

Above all, we must remember that all this is Christ’s doing.  I love the verse from Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “And Can It Be,” that emphasizes Christ’s self-emptying love.

He left his Father’s throne above
(so free, so infinite his grace!),
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!

RESPOND: 

St. Irenaeus, one of the early church Fathers, said something quite radical to our ears:

The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.

Isn’t this what Paul is telling us to do when he tells us that we are to have the mind that was in Christ Jesus?

However, we must remember that if this is to happen, it is Christ’s doing.  That’s what we mean by grace, that God is at work in us.

I really love C.S. Lewis’ analogy in his essay The Grand Miracle. He says that what Jesus has done follows a:

huge pattern of descent, down, down, down, and then up again. . . one has the picture of a diver, stripping off garment after garment, making himself naked, then flashing for a moment in the air, and then down through the green, and warm and sunlit water into the pitch black, cold, freezing water, down into the mud and slime, then up again, his lungs almost bursting, back again to the green and warm and sunlit water, and then at last out into the sunshine, holding in his hand the dripping thing he went down to get. This thing is human nature.

Jesus, of course, is the diver who begins his descent after diving from the very throne of God itself, and then descending into human flesh at Bethlehem, living as a Jewish man in Galilee and Judea, descending to the cross and the grave, and, according to many Christians, descending even into hell.  And this same Jesus rises from the deepest, darkest place, from death itself, and returns to heaven in the ascension.

Jesus comes into this world in order to identify with us and take our sin upon himself, and then takes us back with himself into heaven!  That is great news!

Lord, with angels and archangels, and all Christians throughout time, I join in praise of your saving work!  I am in awe of your amazing descent from the right hand of the father to the lowest point with us, and your dizzying reascent into heaven.  Help me to have your attitude of servanthood and sacrifice, knowing that without your Spirit in me that is impossible.  Amen.

PHOTOS:

“Philippians 2 Typography Gradient” by Tyler Neyens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for March 24, 2024 (Liturgy of the Passion)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 31:9-16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of Lament attributed to David.  The Psalm is written from the first-person perspective, as a deeply personal plea for the mercy of Yahweh.

The descriptions of David’s malaise are very physically graphic, and deeply emotional:

 My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
 For my life is spent with sorrow,
my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.

Whatever the source of his distress, it affects him holistically — body and mind are suffering.

But that isn’t all.  His malaise also affects his social relationships.  Those who have been a part of his normal community find him repugnant because of his adversaries:

 Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.

There is no detail about who his adversaries may be, but because of slanders and conspiracies, he is experiencing terror.  The imagery he uses to describe the sense of alienation from his community is vivid:

I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.

His terrors are grounded in the fear that someone is plotting to take his life.

However, in verses 14 to 16 there is a decisive change of mood, as he declares:

But I trust in you, Yahweh.
I said, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand.

Despite his physical, emotional and social suffering and alienation, he places his complete trust in Yahweh, and confesses his faith.  There is also a kind of serenity that he finds as he places his life (my times) in Yahweh’s hand.

He prays for deliverance from his persecutors, and then in a tour de force of faith, he alludes to two key spiritual principles in Hebraic spirituality:

Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.

The first phrase reminds us of Aaron’s high priestly blessing early in Israel’s history:

Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
Yahweh make his face to shine on you,
and be gracious to you.
Yahweh lift up his face toward you,
and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26) .

The word face in Hebrew is panayim, which also means presence.  Yahweh’s presence is to bring light to his servant.

And the second phrase, loving kindness is a frequent refrain in the Psalms that describes Yahweh’s disposition toward his people and his creatures.  Out of 174 mentions of Yahweh’s loving kindness, 121 are found in the Psalms alone.

A Psalm that begins in misery and distress ends with trust in Yahweh’s presence and loving kindness. 

APPLY:  

It is virtually impossible to know the context of this Psalm in David’s life.  Any number of circumstances might apply:

• King Saul turned against him and jealously sought to end David’s life;
• David experienced the consequences of his own adulterous and murderous crime, which led to his heartbroken repentance;
• David was betrayed later in his life by his own son, Absalom.

We can certainly see echoes in this Psalm of the experiences of David’s greatest descendant, Jesus — abandoned by his acquaintances, forgotten like broken pottery, slandered, plotted against, persecuted.  Since this Psalm is the Lectionary reading for the beginning of Holy Week, it is impossible for us not to think of Jesus as we read these lines.

However, these lines may also apply to us, when we also experience grief; when our eyes and soul and body waste away with grief; when our years are spent in sorrow and sighing; when we feel abandoned by those we once relied on as neighbors and friends.

Then, like David, we will need to find the same refuge that he did, and pray:

I trust in you, Yahweh.
I said, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.

This Psalm provides the example of a life that turns from despair and darkness to hope in God and his light.

RESPOND: 

What shines through this Psalm is the promise that despite distress and grief and despair, our hope is in God.  There is a transition in this Psalm that can give us courage, as we are reminded to trust in God.

One phrase leaps out at me, though.  When David extols Yahweh, he says:

My times are in your hand.

This resonates with me.  The times in which I live are supremely uncertain.  Geopolitics, national politics and economics, my own denomination, and the culture in which I live, are all in a state of flux and chaos, it seems to me.

When I think of my own life in relation to all this, I feel rather small and insignificant.  I’m reminded, though, of a classic scene in the movie Casablanca.  Rick, an embittered hard drinking night club owner has met again with the one love of his live, Ilsa. He had lost her only to find her again during the chaotic times early in World War II.  Now she is married to a hero of the Czech resistance, and must choose whether to stay with him or return to Rick. But Rick realizes that there is something bigger at that moment than two people who were in love, and he must let her go:

I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.

For some reason, I’m reminded of this when I remember that my times are in God’s hand. 

I find this very reassuring — that no matter what happens, I have turned the keys over to God.  And I can trust that his face will shine on me, and his loving kindness will save me. 

Lord, distress and grief and abandonment are likely to happen in this broken world.  Thank you that your presence shines on me, and your loving kindness will save me.  Keep me faithful to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"Psalm 31-5" by New Life Church Collingwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for March 24, 2024 (Liturgy of the Passion)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is one of four oracles in Isaiah called the Songs of the Servant.  The Jewish interpretation of these passages has long been that they apply to Israel as the servant of God.  However, for traditional Christian interpreters, the servant of God is Christ.

Analysis of the passage certainly seems to confirm a Christ-centered understanding of these verses.

The oracle is written in the first person, and the narrator declares that the Lord God has done three things for him:

• The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught
     that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary.
  [The Servant can teach because he has been teachable, which he explains further in the next verse.]
• The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear,
  and I was not rebellious.
  I have not turned back.
• For the Lord Yahweh will help me.
  Therefore I have not been confounded.
  Therefore I have set my face like a flint,
  and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
  

The Servant credits the Lord with giving him the ability to speak words of comfort; the ability to listen to the Lord’s guidance and to obey him; and divine help even in the face of opposition and suffering, vindicating the Servant and his mission.

The message the Servant is given to speak is the teaching of one who sustains the weary.  This illustrates the Lord’s compassion for those who suffer.

The Servant knows what to say because he listens consistently to the voice of the Lord:

He wakens morning by morning,
he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

Listening is not merely hearing what the Lord God has to say, but obeying it:

The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious.
I have not turned back.

What makes this obedience all the more poignant is the cost to the Servant.  As he obeys, he suffers:

I gave my back to those who beat me,
and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair.
I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.

Historically, the nation of Israel suffered oppression and persecution even before they were conquered by Assyria and Babylon, and up to the present.  However, these words describing beating and cruel torment can also be applied to the treatment of Jesus upon his arrest in Jerusalem.  Just a reminder — these words were written perhaps 500 to 700 years prior to the events of Holy Week.

Finally, the Servant finds his vindication through the help of the Lord.  Despite abuse and oppression, he expresses his utmost confidence that the Lord God will overcome his oppressors.  Therefore, the Servant is able to face his circumstances with firm resolve:

 I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
 He who justifies me is near.
Who will bring charges against me?
Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?

The contrast between the Servant and his adversaries could not be more clear.  The Servant will prevail, but of his enemies he says:

Behold, they will all grow old like a garment.
The moths will eat them up.

This vivid image represents the transient nature of evil in the face of God’s enduring goodness.

APPLY:  

There is a kind of “theological correctness” that has crept into Biblical interpretation over the past century or so.  On the one hand, there is great merit to this effort.  Biblical scholars have reminded us that we must view Biblical passages in their original historical context, and not simply superimpose Christian presuppositions on the Old Testament.

On the other hand, however, the New Testament writers themselves view the Old Testament as their book, and they see Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of God to the people of Israel.  Jesus himself is the Jewish Messiah, and is very aware of his connection with the Old Testament.  The majority of the New Testament writers are Jewish, and make a considerable effort to point out the connections between Old Testament prophecy and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

In Acts 3:13 Peter calls Jesus the servant of God.   When Jesus is arrested, he is subjected to abuses that are described in Isaiah 50:

Then they spit in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him (Matthew 26:67).

 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head (Matthew 27:30).

So, when we as Christians read Isaiah 50:4-9, it is virtually impossible for us not to see Jesus in these lines. And this should give us great comfort.

Isaiah 50:4 tells us that this Servant speaks comforting words to the weary.  Jesus says:

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Isaiah 50:5 tells us that this Servant does not rebel.  Jesus listens to the voice of his Father, and obeys him, even unto death.  Paul says of Jesus:

So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.  For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous (Romans 5:18-19).

And finally, Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 directly as he describes the help of the Lord:

Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain, for he says,
“At an acceptable time I listened to you,
in a day of salvation I helped you.”
Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

RESPOND: 

I enjoy watching historical dramas that portray life in Victorian and Edwardian England in the 19th and early 20th century — for example, Victoria and Downton Abbey.

One aspect of life in those eras, at least in England, was very clear — there were definite class distinctions between the aristocracy and their servants.  Servants personally dressed their lords and ladies, made sure all their whims were met, and even became their confidants.  But servants were never regarded as the social equals of their employers.

This is what may make it difficult to understand how Jesus, the Lord of all Life, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Incarnate God — could be a servant!  We might rationalize it and say that Jesus is the Servant of God the Father.  And yet Scripture and Christian doctrine teach us is that Jesus is equal with God the Father — that though he is distinct in person, he is nonetheless of one being with the Father.  Yet he willingly humbles himself in order to serve:

[Jesus] existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7).

The real mystery here is the reason Jesus took the form of a servant.   Jesus, the divine Son of God, washes the feet of his disciples to illustrate his servanthood and encourages them to follow his example (John 13:3-17).  But his servanthood also means that he is completely and absolutely self-sacrificial:

Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:27-28).

Servanthood, for Jesus, means that he came to die!

Perhaps a mother can understand the sacrifice involved in offering her own body for the life of her child in childbirth; or a soldier who is willing to lay down his life for a comrade in battle.  But Jesus has served and given his life for all who will turn to him in faith.

The Lord of lords and King of kings humbles himself in order to lift us up.  This is a miracle!

Lord, your suffering as the Servant of the Lord God has made it possible for me to be reconciled with you.  Thank you for doing for me what I could not do for myself.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Isaiah 50 verses 4 to 9 SERVANT” uses this photo:
“crown of thorns” by .brioso. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for March 24, 2024 (Liturgy of the Palms)

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.”
Psalm 118:22 (World English Bible)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a festive Psalm that is commonly associated with the Feast of the Tabernacles rather than Passover, and celebrates Israel’s nomadic past, and the sojourn in the wilderness.

It appears to be a processional Psalm that worshipers might sing as they approach the Temple.  As they climb, the Psalm’s verses reflect their progress. They begin by calling for the gates of the righteous and of the Lord to be opened.  Then there is notice paid to the stones — specifically the cornerstone, as though the worshipers are passing a particular point in the Temple. Then they approach with boughs in hand up to the horns of the altar.  The altar is the place of sacrifice, and the horns are at the corners of the altar which a person seeking refuge might grasp for sanctuary.

The Psalm begins with a familiar refrain that we find repeated often throughout the Psalm, extolling the love of the Lord that endures forever.

The rejected stone that has become the head of the corner (i.e., the cornerstone) comes with no explanation — no doubt the reference might have been clear to the people of that time.  We speculate that it might relate metaphorically to David, who was the least of his family and yet was chosen to be king. Perhaps it relates to Israel itself as a nation.  See the Apply section for possible interpretations by the Christian community.

The boughs that are carried in the festal procession suggest the Feast of Tabernacles — the waving of willow boughs and palm branches was a common feature of this important Jewish feast.

The Psalm closes as it began:

Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.

APPLY:  

From the Christian perspective, this Psalm resonates with Messianic themes that evoke the life and passion of Jesus.

God’s love that endures forever is consummately expressed in Jesus.  And the New Testament writers were eager to identify the cornerstone rejected by men with Christ — the cornerstone is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, and in Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, and twice in 1 Peter 2:6-7.

In each case (with the exception of Ephesians 2:20 and 1 Peter 2:6), the references are to the passage in Psalm 118:22.

From the New Testament perspective, the stone that is rejected and which has become the cornerstone is an obvious metaphor for Jesus.  He has been rejected by the builders, which may suggest the priestly caste and Pharisees. Nevertheless, he has become the cornerstone and foundation of our salvation.

This is a Psalm of unmistakable joy and praise as pilgrims enter the city, and reflects the tone for the exultant beginning of Holy Week. However, we do well to note the ominous foreshadowing of Jesus’ arrest and sacrificial death:

Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.

RESPOND: 

It is always appropriate to sing praise to God.  But this Psalm is a reminder that even as we praise him, there is shadow here.  The rejected cornerstone is my Lord, who has become the cornerstone of my own life and faith.  But I recall with shame how I too have praised him, and yet at times betrayed him.

There is no small comfort in these words:

Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.

Lord, I praise you and worship you.  Thank you that you have become my Cornerstone, my Savior, my Light.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

“Jesus as cornerstone (Efeziers 2:20)” by bastiaandegoede is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

 

Psalm Reading for September 10, 2023

Psalm 148 uses the imperative PRAISE! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

A NOTE FROM CELESTE LETCHWORTH:

As most of you know, Tom went to be with the Lord in June 2018.

Since the lectionary cycles every 3 years, I am able to copy Tom’s SOAR studies from the archives and post them each week with our current year’s dates.

However, I can’t find any SOAR for this Sunday’s Psalm selection (which is Psalm 149).  I couldn’t figure out just why Tom used Psalm 148 instead. Then I found the answer — In the past, the United Methodist lectionary always offered Psalm 148 as an alternative because there is not a responsive psalter reading in our hymnal for Psalm 149. (Psalm 148 is number 861 in the United Methodist Hymnal.) I don’t know why they stopped suggesting using Psalm 148 as an alternative in 2023.

So, the bad news is that I can’t find anything in the archives that Tom wrote for Psalm 149.

But the good news is that I found his SOAR posting for Psalm 148, which has been used in the past as an alternative Psalm reading. (Well, at least in the United Methodist lectionary.)

So I hope you’ll enjoy studying Psalm 148 this week.

You’re on your own for Psalm 149, but I think you’ll enjoy reading it as well. It’s just 9 verses. As a musician, I especially noticed verse 3:

Let them praise his name in the dance!
Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

And I’m intrigued by the NRSV translation of verse 5:

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.

Looks like even couch potatoes are encouraged to sing praise to God (LOL).

And now… Tom’s SOAR study on Psalm 148:

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 148
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of unrestrained celebration and joy.  It falls into the category of a hymn and/or doxology, praising God.

The Psalmist uses the imperative praise! thirteen times, calling upon all the heavens and the earth, all the creatures therein, and all generations to praise Yahweh in this litany of praise.

The Psalmist describes a hierarchy in the praises from all creation:

• He begins at the zenith of creation with the angelic realm.
• The next rung of the hierarchy describes the celestial bodies — the sun, moon and stars.
• The third level includes all of the forces of nature that contribute to the chaos of nature — sea monsters from the deeps, the fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind.
• Fourth, he moves on to the grandeur of the mountains of the earth, and the trees and animal life that are all sustained on the earth.
• Finally, the Psalmist concludes his hierarchy of praise with the human voices that he calls upon to worship Yahweh, including the political powers of the day — kings and princes — as well as people of all generations, both men and women.

This pattern parallels the pattern of Genesis 1, which moves from the creation of  the fundamental elements of nature, to the water and the dry land, all the vegetative and animal life, and then the climax of creation with human beings who are made in the image of God.

The first section of the Psalm, from verse 1 to 4, is a cosmic call to praise.  He summons first the heavenly, spiritual beings that inhabit the courts of the Lord:

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!

The Psalmist then unapologetically refers to non-human aspects of creation in anthropomorphic terms, calling upon sun and moon, shining stars, waters above the heavens to praise God.

In verses 5-6, he explains the reason that these should praise the Lord.  All the celestial cosmos owes its existence to the Lord:

Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
For he commanded, and they were created.
 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The Psalmist also makes clear that part of God’s task in bringing order to creation is to set boundaries for all that he has made:

He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

The word decree can also be translated boundary.

This reminds us of the creation account in Genesis 1, when God separates light from darkness, the dome of the sky from the chaos of the waters, the sun and moon to separate day from night, and so on.

The Psalmist continues to summon praise from the chaotic, unpredictable aspects of nature:

Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths!
Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
stormy wind, fulfilling his word.

Though they are chaotic, these natural forces are still subject to the control of the Lord:

fulfilling his word.

Praises are to ring forth from:

mountains and all hills;
fruit trees and all cedars;
wild animals and all livestock;
small creatures and flying birds!

And finally, of course, with the human kingdoms, all generations and genders are called upon to praise God:

kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;
both young men and maidens;
old men and children:
 let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.

Again, this echoes the climax of Genesis 1:26-27. God announces his intent to make humankind in his own image.  What this means is that they would have dominion over all creation as God’s representatives on earth; and that both male and female are required to fully reflect the image of God:

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This is a fascinating parallel with Psalm 148.  To be made in God’s image is to have the responsibility of rule in God’s name, and for men and women to reflect God’s nature.  And so all people — rulers, men and women, old and young — are to praise God.

The Psalmist sums up this call to praise by acknowledging that the Lord is to be worshiped exclusively:

let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

And at last the Psalmist returns to an ancient symbol, reflecting God’s blessing to Israel:

He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.

The horn hearkens back to a symbol of the bull, denoting strength in ancient Israel.

Interestingly, as the focus of the Psalmist has narrowed from its height among the angels, it has finally come to rest on the saints who are defined as:

the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise, it seems, brings God’s people closer to him.

Clearly, all that exists is called upon to praise God, who is the source of all benefits and blessings.

APPLY:  

It is fitting that all creation, from the angels to the stars to the oceans and the mountains and the beasts and kings and all people everywhere should praise God!

I would venture to say that the angels and nature do fulfill their calling to praise God.  They do so in part by simply fulfilling their purpose as part of God’s creation, by:

fulfilling his word.

With kings, rulers, men and women, this may be a bit more difficult to compel.  Because of human free will, people don’t seem to be joined in one voice today for the purpose of praising God.

Perhaps this is the ongoing task of the church — to continue to proclaim and praise God by word and deed until the rest of the world catches on!

RESPOND: 

The Scriptures provide definitive guidance to my faith and practice.  Without them I’d be lost.

However, there are moments in my life when the mental fog rolls in and I find myself in a “gray night of the soul.”  So many different views of the Christian faith and the Bible can create confusion even after a lifetime in the Christian church and many years as a committed Christian.

On occasions like these, I find the Psalmist’s summons to praise very helpful. To go outside on a clear night and look at the stars and the moon; or to stand on a mountainside and consider the distances of the valley below; or to stand at the edge of the ocean and watch the wild surf — these can be powerful reminders of the creative power of God.

As just one example of the power of nature to enkindle faith, I quote Eric Metaxas, a Christian writer:

There are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart … Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident?

Lord, I join the angels and the archangels, the stars and the planets, and all the creatures of the earth in praising you.  May my praise join with the praise of all that lives and moves and has its being in you. And may my praise bring others closer to you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"praise-word-scrabble-errand-1987229" by FotoRieth is from pixabay.

Psalm Reading for May 28, 2023 Pentecost Sunday

Yahweh, how many are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all.
…both small and large animals.
Psalm 104:24-25 (WEB)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm celebrating Yahweh as Creator and giver of life. The Psalmist recognizes the wide diversity of God’s creation, from the vast sea teeming with life to the seismic activity of earthquakes and smoking volcanoes.  The Psalmist’s scope covers the creatures that swim in the seas — from the largest in the world as well as the microscopically small.

In between his boundaries of the seas and the mountains, the Psalmist acknowledges that Yahweh is the Provider of everything that is required for life. Yahweh gives food to all creatures that live, and the breath of life itself comes from God.

All living beings are directly dependent on the life-giving power of Yahweh.

And, in a conscious reference to Genesis and the creation account, the Psalmist recognizes the role of God’s Spirit in creating and renewing life:

You send out your Spirit and they are created.
You renew the face of the ground.

We are reminded of Genesis 1:1-2:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The Psalmist has been addressing Yahweh directly in the second person:

Yahweh, how many are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.

But in verse 31 he transitions to the third person as he speaks of God.

The Psalmist declares his praise for the glory of God that he sees in creation, and finally exults in his own sense of praise and worship:

I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live.
I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
Let your meditation be sweet to him.
I will rejoice in Yahweh.

APPLY:  

Meditation on creation itself can prompt a sense of awe for those who worship the Creator.  Not only are we moved by the majesty of mountains and the turbulence of the seas that are all God’s works, we also become aware of the deep sense of dependence and interdependence that exists in all nature.

The complex food chain that feeds all creatures begins with God’s design of interdependency.  And life itself exists solely in God.

We are wise to see that we are a part of the creatureliness of all nature. We also depend on climate and weather and crops and livestock and seafood (with all of their complex interactions) for the food that ends up on our table.  We do well to say grace over our food every time we eat!

But on an even deeper level, existence itself depends upon God’s gracious permission.  As Paul will tell the Athenians about God:

he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ (Acts 17:25-28).

Like the Psalmist, we praise God because as Creator of all, we depend completely upon him; and his gift of food and breath is a fundamental expression of his love and mercy for us.

RESPOND: 

Some time ago, I climbed about a mile into the mountains of North Carolina and looked out over the mountains and valleys beyond me.  The mountains followed one after another after another as though they were blue, billowing waves shrouded in mist.  And all I could say was “Glory!”

The woods, with their choirs of birds, and the blue canopy of the sky, were as sacred a temple for me as a cathedral.

When I feel my faith wavering a bit, I go outside to look at the trees or take a walk in the park.  It strikes me that believing that creation is a mere, random accident requires far more “faith” than is required to believe that God is the Creator of all.

Lord, I see your creative power and delight in every mountain, every creature, every leaf around me.  You sustain all of us on this round earth, and I praise you.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"Wattled Starling hitching a ride" by Becky Matsubara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for May 28, 2023 Pentecost Sunday

“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Acts 2:3

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 2:1-21
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

What the nativity story in Bethlehem is to The Gospel According to Luke, the account of Pentecost is to The Acts of the Apostles.  As the birth of Jesus the Son of God is announced by the supernatural phenomenon of the heavenly host of angels, so the Spirit of God is poured out on the disciples with supernatural phenomena — first, the mighty wind; then what seemed to be tongues of fire; and finally the power given to the disciples in an instant to speak in languages that were not their own.

We are reminded that the Hebrew and Greek words for wind are the same words for spirit (ruach in the Hebrew; pneuma in Greek); and we are reminded of the prophecy of John the Baptist in Luke 3:16-17:

I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,  whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

We take notice that the disciples were all together in one place.  The scattering that had taken place after the crucifixion had been reversed by the magnetic pull of the Risen Lord — they were gathered now as often as possible for prayer.

Not only were the disciples gathered in the Upper Room; Jews from around the Roman empire were also gathered in the city of Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, which was fifty days after Passover.  This was one of the “big three” feasts in the Jewish liturgical calendar.  Of course there were others, but the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall, Passover in the Spring, and Pentecost on the outset of summer were all a draw for Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks (Shavout in the Hebrew language), was originally a harvest festival; but according to Jewish tradition, it had also come to commemorate the giving of the Law (the Torah) on Sinai. Now, instead of the law, it would become for the church a day for the giving of the Holy Spirit.

So it should be no surprise that a diverse crowd could easily be gathered with folks who hailed from all over the Roman empire.  In fact, the languages spoken by the disciples through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit even extended beyond the Roman empire, to lands the Romans never conquered or occupied, such as Parthia, Media, Elam, and Mesopotamia.  We know, though, that there was a Jewish presence in those lands ever since the exile of the Jews there in the 6th century B.C.

Also represented were areas of Asia Minor (Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia), North Africa (Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene); the center of imperial political and military power in Rome; the Mediterranean (Crete) and tribes to the south of Palestine (Arabia).

Although glossalalia (speaking in tongues) becomes a language of prayer both corporately and privately in the early church (see 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 to 14), here it is for the purpose of witness to these people from diverse lands.

Needless to say, this is a startling phenomenon; and, human nature being what it is, there were scoffers who ascribed all of this to drunkenness.  Peter’s response to this is pointed — it’s just 9:00 o’clock in the morning!  Evidently, even in the ancient world there were social boundaries to bar hopping before a decent hour!

Peter further interprets these events by declaring that all of this fulfills the prophecies of Joel 2:28-32.  In this prophecy, we see that the apostles understand that the message of the Hebrew prophets is fulfilled in the events unfolding before their eyes.  Moreover, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not merely for Jewish men, but for all people:

It will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

In these Spirit-filled days, there are no barriers to those who may be called to testify to the living God — whether they be men or women, young or old:

Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams.

Moreover, the declaration is made that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is in keeping with the diversity of the languages that represent so many different nations and ethnic groups.  Although these first converts are Jews, the ground is being prepared for Gentiles to come to faith as well.  Paul quotes this same passage from Joel to illustrate that God’s grace revealed in Christ is available to all who believe:

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.  For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:12-13).

APPLY:  

The church, and our faith, were born at Pentecost with wind, fire and strange tongues.  This made for an ecstatic and enthusiastic worship experience. Most of us who worship in reserved mainline churches may find this disturbing.  Yet how passionate we grow when watching the NCAA Final Four, or a college football game!

The question here is not whether we should experience these phenomena, or whether we should speak in tongues, but are we ready for whatever God chooses to do, however God chooses to do it?  The coming of the Holy Spirit is completely God’s doing, but we do note that the disciples were obeying what Jesus had told them to do earlier in Acts 1:4-5:

Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

And the disciples obeyed Jesus to the letter between his Ascension and the Day of Pentecost:

All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:14).

We hear much talk about the need for revival in the face of a recession of Christianity in the United States.  The number of those declaring they are Christians has dropped from 78% to 70% from 2007 to 2014. [CLICK HERE to read “America’s Changing Landscape” on the Pew Research Center’s website.]

Clearly, if the modern church is to emulate the church on the day of Pentecost, we will need to follow the example of the disciples:

• Be devoted constantly to prayer.
• Be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• Like the disciples, be able to articulate the Gospel in the language of contemporary people without distorting the message or bending it to the culture.

RESPOND: 

There are times in my life when I know that the breath of the Holy Spirit has whispered in my ear; and times when I have felt the fire of purification burn through my heart.

I believe that whatever the recession of Christian faith may be right now in our culture, the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit is still here.  And it’s just a matter of time until all Christians are receptive to the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And I join with other Christians everywhere in prayer for that day.  Then may we be able to speak the Gospel in language that this culture can understand, so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Let the wind blow and the fire fall, Lord!  And may we be faithful to pray and to proclaim the Gospel, even in the face of scorn and ridicule.  Revive and renew your church! Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“32640 Pentecost Decorations First Presbyterian Church May 27, 2012” by Bill McChesney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for April 16, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 20:19-31
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage provides a framework for the transition from the very first eyewitnesses to those whose witness will only be with the eyes of faith.

Jesus appears the very evening of his resurrection, when the disciples are huddled together in fear in a locked room.  This illustrates his ability to appear and to disappear at will with this transformed and glorified resurrection body.

Nevertheless, he demonstrates that his is a bodily resurrection, and that he is the same Jesus who was crucified, as he shows them his scarred hands and side.

He greets them with the traditional “Shalom” of the ancient Jewish culture:

 Peace be to you.

However, in this context it certainly has a deeper meaning for these frightened followers.  They greet these words and signs with joy.

Next, there is the Johannine version of a kind of Pentecost, as Jesus commissions them to be sent in his name, and then empowers them for ministry as he breathes the Holy Spirit into them. And to them is entrusted the awesome authority to forgive sins in his name, much as Peter was given that authority in the Synoptic Gospels after his insight that Jesus was the Christ.  The difference of course is that in the Synoptic Gospels, Peter has this realization before the resurrection. (Matthew, Mark and Luke are called Synoptic because they can often be “seen together” with frequent parallels and similarities.)

The disciples immediately begin to fulfill the commission of Jesus.  Some of the disciples reach out to Thomas, who wasn’t present in the Upper Room that evening.  They bear witness to what they have experienced:

We have seen the Lord!

And here is where Thomas (his Aramaic name), aka Didymus (the Greek version of his name) gets his unfortunate nickname — Doubting Thomas.  He cannot believe unless he sees the scars on Jesus’ hands and side for himself.

We don’t really know for sure why Thomas is called “The Twin,” other than the obvious fact that he may have had a twin brother or sister.  Is it an oblique reference to being “double-minded” perhaps?

Nor do we know why he isn’t with the other disciples on that first night.  Is he absent because he is grieving alone?

We do know that Thomas is no coward.  Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, when the sisters of Lazarus summon Jesus to the bedside of their dying brother, Jesus declares he will go to Bethany. The other disciples attempt to deter Jesus, declaring that his enemies seek his life in Judea.  But it is Thomas who says:

Let’s go also, that we may die with him. (John 11:16).

But we also have a foreshadowing of his questioning nature in John 14:1-7.  Jesus has promised his disciples that he will not leave them orphaned, that he is going to prepare a place for them, and that they know the way to the place where he is going.  Thomas, who is empirically minded and prone to thinking in very concrete, literal terms, says:

Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way? (John 14:5).

And this question sets up one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture.  Jesus answers:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him (John 14:6-7).

Now Thomas is singled out for a unique, if dubious, honor.  Jesus appears yet again among the disciples a week after the resurrection.  This time Thomas is among them.  And Jesus offers to show Thomas his hands and his side to provide proof that he is the crucified and risen Lord.  And Jesus commands him:

 Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.

Thomas is among the very first in this post resurrection appearance to acknowledge the divinity of Jesus in his short but powerful declaration of faith:

My Lord and my God!

There seems no doubt to Thomas now that Jesus is not only risen from the dead, but that this event discloses his true nature as God and man.

Jesus gently reproaches Thomas for his lack of faith that required such dramatic proof, and praises those who will not have that luxury:

Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.

John adds his own editorial comment — that the purpose of this account in the Gospel is to provide witness to those who have not seen and yet have believed.  He is making it quite clear that this is the purpose of his writing.  He notes that Jesus did many more deeds than he can possibly record, but that the purpose of the Gospel is so that those who read it:

 may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

APPLY:  

This account of “doubting Thomas” isn’t meant to cast aspersions on this questioning disciple.  In a sense, Thomas may speak for many in our skeptical age who are seeking proof.

Ultimately, however, the response that brings true blessing is faith that is imparted by the Holy Spirit — the very Holy Spirit that Jesus himself imparts to the disciples and to us.  We are reminded from the Scriptures that the righteous will live by faith, and also that:

Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6).

We don’t believe because we see; we see because we believe.  That is the gift which the Holy Spirit imparts.

RESPOND: 

I identify closely with Thomas, not only as my namesake, but also simply because of my own questions and occasional “dark nights of the soul.”

There are significant moments in my own faith development — the traditions I’ve been taught, reinforced by the certainty that existence and creation itself is impossible without a Mind that brought order to chaos.

In that thought I find the beauty of the Prologue to John 1:1-3:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.

And I can rationally draw the conclusion that only something as dramatic as the resurrection could possibly have transformed those craven, cowering disciples into the bold missionaries willing to stand up to the persecutions of the Sanhedrin and the Roman authorities.

But the mystery of faith in the Risen Christ comes only through the experience of an inner witness from the Holy Spirit.  In that sense, like all who have not seen and yet have believed, I count myself among those who are blessed with the gift of faith, knowing that even when my faith is weak, Jesus Christ is strong.

Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!  Though I cannot place my fingers in the scars on your hands, nor my hand in your side, I nevertheless am convinced in my heart that the only thing that explains the existence of hope and meaning and love in my life is your Presence.   Thank you for that life that begins now and continues forever! Amen. 

PHOTOS:
Background photo for “We don't believe because we see...”:
 "Fog" by Josh*m is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for April 9, 2023 (Easter)

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 20:1-18
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

We are reminded in John’s Gospel, as in the other three, that the very first witnesses of the resurrection were not the twelve disciples but the women who had followed Jesus.

The account here seems to assume that there is a part of the story that everyone knows.  Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb, as in the other Gospels, but at first she seems to have come alone.  When she finds the stone rolled away, she literally runs to find Simon Peter and the other disciple, who is believed to be John.

But what she says to them suggests that the other three Gospels supply the missing piece:

They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him! (Emphasis mine).

John may be assuming that we understand that Mary was with some of the other women, but that it is Mary who runs to the disciples, and in turn it is Mary Magdalene who returns again by herself to the tomb.

Simon Peter and John respond predictably — they take off running for the tomb! We can assume that perhaps John is a little younger, and he reaches the tomb first. Perhaps in deference to Simon Peter’s age and leadership, he doesn’t go in to the tomb — or perhaps he is held back by reverential awe.  He sees the empty shroud through the opening of the cave.

Simon Peter, whose impulsive reputation precedes him, rushes into the tomb and sees the linen wrappings and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head rolled up by itself.

The next statement is a bit paradoxical:

So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

On the one hand, John sees and believes — and yet they still don’t fully understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise.  His experience precedes the Scriptural confirmation.

While the two disciples return to their homes, Mary Magdalene lingers by the tomb, weeping.  She has followed them back, perhaps more slowly than they, and now she is alone there.

When she looks into the tomb through her tears, she sees two angels in white — which is also reported by Luke’s Gospel.  In Matthew and Mark, there is only one angel reported.

She blurts out to them,

they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.

Before they can answer, she turns and sees Jesus without recognizing him. He asks why she is crying.

This begins a most extraordinary dialogue and gradual recognition.  She mistakes Jesus for the gardener and accuses him of removing the body, demanding that he tell her where Jesus is.

And then, in one of the most tender moments in Scripture, Jesus says her name:

“Mary.”

Instantly, in that intimate moment, she recognizes him.  Was it because he knew her name without being asked? Or was it the way he said it? And why had she not recognized him before?

She cries out in Aramaic:

 “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

What happens next suggests an action which is implied rather than described — Jesus tells her not to hold on to him.  Presumably it is because she has already reached out to touch her Master and Lord in a very reflexive, human moment.

His reason for this is a bit esoteric for us:

Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’

We can only speculate about what this means, so I’ll address this further in the Apply section.

Mary is the very first apostle, if the definition of apostle is one who has encountered the risen Christ and been commissioned to tell others:

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

APPLY:  

There are so many layers to this passage that, as John’s Gospel suggests elsewhere, I could fill books with reflections on what it means to us.

Let me just focus on two aspects.

1. The centrality of the witness of women in the New Testament.
2. The mysterious nature of Jesus’ body after the resurrection.

First, it is absolutely clear that the women are the first to behold the risen Christ after the resurrection.  It is true that Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:5:

he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

What he doesn’t say is that he appeared first to Cephas, because the first appearances were to the women.

It is also absolutely clear that the first witnesses were the first apostles who carried the news of the resurrection to the others.  Anyone who questions the legitimacy of women in ministry by only citing a few texts in the epistles needs to step back and review the whole picture.  And perhaps they need to consider Peter’s Pentecost sermon where he quotes the Prophet Joel:

It will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17).

And consider the very real possibility that the Junia mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:7 who is prominent among the apostles is a woman.

The second issue that comes to mind is the nature of Jesus’ body after the resurrection.  He admonishes Mary:

Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’

What does he mean? That he has a body is quite clear.  He will show the disciples the scars in his hands and side and feet. He even tells Thomas to touch his scars!  This is the same body that was crucified.  He will ask them to give him something to eat.  He cooks fish by the Sea of Galilee.

And yet, this is a different kind of body.  He passes through solid objects — doors that are closed and locked in fear.  He suddenly vanishes from the presence of the two disciples in Emmaus. He ascends into heaven.  He has powers that are beyond nature.

One can only speculate, but the body that Jesus has in the resurrection may be the body that we can anticipate in our own resurrection. What Paul says is that the resurrection body is:

sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:43-44).

But be very clear — it is a body.  The Risen Lord Jesus is not some disembodied ghost, but a living, breathing, tangible, touchable Person.  If anything, what we see is the perfection of the body — the glorified body that will be restored on the Last Day for all who believe.

RESPOND: 

One thing I notice is that after John sees the empty shroud of Jesus in the tomb, he believes.  He doesn’t yet fully understand how this fulfils the Scripture, and yet he believes.

I don’t want to place experience over Scripture.  Far be it!  But my own experience, and the experience of so many others, is that coming to Christ is quite often a matter of coming to faith without fully understanding it all, and then confirming and guiding that faith through the Holy Scriptures.  Especially in this skeptical age, we may need both Scripture and experience to bring us to Christ.

We experience Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit confirms through Scripture what we have experienced.  But we never place experience above Scripture as our source of authority.  Scripture always maintains its sacred place as the revealed Word of God.

Christ is Risen!  The greatest words that can be uttered!  On this premise, Lord, rests all my faith and all meaning for my life.  May I spend my days knowing you and making you known to others, like Mary Magdalene and the other apostles!  Amen!

PHOTOS:
“Rabboni!” by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.  This stained glass window is in the basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial.