Month: February 2017

26 February 2017
Last Sunday after Epiphany
Last Epiphany A (RCL)
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

The Transfiguration (as related in the Synoptic Gospels) is a particularly fraught episode. It carries a great deal of interpretive weight. In Mark’s Gospel, it has a bit of a supersessionist feel to it — the fact that after the cloud departs, Moses and Elijah are no longer present, given the rest of Mark’s Gospel, seems to imply that the law and prophets have been replaced by Jesus. Add to that Peter’s misunderstanding of the event, and Mark seems to be saying that his community (and not the original disciples) has correctly understood the meaning of the Jesus event. Continue reading “From glory to glory”

19 February 2017
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Epiphany 7A (RCL)
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
Psalm 119:33-40
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5:38-48

We continue reading in course in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew is re-schooling us in righteousness, showing us what a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees looks like. This passage opens with a statement of what was said of old: an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. We often hear this as vindictive. In its time, it was in fact a moderating statement (Leviticus 24:20). If a slave injured someone, greater injury could be done to the slave: this statement required that vengeance not be in excess of the injury done, regardless of the status of the parties. But Jesus won’t even allow this moderated retaliation. This requires a shift in thinking about the nature of a righteous community. Continue reading “Holiness = perfection?”