January 2022 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

The kingdom is not what you think

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany; 30 January 2022; Epiphany 4C (RCL); Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30.

Last week, we heard Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah, announcing the year of the Lord’s favor (the Jubilee), and then proclaim, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The crowd was amazed, and wondered at the gracious words coming from Jesus’ mouth. These are the first public words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, so we need to pay close attention to them. The crowd seems to think Jesus is announcing God’s favor on them, but they have another think coming.

Jubilee

Third Sunday after Epiphany; 23 January 2022; Epiphany 3C (RCL); Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 414-21.

The book of Nehemiah gives an account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah used a form of conscripted labor for the work, which placed some hardship on the community (see chapter 5). Once the work had been completed, the people requested some form of covenant renewal. The pattern is familiar (see Joshua 24, among other examples).

Kinship and delight

Second Sunday after Epiphany; 16 January 2022; Epiphany 2C (RCL); Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11.

John doesn’t waste details for the sake of verisimilitude the way a modern novelist might. For years, I’ve read this miracle story and never paused to wonder why John would set it at a wedding. It just seemed like the kind of detail that made sense in first century Galilee. But John doesn’t waste details.

Identity

First Sunday after Epiphany; The Baptism of our Lord; 9 January 2022; Epiphany 1C (RCL); Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.

Luke doesn’t actually narrate the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan. In fact, the verse that the Gospel reading skips over today tell us that Herod shuts John up in prison. So, narratively at least, John is in prison before Jesus is baptized! This fits with Luke’s three-fold division of history: the age of the prophets (up to and including John the Baptist); the age of Jesus; and the age of the Spirit and the Church. Luke will remove Jesus from the scene before the Spirit shows up, unlike John’s Gospel which has Jesus breathe the Spirit on the disciples.