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Life and death

Fifth Sunday in Lent; 26 March 20023; Lent 5A (RCL); Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45.

The story of the raising of Lazarus has always puzzled me, and continues to do so. I think that’s partly what John intended. There is no single meaning or interpretation of the story, but it is meant to pose unanswerable questions. At the heart of my puzzlement are the verbs used in v. 33. The NRSV translates, “he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” The Greek would be better translated “he was indignant in spirit and agitated,” when he sees the commotion around Lazarus’ tomb.

Sin and sight

Fourth Sunday in Lent; 19 March 2023; Lent 4A (RCL); 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41.

This episode in John’s Gospel provides a prime example of how the whole Gospel is structured, with the beginning and the end of the story as reflections of one another (the question of the blind man’s sin, bracketed by the question of the Pharisee’s sight). Along the way, John changes the definitions of both sin and sight, and frames them in reference to Jesus alone.

The water of life

Third Sunday in Lent; 12 March 2023; Lent 3A (RCL); Exodus 15:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:4-52.

I’m convinced that John uses marriage as a metaphor for the new kinship established by the eucharist in the Christian community. Jesus’ first miracle in John, after all, was changing water into wine at a wedding feast. And, here we have Jesus meeting a woman at a well, where Isaac (or Abraham’s servant on Isaac’s behalf), Jacob, and even Moses all met their wives. And they met them by asking for water. And water becomes an unending supply of wine.

Born from above

Second Sunday in Lent; 5 March 2023; Lent 1A (RCL); Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17.

The fact that modern English doesn’t distinguish between second -person singular and plural makes it almost impossible to translate John’s Gospel with it theology intact. In the KJV, verse 7 reads, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” It’s not Nicodemus who needs to be born again/from above, but some unnamed “you all.” The passage from Genesis is God’s instruction for Abraham and his household to leave his home and kindred and travel to a new land — and forge there a new identity. In the Romans reading, we skip the verses in which Abraham receives circumcision as a sign of that new identity.

Temptation

First Sunday in Lent; 26 February 2023; Lent 1A (RCL); Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11.

I had a Cambodian friend who read this passage in Genesis as a coming-of-age story. According to him, children in Cambodia were not gendered until about the age of five, “when they put their pants on.” It’s about the same age there were expected to begin to know right from wrong. Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness once they have eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That throws an interesting light on the story — temptation as a step along the way to growing up.

Tabernacles

Last Sunday after Epiphany; 19 February 2023; Last Epiphany A (RCL); Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9.

I’m not sure why I chose Psalm 2 this year. If the leaflets weren’t already printed, I might change to Psalm 99. Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm, and speaks of the victory of the new king over his (God’s?) enemies, who are foolish to try to rebel. The lectionary, of course, assigns it as an option with the Transfiguration because the voice from heaven quotes it — This is my son.

Salt and light

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany; 5 February 2023; Epiphany 5A (RCL); Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 112:1-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-21.

Chapter 58 of Isaiah is one of those clarion passages that depict the righteous society envisioned by the prophets as fulfillment of Torah. It seems to be set against the events of the return from Exile, with Jerusalem in ruins. There is apparently a contest with the returnees for how best to reestablish the righteous society. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah give us a hint about this contest. Isaiah is all for opening the Temple to the nations, while Ezra/Nehemiah wants to constrain membership in the new community to those who can show ancestry among the Exiles.

We preach Christ crucified

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany; 29 January 2023; Epiphany 4A (RCL); Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12.

How many times have we heard the Beatitudes, particularly in Matthew’s version? Luke’s version is a little more direct: Blessed are you poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Matthew seems to spiritualize the stark message — poor in spirit is not the same as poor. Hungry and thirsty for righteousness is not the same as hungry. Third person plural is not the same as second person plural.

Answering the call

Third Sunday after Epiphany; 22 January 2023; Epiphany 3A (RCL); Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23.

Last week, we heard the call of the first disciples as reported in John’s Gospel. There, John the Baptist identifies Jesus, and disciples begin to follow, and themselves call others. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus calls his disciples directly, and the stories are a bit hard for us to comprehend. What was so compelling about Jesus’ call, that these people would leave everything behind and follow?

Lamb of God

Second Sunday after Epiphany; 15 January 2023; Epiphany 2A (RCL); Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42.

With verse 29, we finally come to the beginning of the narrative of John’s Gospel. vv. 19-28 amount to John’s denial that he is the messiah. With verse 29, John introduces Jesus into the narrative. So these verses stand out as crucial to understanding John’s purpose in writing. And they leap off the page at us.