Angels of God

Second Sunday after Epiphany; 14 January 2024; Epiphany 2B (RCL); 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51.

What a mish-mosh of readings for this week. I suppose the 1 Samuel and the Gospel both address the issue of the call of God, but the 1 Corinthians sticks out uncomfortably like a sore thumb. I’ve chosen to leave off the optional verses of the 1 Samuel reading, so as not to have to explain the crimes of Eli’s sons, although the whole story does give insight into the role of the priesthood in the religion of ancient Israel. On the other hand, the passage from John’s Gospel is an important set-up for the outcome of the Gospel.

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Who are you?

Third Sunday of Advent; 17 December 2023; Advent 3B (RCL); Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8; 19-28.

Before John’s Gospel can move on to the question of who Jesus is (a question at play throughout the entire Gospel), it must settle the question of who John the Baptist is. The Evangelist uses the device of having the Pharisees question the Baptist (the rabbis would have been successors to the Pharisees, and it was to the rabbis that the Evangelist’s community had to make its defense). The Baptist begins by telling us who he is not, in emphatic terms, using the ego eimi formula (with a negative) that Jesus will use in the great I AM statements.

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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.

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Come and see

19 January 2020; Second Sunday after Epiphany; Epiphany 2A (RCL); Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42.

This is really the first narrative unit of John’s Gospel. Everything up to now has been prologue. This unit sets up what we can expect from John’s narrative. The first words spoken by a character in the narrative belong to John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This is already stunning.

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