Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost; 13 August 2023; Proper 14A (RCL); Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33.
Someday, I’ll understand how the designers of the lectionary chose which parts of which passages to read. If we’re only going to read a snippet of Romans 10, why not verses 1-4? Those verses set up Paul’s main argument for the chapter. The bit that begins at verse 5 is just the supporting material for the main argument. How can we understand the supporting material if we don’t the argument? Paul is praying for his kin according to the flesh (that is the Jews, if that term isn’t anachronistic, or better, for Israel, according to the flesh). The crucial sentence (my translation) is “For, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own (righteousness), they did not arrange themselves under God’s righteousness” (v. 3).
Continue reading “God’s righteousness”