THE BIBLE – TODAY’S TREASURE HUNT
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 21 – 29-10-06
Job 42: 1-6, 10-17
The play ends, and Job regains his family, his fortune and his health. No basic reason is given for his suffering or for the nation’s plight following the exile period. It looks like “we are left with a universe of moral ambiguity where human existence is uncertain and God is unpredictable.” (WLW 27-18-06 p48) The writer would say that is because we do not take seriously the creative spiritual power that formed this earth, and to whom the human race is finally accountable.
Psalm 34: 1-8, 19-22
The framework of this psalm is set as each line begins with the next following letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The theme is the one Job questioned: that goodness is always rewarded and evil punished. This is the O.T. conviction, and is strongest in the theology of Deuteronomy, written in the seventh century BCE. This psalm sees the covenant community at worship and finding new life as they are faithful.
Hebrews 7: 23-28
The writer speaks seriously to Hebrew people who grew up loving their law, their scriptures, and their sacrifices. Here he compares the person and work of Jesus with the Aaronic system of priests and sacrifices. The Reformist stream of Christianity has not made much of the sacrificial theme. But it can lead us into the mystery of the spiritual life.
Mark 10: 46-52
Jesus has tried again to make his disciples understand how the spiritual loving energy of God being released in his life will change everything. They do not see it. But a blind man sitting by the roadside begging does see it. Jesus tells him “Your faith has made you well.” Mark shows how in that story the comfortable, accommodating, status/power relationships can be undone and the spiritual energies of God will be released.
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