THE BIBLE - TODAY'S TREASURE HUNT

 

COMMENT FOR EPIPHANY 5 - 05-02-06 
Isaiah 40: 21-31
Imagine life among the Hebrews transported as an addition to the Babylon work force.  Midway, during the sixth century, BCE, they feel powerless and hopeless.  So the prophet speaks of the invigorating power of their God.
Spare a thought for people around the world in refugee camps and detention centres.
Psalm 147: 1-11; 20c
It was in the Babylonian work camps that Sabbath observance became the model for the Hebrew synagogue movement.  In this Psalm their God speaks directly to their needs as they remembered their historic liberation from slavery under Moses.  Christians, however, remember the liberating power of the resurrection through Jesus.
1 Corinthians 9: 16-23
Here Paul is thinking of Corinth and life in that busy, cosmopolitan seaport.  As Christ's "slave" he will meet any person's argument in love and for the unity of those called to be saints.  His approach is modelled on what Christ did for the whole human race.
Mark1: 29-39
In Capernaum Jesus and his minders go to the synagogue on the Sabbath, then to Peter's home where his mother-in-law is the first of many to be restored to health on that amazing evening - illness, confusion, and ill intent gave way to wholeness in his presence.  Next day, alone in the pre-dawn quiet, Jesus went over it all in prayer and knew he had to move on with his message of God's kingdom of love and peace.
 

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