THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 12 – 3.8.08
Genesis 32: 22-31
This is crisis time for Jacob. He has lied to his father and usurped his brother’s place as the inheritor of the Abraham Covenant. Now he finds that Esau is coming for him. So he prepares an elaborate gift, for his sense of justice requires penitence and retribution. He stage manages the encounter with Esau, but has to handle a more difficult encounter with his God. He is more convinced of his part in the Abraham promise but deals logically and even physically with his God in a long and lonely night. He survives but is wounded in a new understanding of his God.
Psalm 17: 1-7, 15
The writer of this Psalm is sure of his innocence and integrity before God, probably because he has fulfilled the requirements of the covenant relationship. There are echoes of the Jacob story where God can be appealed to and who will listen to reason. We are a bit uncomfortable with this devotional thinking, believing that there is nothing worthwhile we can bring and claim a credit; rather we rely on the amazing grace which is part of how we live in the company of the Eternal Spirit.
Romans 9: 1-5
Paul would have full sympathy for all those Jews who had rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. He was one of them. But he had discovered what he was missing, and was daily proving the presence and power of the Jesus of the resurrection. He worries about members of the Jewish faith in Rome and longs for them to make the discovery which transformed his life. From verse 6, however, he goes back over their history and hopes that God’s mercy will come to more of his people.
Matthew 14: 13-21
The dreadful story of the death of John the Baptist was very troubling to Jesus as it was to a great many people who were deeply in need of reassurance. This story is recorded in all four gospels. A touch like people sitting on the grass indicates that an eyewitness is telling the story. The disciples did not take up the challenge of doing something. But as a story its appeal is that in the face of human need the God-response is a lavish supply of what is needed. So world hunger can be met – like the response to the 2004 tsunami. In the face of global warming we will need the re-enactment of this miracle.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 13– 10.8.08
Genesis 37: 1-28
We now begin the story of Joseph who will dominate the episode in Egypt. He is different, a brilliant young man, Jacob’s favourite, and a dreamer where he sees himself as a person of great authority. His older brothers are outraged and seize the opportunity to sell him as a slave for the slave markets in Egypt. Apart from the whole drama of the event the ancient story tellers were able to keep alive the question about where God was in the process. It began with Abraham the adventurer, Jacob the new-age farmer, and now Joseph, thinker and dreamer.
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22
We dip into this Psalm again (see comment for Pentecost 11) and remember 1 chronicles 16: 8-13 as David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The Psalm gives examples through Hebrew history where the purposes of God are accomplished contrary to all human expectation. So in our second section the Egypt experience for Israel began with Joseph being sold as a slave. The lesson for the people was always to be alert for the creative power of the Spirit of God to work.
Romans 10: 5-15
Paul is writing his letter to the people of Rome who had, or who might, come within the influence of the Christian Gospel. He has been going over the events of Hebrew history where new movements began as people were drawn into the circle of god’s love and concern. That should have prepared them for the encounter with the Man from Nazareth. Paul had found this – a faith which came from the heart of everyday human experience. He had moved away from governing his life by rules and laws which set up categories and standards based on difference, and gave his whole focus to bringing the news of an inclusive, loving God.
Matthew 14: 22-33
The drama of this story opens with a rush. Jesus takes charge, but he will not build on his popularity. There is no rest for the disciples; they are made to embark in spite of the wind. We are told twice that the crowds were dismissed. He really needed time alone with the Spiritual Power that was his life. In the morning light and shadow, the exhausted disciples discovered they were still at the mercy of the wind and hardly knew where they were. Then Jesus appears, and suddenly it is the presence and power of God with them and they are safe.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 15– 24.8.08
Exodus 1: 8 – 2:10
The years have passed since we saw Joseph whose rare spiritual gifts and human understanding transformed the lives of his family and made Egypt a place of safety. Now we see human love and tenderness getting around government policy and achieving surprising results. The Hebrew people saw in such events a spiritual quality, a divine initiative which cannot be denied. There is a mute acceptance of problems, but also a conviction that with patience the redemption of God will come.
Psalm 124
This Little Psalm with its vivid language expresses the Hebrew understanding of their pilgrim history. It does not describe a particular event or time, but instead sees again and again how the forces of chaos are defeated by the action of their God. “The flood”, “torrent” and “raging waters” indicate the turbulence of threatening events. But the worshippers are invited to see their lives as grounded in the secure creative purposes of their creator God.
Romans 12: 1-8
With the images of Olympiad XXIX filling our TV screens we can understand Paul’s appeal as he begins this reading. But he goes further and includes spiritual discipline at the centre of our day to day living. So he speaks of ‘being transformed’ which is the activity of God in the human heart. Then he goes on to talk about people working together, each one’s skill fitting in to make a loving, cheerful community. In those few lines he gives a good description of a community of faith.
Matthew 16: 13-20
In the territory of Philip the Tetrarch, Herod the Great had built a temple of white marble which he dedicated to Caesar. Everywhere there was evidence of Roman power. This was the background for a few days of serious thinking for Jesus’ disciples. They reviewed the stories, especially after the feeding of the crowd. Matthew reports Peter’s conclusion. Jesus welcomes this confession which he places at the heart of the human response to God. Such recognition of the saving presence of God transforms the life and death of persons and the Church.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR PENTECOST 16 – 31.8.08
Exodus 3: 1-12
Moses “led his flock beyond the wilderness”. In that clear ground there was space for new ideas to emerge. The fire of a new spiritual encounter burned leaving no material residue. Moses was told to remove his shoes for the very ground was holy. He was also told that the time in Egypt was over; that they had grown past the tasks they once fulfilled. They were to leave and find a new direction in the mountain that was on fire with the majesty of their God. There is one note which jars – there were six groups of people who would have to give up their land to the invaders.
Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c
Again we dip into this Psalm. The same introduction and conclusion are used to explain how the Hebrew people might understand their history. The time between Egypt and the land of promise is remembered in their liturgy, while the turmoil involved in their departure must have had a great impact in the north eastern corner of the Nile delta region. From there they would have had to turn south east to reach the mountain described.
Romans 12: 9-21
There was a document circulating in the early Church, known as the Sayings of Jesus. It was written by Matthew and we have it in chapters 5, 6 and 7 of his Gospel. There was a great need for this information when one of the disciples was not around. So much of what Paul is now writing to the Christians in Rome has echoes of what Matthew wrote. There was a need for practical advice as well as the deeply spiritual ideas which are the main focus of Paul’s thinking. He therefore admits in verse 18 that living at peace with everyone requires effort because Paul had a real mission to convince people about the resurrection faith.
Matthew 16: 21-28
Jesus was describing how he saw the climax of his ministry in Jerusalem. He saw there would be an ultimate rejection, culminating in his death on a cross, followed by his resurrection. Peter was horrified. He obviously still saw Jesus as the Messiah, liberating Palestine from Roman control. So Jesus tries again and explains that Peter is still thinking in terms of power, conquest and ownership. His is the way of finding the peace of God through power of the Spirit. He called on people who understood to pick up their cross, and come with him along the resurrection way.
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