THE BIBLE- LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR Lent 4 – 02.03.08
1 Samuel 16: 1-13
In this reading we see Saul, the first king of the Hebrew people, and he is in real trouble. Once distinguished by his military style leadership, he has no idea of how to care for his people. Samuel, the prophet, understands the heart of the need for a new king. He goes to Bethlehem and looks at seven sons of a distinguished family. He is not misled by fine appearances, and chooses David who had to be brought from the fields. The charming description of this young shepherd indicates why he was chosen immediately as Saul’s successor.
Psalm 23
Lots of people know this Psalm by heart, and it is worthwhile doing just that, because it speaks to the heart of our own experience of God. It begins with a strong positive statement that carries with it serenity and peace of mind. But that serenity has not just happened. It has come by working through the struggles and problems of life along the way. So it is the result of trusting the good shepherd also when looking into the future. It therefore ends on a joyous note of being at home in the House of the Lord.
Ephesians 5: 8-14
Paul had spent three years in Ephesus, and Acts 20: 17-38 shows the bond he had with this congregation. Now he is encouraging them to live openly and positively in the light of Christ. We associate darkness with ignorance and light with truth. Therefore Christians, as people of the resurrection, work for open enquiry, discarding the half truth as litter, and making it possible for the loving energies of God to flourish.
John 9: 1-41
John sees this as a most significant event in showing how the power of God works in the world. Jesus replies to a question with great intensity. He is saying that every problem personally or in communities is a challenge to the tasks of healing. People of good will take up the challenge from research, active care, to peacekeeping internationally. The whole range of activities will cut across established religion and established power structures (the Pharisees) and will encounter lack of understanding (the parents). But those who are healed or can finally live in peace know when the Light of Life – the loving power of the eternal God has come.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR LENT 5 09.03.08
Ezekiel 37: 1-14
It is late in the sixth century and the next generation of the Hebrew people have joined the exile work force in Babylon. Among them is the prophet, Ezekiel, who captures their feelings in this vision/spiritual dream. The fallen Hebrew nation feels like a graveyard. The whole valley is just full of dry bones like the rows of crosses in an AustralianWarCemetery. But the prophet’s message is that the caring love of their creator God will not let this be the end. There will be a renewal through the wind – breath – spirit (the same word in Hebrew) and only God can make this happen.
Psalm 130
This Psalm also comes out of that exile experience. The people long and wait for reconciliation with their God and for restoration and renewal to follow. This was a favourite Psalm of Luther because it reached into the depths of what he felt should be. There is such earnestness – my soul – my whole being – waits for the morning, as someone who is desperately ill might wait for the morning. There is an unspoken fear, that without the spiritual renewing love of God we may be lost.
Romans 8: 6-11
Paul draws a sharp distinction between flesh and spirit, between what we do and what we know we ought to do. The flesh is like the unremembered past, best forgotten. But the spirit responds to the spiritual ground of our being in the belief that we are made in the image of God. For us in our everyday world where we strive and compete as best we can, but it is easy to fall victim to short term sensationalism. It is easy enough to stumble around in the kind of spiritual wilderness of everyday life. Paul wants Christians in Rome to get serious about living the spiritual life, and so should we.
John 11: 1-16
Again we listen to John for the Gospel reading. The disciples are having trouble understanding Jesus. He seems to be thinking at a deeper level. He is untroubled by reports of illness or death for his friend Lazarus. He is in no hurry to go, and is not concerned about his own safety. Here is the end of life drama. We have it played out for us in the cruelties of human conflict, and daily for general entertainment. But Jesus is preparing himself for a conflict against all that degrades, devalues and dehumanises human life, believing that the spiritual power that will raise Lazarus will also raise Him.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR PALM SUNDAY 16.03.08
Isaiah 50: 4-9a
There was general unhappiness amongst the exiles as they worked for the Babylonians. So we find the prophet Isaiah developing the concept of the servant alongside that of the shepherd of Israel. But how could he get through to the people, when the spiritual, loving and caring energies of God always seek to persuade, never to dominate or control? There is freedom to choose. So he tries the voice of the teacher with all the patience and imagination while listening morning by morning to the voice of his God. Endless patience to the point of suffering – isn’t that God’s way?
Psalm 31: 9-16
The deep sincerity of feeling in this Psalm is shown in the utter confidence the writer has in his God. Shunned by everyone, feeling alone, he reviews his life, its suffering, and learns to see it as God might see it. So he gives himself up to God with the confidence that the spiritual power which has shaped his life will receive his spirit. Imagine Jesus learning these words in his growing years. They are now made sacred to Christians because he spoke them again on the cross.
Philippians 2:5-11
The Christians at Philippi, a Roman Colony in a Greek world had no stories of Jesus in Palestine. They were trying to forge a new way of living with love, compassion and concern for others; replacing the old world strategies of factionalism, complacency and selfishness. (With Love to the World, vol 12, no 2, p25) Paul reminds them of one of the earliest hymns where Jesus is The Christ with the spiritual power to remake persons and societies according to the intention of the Creator God. It is a Servant Song full of the grace of the one Spiritual Power we call God.
Matthew 26: 14-27:66
This is the most powerful of all Bible stories. Matthew’s account appeared in the 8th decade of that first century. It shows the way various people understood what was happening. The disciples, particularly Judas and Peter, did not understand. Such a death to such a person has significance for the way we understand ourselves. The story left the broken, lifeless body of the man from Nazareth securely sealed in a tomb. That is where people like to leave their God when violence takes control – think of the holocaust, Hiroshima, the 9/11 event, Iraq, Dafur, etc.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR EASTER SUNDAY 23.03.08
Jeremiah 31: 1-6, 31-33
Jeremiah was the prophet in Jerusalem in 587 BC when that city was destroyed by the Babylonian Army and its people carried off into exile. He was dismayed that the governing class had lost their way as a covenant people and abandoned the Abraham dream. He believes that some time a new covenant will have to be found in a redeemed future, and that only the Eternal God could initiate the covenant to replace the one broken.
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
This was Luther’s favourite Psalm. He said “This is my favourite Psalm which I love–” (With Love to the World. Vol 12. No 2. P 31) Imagine it being used in the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (Ezra 6.15f) There is such wholehearted celebration after the exile for some of those as they set about the restoration of Jerusalem. The help of the new Persian Government was proof of God’s power.
Collossians 3: 1-4
Colossae was a city in Phrygia with prosperous and educated people. The Judaisers in the congregation wanted to promote their cultural rites, while the Gnostics were claiming secret and special knowledge. Paul argues that faith in Christ is free of race, nation or class where Christ speaks directly to the human heart. The response in faith is like the resurrection experience. This is something entirely new in the history of the human race.
Matthew 28: 1-10
A great earthquake begins Matthew’s account of the resurrection. Something so significant has happened that the very fabric of the earth is convulsed. The women are taken by surprise, and the disciples are given time to catch up with what has happened by being directed to meet in Galilee. That was “country” for the orthodox Jews of Jerusalem. It was changing economically, culturally, and in religious ideas. There was an increasing Gentile population and influence. So now a cosmic figure, signalling a new humanity will meet his people in a place of change.
THE BIBLE – LISTENING TO MATTHEW
COMMENT FOR EASTER 2 – 30.03.08
1 Peter 1: 3-9
From verse 1 we learn that this letter, appearing late in that first century, was written to people in the area of modern turkey. They had discovered Christ’s way of life and had to struggle for recognition and acceptance. Did they worry about the sort of world their children would grow up to inherit? The letter reminds them that they are people of the resurrection. Through their faith they pick up their cross accepting responsibility for what they can do in their own lives and in the community.
Psalm 16
The writer takes four verses to clearly state his/her trust in God; her respect for the truly good people in the community; who are not misled by popular exotic fashions. Then follows the account of how she would follow her God through meditation as a way of spiritual discovery. Her life is enriched and her soul rejoices. Now even death does not disturb this trust in God. No wonder this has been called the resurrection Psalm.
Acts 2: 14a, 22-32
This reading follows the next great event of Pentecost, 40 days after the resurrection. It shows what the disciples came to believe about Jesus, the man from Nazareth was a truly great man. He grew up as a Jew bringing to fruition the prophetic, spiritual hopes and dreams of the Hebrew People as described in the Scriptures. He made visible the reign of god, inviting every member of the human race to live their lives with greater spiritual understanding.
John 20: 19-31
The reading opens on the evening of the resurrection day. The bewildered disciples, behind locked doors, are suddenly talking to a Jesus who has about him a new authority and life. In the Genesis (2.7) story, the first human once received from God the breath of life. Now these humans receive from Jesus the breath of the Holy Spirit – the breath of life of a new humanity. They were given a commission to live that life of God with the same authority and power as their resurrected Lord. But they were a long way from discovering how.
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