Luke 4:21-30
Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
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This week’s reading overlaps with last week’s scripture, Luke 4:14-21. Now we have the rest of the story. In essence, Jesus tells the people gathered in the synagogue in his Nazareth, hometown, that they cannot expect that he will perform miracles and healings for them as he has done in Capernaum. Their amazement turns to rage.
What do you think if this Jesus? Why is it that he will not do in Nazareth what he done in Capernaum? Why is it that the prophets Elisha and Elijah were not sent to the many widows and lepers of their time?
In this week’s Bible Workbench Bill Dols asks:
What do you know of the synagogue people” in your world who can be amazed and can speak gracious words yet suddenly turn into people filled with enough rage to drive out the disturber of their world and, if they can, hurl them off a cliff?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Luke 4:14-21 ~ 24 January 2010
Luke 4:14-21
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
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The events in this week’s reading occur just after Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Now filled with the power of the Spirit he returns to his hometown. In the synagogue, he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2. In context, Isaiah is prophesizing about a time when Jerusalem will be restored to its former glory and justice will prevail. These two verses become a proof text for the messiah. When John the Baptist asks from his jail cell:
"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied to them: "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Luke 7:20-22).
Jesus is claiming that he is the messiah some Jews were expecting. Indeed, he even raises the dead, not strictly speaking a requirement for the messiah.
Notice that “release of the captives” is one of the requirements. Who might these captives be in 1st century Judah? Who is holding them captive and why? Who are the oppressed? What or who do they need to be freed from? Who are the blind? If you have been literal in thinking about these questions, try them again with a metaphorical slant.
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
------------------------------------
The events in this week’s reading occur just after Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Now filled with the power of the Spirit he returns to his hometown. In the synagogue, he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2. In context, Isaiah is prophesizing about a time when Jerusalem will be restored to its former glory and justice will prevail. These two verses become a proof text for the messiah. When John the Baptist asks from his jail cell:
"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied to them: "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Luke 7:20-22).
Jesus is claiming that he is the messiah some Jews were expecting. Indeed, he even raises the dead, not strictly speaking a requirement for the messiah.
Notice that “release of the captives” is one of the requirements. Who might these captives be in 1st century Judah? Who is holding them captive and why? Who are the oppressed? What or who do they need to be freed from? Who are the blind? If you have been literal in thinking about these questions, try them again with a metaphorical slant.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
John 2:1-11 17 January 2010
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
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Our lectionary reading for this week dovetails with last weeks, Luke 3:15-22. Recall that in Luke Jesus was baptized, but not by John the Baptist, who was already imprisoned by Herod. This week’s reading, from The Gospel of John, who by the way was not John the Baptist, begins “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana.” That is three days after John the Baptist first sees Jesus and declares him the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Note that in John’s Gospel Jesus is not baptized. Why should he? In John he is the Son of God, fully aware of his divine status and in control of his life and his death.
The synoptic Gospels do not record the wedding at Cana. However, Christian tradition holds that this is the first public miracle of Jesus. In John it has considerable symbolic importance: it is the first of the seven miraculous “signs” by which Jesus's divine status is attested.
When John refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God”, nobody thinks of a quadrupedal, ruminant mammal. John is using metaphorical language. Indeed, John often uses terms drawn from common experience¬¬- lamb, bread, water, light, life, son, wine, way-to make the significance of Jesus clear. I do not take “Son of God” and more literally than “Lamb of God.”
It will surprise no one that I prefer a metaphorical rather than a literal interpretation of this story. The good news and hope implied by the story is in the words of the Governor of the Feast when he tasted the good wine, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus, who has just started his public ministry, is: the good wine, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the way and the truth and the life, the living water.
In Reading Between the Lines Bill Dols asks: “What do you suppose the story has to say about making marriage vows and entering into such a new relationship? How might the promise or threat of transormation-plain lifeless water being turned into lively spirited wine-be part of marriage?”
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Our lectionary reading for this week dovetails with last weeks, Luke 3:15-22. Recall that in Luke Jesus was baptized, but not by John the Baptist, who was already imprisoned by Herod. This week’s reading, from The Gospel of John, who by the way was not John the Baptist, begins “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana.” That is three days after John the Baptist first sees Jesus and declares him the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Note that in John’s Gospel Jesus is not baptized. Why should he? In John he is the Son of God, fully aware of his divine status and in control of his life and his death.
The synoptic Gospels do not record the wedding at Cana. However, Christian tradition holds that this is the first public miracle of Jesus. In John it has considerable symbolic importance: it is the first of the seven miraculous “signs” by which Jesus's divine status is attested.
When John refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God”, nobody thinks of a quadrupedal, ruminant mammal. John is using metaphorical language. Indeed, John often uses terms drawn from common experience¬¬- lamb, bread, water, light, life, son, wine, way-to make the significance of Jesus clear. I do not take “Son of God” and more literally than “Lamb of God.”
It will surprise no one that I prefer a metaphorical rather than a literal interpretation of this story. The good news and hope implied by the story is in the words of the Governor of the Feast when he tasted the good wine, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus, who has just started his public ministry, is: the good wine, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the way and the truth and the life, the living water.
In Reading Between the Lines Bill Dols asks: “What do you suppose the story has to say about making marriage vows and entering into such a new relationship? How might the promise or threat of transormation-plain lifeless water being turned into lively spirited wine-be part of marriage?”
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Luke 3:15-22 10 January 2010
Luke 3:15-22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
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One way to approach ancient texts, such as the Gospels, is to ask yourself about the author’s reasons for including what he did. Why, for example, do the gospels mention John at all? And why do they have John himself saying that he is not the messiah?
For a moment imagine the blessing Jesus received, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ Have you ever received a blessing like that? Have you ever given one?
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