Archive for the ‘Matthew 21’ Category
Above: A Vineyard
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:7-14 (LBW) or Psalm 118:19-24 (LW)
Philippians 3:12-21
Matthew 21:33-43
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Lord Jesus, you have endured
the doubts and foolish questions of every generation.
Forgive us for trying to be judge over you,
and grant us the confident faith to acknowledge you as Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, whose almighty power is made known chiefly
in showing mercy and pity,
grant us the fullness of your grace
that we may be partakers of your heavenly treasures;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 84
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Bible moves past preaching and immediately starts meddling. Good! It ought to do this.
The vineyard is an image of the people of God in the Bible. In Isaiah 5, the image of vineyard full of wild (literally, noxious) grapes condemns the population doomed to suffer exile and occupation. Psalm 80 likens the people of Israel to a vine and prays for the restoration of Israel in the midst of exile. The Parable of the Tenants condemns fruitless religious authority figures–a timeless warning.
That parable also quotes Psalm 119 when the Matthean text refers to the cornerstone the builders had rejected. The cornerstone is a messianic theme, as in Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; and Zechariah 3:9; 4:7. For other applications of the cornerstone to Jesus, read Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:4f; Ephesians 2:20; and 1 Corinthians 3:11.
Years ago, I had a discouraging conversation with a female student at the college where I taught. She told me before class one day that she did not care about what happened to and on the Earth, for her citizenship was in Heaven. I vainly attempted to persuade her to care. Her attitude contradicted the Law of Moses, the witness of the Hebrew prophets, the teachings of Jesus, and the epistles–Judaism and Christianity, in other words.
The Golden Rule requires us–collectively and individually–to care for and about each other and the planet. Judaism and Christianity teach that people are stewards–not owners–of the planet. (God is the owner.) The state of ecology indicates that we are terrible stewards, overall. The lack of mutuality during the COVID-19 pandemic proves that many people do not give a damn about others and the common good.
God remains God. God still cares. God cannot exist without caring. That should comfort many people and terrify many others. Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTEMISIA BOWDEN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF ERDMANN NEUMEISTER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS JOHN MCCONNELL, U.S. METHODIST BISHOP AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF JONATHAN FRIEDRICH BAHNMAIER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF PETTER DASS, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Vineyard
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-9 (LBW) or Psalm 27:1-10 (LW)
Philippians 2:1-5 (6-11)
Matthew 21:28-32
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God of love, you know our frailties and failings.
Give us your grace to overcome them;
keep us from those things that harm us;
and guide us in the way of salvation;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, the Strength of all who put their trust in you;
mercifully accept our prayer,
and because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without your aid,
grant us the help of your grace that,
keeping your commandments,
we may please you in both will and deed;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 83
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 18 is one of the texts (along with Ezekiel 3:16-21; 14:12-23; 33:30, beyond others outside Ezekiel) that teach individual responsibility before God, therefore divine reward and punishment for how one has acted. These texts contradict Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9, which teach intergenerational reward and punishment.
The theme of collective responsibility occurs in the readings from Philippians and Matthew. This theme and individual responsibility before God are mutually consistent.
A man had two sons.
–Matthew 21:28, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
A careful reader of the Hebrew Bible should read or hear those words and think,
Uh-oh!
Such a person will start with Cain and Abel then take the grand tour of stories of feuding brothers in the Hebrew Bible.
Deeds matter more than intentions. Deeds reveal creeds. Rather than condemn some long-dead Pharisees and feel spiritually smug, I acknowledge an uncomfortable truth. I admit that I, as one of the churchiest people alive, have more in common with the Pharisees than not. I confess to uncertainty whether, had I been a Palestinian Jew during the time of Christ, I would have followed him. The parable, transferred to contemporary times, confronts me.
Clarence Jordan (1912-1969), in his Cotton Patch Version of Matthew, set the parable in a peach orchard. Jesus decreed tat
the hippies and the whores
would take precedence in that version.
If you, O reader, were to update Matthew 21:31, which group would you substitute for tax collectors? Make it a shocking, scandalous reference.
The Parable of the Two Sons warns against spiritual complacency. The textual context of the parable is early in the week of Passover, shortly prior to the crucifixion of Jesus. This setting helps to explain why the tone is so intense. Anyway, warnings against spiritual complacency–whether individual or collective–may need to be intense to attract our attention sometimes.
In the 1990s, I read an editorial in U.S. Catholic magazine. The title was,
Get Off Your Values and Get to Work.
The point was that people should minimize statements of principles and maximize living those principles. This cogent lesson remains relevant sadly. Politicians who have the power to act constructively after a preventable mass shooting or other unfortunate event yet content themselves to offer “thoughts and prayers” engage in copping out. I recall a lesson my father taught me: we need to put feet to our prayers.
That is hard work. So be it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 17, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, PRESIDENT OF KING’S COLLEGE, “FATHER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT,” AND “FATHER OF AMERICAN LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION;” TIMOTHY CUTLER, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, AND RECTOR OF YALE COLLEGE; DANIEL BROWNE, EDUCATOR, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, AND ANGLICAN PRIEST; AND JAMES WETMORE, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND ANGLICAN PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISMS OF MANTEO AND VIRGINIA DARE, 1587
THE FEAST OF SAINT EUSEBIUS OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 310
THE FEAST OF GEORGE CROLY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, HISTORIAN, NOVELIST, DRAMATIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JAMES EARLY BENNETT, ANGLICAN PRIEST
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Isaiah Wall, United Nations, New York, New York
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122 (LBW) or Psalm 50:1-15 (LW)
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44 or Matthew 21:1-11
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.
Protect us by your strength and
save us from the threatening dangers of our sins,
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 13
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stir up, we implore you, your power, O Lord,
and come that by your protection
we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins
and be saved by your mighty deliverance;
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 10
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When I compose a post based on lectionary readings, I prefer to write about a theme or themes running through the assigned readings. The readings for this Sunday fall on the axis of divine judgment and mercy, in balance. Hellfire-and-damnation preachers err in one direction. Those who focus so much on divine mercy that they downplay judgment err in the polar opposite direction.
Isaiah 2:2-4, nearly identical to Micah 4:1-4 (or the other way around), predicts what, in Christian terms, is the fully-realized Kingdom of God. The soaring, positive imagery of Isaiah 2:2-4 precedes divine judgment on the impious and impenitent–those who revel in the perils of their sins. There is no place for such people in the fully-realized Kingdom of God.
Psalm 50 focuses on divine judgment. YHWH is just, keeping faith with the “devoted ones” who have kept the moral mandates of the Law of Moses. YHWH is just, prioritizing these moral mandates over ritual practices. Rituals still matter, of course; they are part of the Law of Moses, too. Yet these rites are never properly talismans, regardless of what people may imagine vainly. People will still reap what they have sown.
Psalm 122 is a hymn of a devout pilgrim who had recently returned from Jerusalem. The text fits neatly with Isaiah 2:1-4. Psalm 122 acknowledges the faithfulness of God and the reality of “thrones of judgment.”
Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 21:1-11, and Matthew 24:37-44, like Isaiah 2:1-4, exist within the expectation of the establishment or unveiling of the fully-realized Kingdom of God. We read of Jesus acting out Second Zechariah’s prediction of the Messiah’s arrival at Jerusalem at the fulfillment of time (Zechariah 9:9-10) in Matthew 21:1-11. Romans 13:1-14 and Matthew 24:37-44 remind us to straighten up and fly right, so to speak.
St. Paul the Apostle identified the resurrection of Jesus as the dawn of a new historical era. Naturally, therefore, he taught that salvation had come nearer. St. Paul also expected Jesus to return soon–nearly 2000 years ago from our perspective, O reader. St. Paul’s inaccurate expectation has done nothing to minimize the importance of his ethical counsel.
Forbidden fruits frequently prove alluring, perhaps because they are forbidden. Their appeal may wear off, however. This is my experience. That which really matters is consistent with mutuality, the Law of Moses, and the Golden Rule. That which really matters builds up the common good. This standard is about as tangible as any standard can be.
Let us be careful, O reader, not to read into Romans 13:14 that which is not there. I recall Babette’s Feast (1987), a delightful movie set in a dour, Pietistic “Sad Dane” Lutheran settlement. Most of the characters are unwilling even to enjoy their food, literally a “provision for the flesh.” One can live honorably as in the day while enjoying the pleasures of life.
Advent is a bifurcated season. It begins with mostly somber readings. By the end of Advent, however, the readings are more upbeat. Just as divine judgment and mercy exist in balance, so do the two halves of Advent.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 5, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF ANTONIO LOTTI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF FELIX MANZ, FIRST ANABAPTIST MARTYR, 1527
THE FEAST OF SAINT GENOVEVA TORRES MORALES, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE HOLY ANGELS
THE FEAST OF JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA
THE FEAST OF MARGARET MACKAY, SCOTTISH HYMN WRITER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Woods, Ben Burton Park, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, October 29, 2017
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING SECOND ZECHARIAH, PART II
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 9:1-11:17
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 9:1-8 may be the original portion of Second Zechariah. This opening oracle names enemies of the Hebrews:
- Aram (Zechariah 9:1-2a; Amos 1:3-5; Isaiah 17:1-14; Jeremiah 49:23-27);
- Tyre and Sidon (Zechariah 9:2b-4; Amos 1:9-10; Isaiah 23:1-18; Ezekiel 26:1-28:26); and
- Philistia (Zechariah 9:5-7; Amos 1:6-8; Isaiah 14:28-32; Jeremiah 47:1-17; Ezekiel 25:15-17).
One may read about the Jebusites (Zechariah 9:7) in Judges 19:10; 2 Samuel 5:6, 8; 2 Samuel 24:16, 18; 1 Kings 9:20; 1 Chronicles 11:4.
The development of Zechariah 9:1-8 is complicated. The original version of it may predate the Babylonian Exile. The reference to the rampart of the fortress (9:3) may allude to a military campaign of Alexander the Great in 333 B.C.E. Zechariah 9:1-8 seems to have passed through various editorial hands before settling down into its current state.
Regardless of the number of editorial stages of development of all the segments of Zechariah 9:1-11:17, the final version is about an ideal future when the full-realized Kingdom of God is evident on the earth and when the Messiah, a descendant of King David, is triumphant and victorious. The arrangement of material is odd. YHWH is triumphant in chapter 9. The promise of restoration fills chapter 10. Chapter 11 concludes with the desperate situation extant in First Zechariah (chapters 1-8). The editing seems backward, from a certain point of view. Anyway, the present day of Second Zechariah, obviously far from ideal, has much in common with 2021.
Time passes. Technology changes. Social mores and norms change, also. Locations vary. Yet much remains the same. False prophets abound (10:2). [Note: The reference to teraphim in 10:2 is to household cultic objects, as in Genesis 31:19, 30-35; Judges 17:5. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 condemns divination. Also, Deuteronomy 13:6 and Jeremiah 23:25-32 are suspicious of dreams.] Many leaders–shepherds, metaphorically–are oppressors and predators (10:3; 11:4-17). In this case, prophets and leaders are the same. This makes sense; one is a leader if one has followers. The text is sufficiently ambiguous to apply to those who are false prophets or predatory political leaders without being both, though.
Zechariah 11 concludes on a hopeful note: Those leaders responsible for social ills will fall from power. This is good news the metaphorical sheep.
I, as a Christian, pay especially close attention to Zechariah 9:9-10. This is a vision of the Messiah, sometime in the distant future, approaching the glorious, restored Jerusalem after God’s victory. The image of the Messiah–“your king”–triumphant, victorious, and humble, riding on a donkey, occupies the background in accounts of Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-15). Understanding Zechariah 9:9-10 helps one grasp the imagery of Christ’s self-presentation in the Gospels’ accounts of that event.
The placement of the oracles in Zechariah 9-11 in the future, without claiming,
Do x, and God will will do y,
in such a way as to date the prophecies, works. One may recall that Haggai made the mistake of being too specific (and objectively wrong) in Haggai 1 and 2. The prediction of the restoration of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel of Israel (9:17-10:12), therefore of the restoration of the unity of Israel and Judah, remains unfulfilled. One may doubt that it will ever come to pass, but one cannot legitimately criticize the text for establishing a temporal marker already past (from the perspective of 2021) and being objectively wrong, by that standard.
Reality falls short of God’s ideal future. Yet we may legitimately hope and trust in God. Details of prophecies, bound by times and settings of their origin, may not always prove accurate. So be it. We moderns ought to read these types of texts poetically, not as what they are not–technical manuals for the future in front of us. We should focus on major themes, not become lost in the details. We ought not to try to match current events and the recent past to details of ancient prophecy. The list of books whose authors did that and whom the passage of time has proven inaccurate is long. One can easily miss the forest by focusing on the trees.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 17, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF THE CARMELITE MARTYRS OF COMPIEGNE, 1794
THE FEAST OF BENNETT J. SIMS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ATLANTA
THE FEAST OF SAINT NERSES LAMPRONATS, ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF TARSUS
THE FEAST OF R. B. Y. SCOTT, CANADIAN BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, HYMN WRITER, AND MINISTER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Ahriman (from Zoroastrianism)
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING THIRD ISAIAH, PART II
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 24:1-27:13
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Babylon is not mentioned even once. Rather, the eschatological focus of these chapters has raised their sights to the ultimate purpose of God in portraying the cosmological judgment of the world and its final glorious restoration. Moreover, the redemption of Israel is depicted as emerging from the ashes of the polluted and decaying world. Not just a remnant is redeemed , but the chapter recounts the salvation of all peoples who share in the celebration of God’s new order when death is banished forever (25:8).
–Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah (2001), 173
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INTRODUCTION
Isaiah 24-27 constitutes the Isaiah Apocalypse. They also constitute an early and not full-blown example of Biblical apocalyptic literature. Some books I read inform me that the Jewish apocalyptic form emerged in the wake of the fall of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire–in the late sixth century (early 500s) B.C.E., to be precise. These books also teach that full-blown Jewish apocalypses emerged only in the second century (100s) B.C.E., as in the case of Daniel 7-12.
Isaiah 24, in vivid language, depicts the divine destruction of the natural order and the social order. I recommend the translation by Robert Alter, in particular. Regardless of the translation, we read that people have violated the moral mandates embedded in the Law of Moses:
And the earth is tainted beneath its dwellers,
for they transgressed teachings, flouted law, broke the eternal covenant.
Therefore has a curse consumed the earth,
and all its dwellers are mired in guilt.
Therefore earth’s dwellers turn pale,
and all but a few humans remain.
–Isaiah 24:5-6, in Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Volume 2, Prophets (2019)
The timeframe is sometime in the future, relative to both Third Isaiah and 2021. in this vision, high socio-economic status provides no protection against God’s creative destruction.
Within the Book of Isaiah, in its final form, chapters 24-27 follow oracles against the nations (chapters 13-23) and precede more oracles against nations (chapters 28-33). This relative placement is purposeful.
SWALLOWING UP DEATH FOREVER
Returning to the Isaiah Apocalypse, the establishment of the fully-realized Kingdom of God entails the defeat of the enemies of God’s people, the celebration of an eschatological banquet, and the swallowing up of death forever (See 1 Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 7:7-17). The divine swallowing up of death echoes the swallowing up of Mot (the Canaanite god of death) in mythology.
Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19 refer to divine victory over death. Given the temporal origin of the Isaiah Apocalypse, is this a metaphor for the divine vindication of the downtrodden, likened to the dead? Such language, in Book of Daniel (100s B.C.E.) and the Revelation of John (late 100s C.E.), refers to the afterlife. The operative question regarding Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19, however, is if the author knew about and affirmed the resurrection of the dead. We know that Ezekiel 37 (the vision of the dry bones) is a metaphor for the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian Exile. But what about Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19? Even the Jewish commentaries I consult do not arrive at a conclusion.
I understand why. The Isaiah Apocalypses comes from a time when Jewish theology was changing, under the influence of Zoroastrianism. Satan was moving away from being God’s employee–loyalty tester (Job 1-2) and otherwise faithful angel (Numbers 22:22-40)–and becoming a free agent and the chief rebel. The theology of Ahriman, the main figure of evil in Zoroastrianism, was influencing this change in Jewish theology. Jewish ideas of the afterlife were also changing under Zoroastrian influence. Sheol was passing away. Reward and punishment in the afterlife were becoming part of Jewish theology. By the second century (100s) B.C.E., belief in individual resurrection of the dead was unambiguous (Daniel 12:2-3, 12).
I do not know what Third Isaiah believed regarding the resurrection of the dead. I suppose that he could have affirmed that doctrine. The historical context and the symbolic language of the apocalypse combine to confuse the matter. So be it; I, as an Episcopalian, am comfortable with a degree of ambiguity.
DIVINE JUDGMENT ON ENEMIES OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE
Isaiah 25:9-12 singles out Moab, in contrast to the usual practice of not naming enemies in chapters 24-27. One may recall material condemning Moab in Amos 2:1-3; Isaiah 15:1-16:13; Jeremiah 48:1-47; Ezekiel 25:8-11.
In the divine order, the formerly oppressed rejoice in their victory over those who had oppressed them. Oppression has no place in the divine order.
Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance in Isaiah 24-27. Divine deliverance of the oppressors is frequently catastrophic for the oppressors. And the contrast between the fates of the enemies of God (27:11) and the Jews worshiping in Jerusalem (27:13) is stark. As Brevard S. Childs offers:
In sum, the modern theology of religious universalism, characterized by unlimited inclusivity, is far removed from the biblical proclamation of God’s salvation (cf. Seitz, 192),
—Isaiah (2001), 186
GOD’S VINEYARD
Neither do apostasy and idolatry have any place in the divine order. And all the Jewish exiles will return to their ancestral homeland. Also, the message of God will fill the earth:
In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall bud and flower,
and the face of the world shall fill with bounty.
–Isaiah 27:6, Robert Alter (2019)
The face of the world will be God’s productive vineyard, figuratively. The people and kingdom of God, figuratively, are a vineyard in the Old and New Testament. (See Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 20:1-16; Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19).
CONCLUSION
Despite ambiguities in the texts, I am unambiguous on two germane points:
- Apocalyptic literature offers good news: God will win in the end. Therefore, faithful people should remain faithful.
- Apocalyptic literature calls the powers and leaders to account. It tells them that they fall short of divine standards when they oppress populations and maintain social injustice. It damns structures and institutions of social inequality. It condemns societies that accept the unjust status quo.
Regardless of–or because of–certain ambiguities in the Isaiah Apocalypse, chapters 24-27 speak to the world in 2021. Some vagueness in prophecy prevents it from becoming dated and disproven, after all. And structural inequality remains rife and politically defended, unfortunately.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES
THE FEAST OF CATHERINE LOUISA MARTHENS, FIRST LUTHERAN DEACONESS CONSECRATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1850
THE FEAST OF GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR RYGH, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY IN NEW ZEALAND; HIS WIFE, MARIANNE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JANE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; AND HER HUSBAND AND HENRY’S BROTHER, WILLIAM WILLAMS, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WAIAPU
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN POSTEL, FOUNDER OF THE POOR DAUGHTERS OF MERCY
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Statue of Jeremiah, Salisbury Cathedral
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART V
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
Jeremiah 26:1-24
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 7:1-20:18 consists of oracles primarily from the reign (608-598 B.C.E.) of Jehoiakim (born Eliakim) of Judah. For more about Jehoiakim, read 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42.
The Assyrian Empire had consumed the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E. then the Kingdom of Aram in 720 B.C.E. In 612 B.C.E., the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered the Assyrian Empire. In 608 B.C.E., Judah was struck between two powerful neighbors–Egypt and Babylonia, themselves enemies. After the death of King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.) in combat against Pharaoh Neco II of Egypt (r. 610-595 B.C.E.), Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Neco II had appointed the next King of Judah, Jehoahaz, also known as Jeconiah and Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38). Jehoahaz had reigned for about three months in 609 B.C.E. before Neco II had replaced him with another son of Josiah and taken him into captivity in Egypt. Neco II had also appointed Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoiakim in 608 B.C.E. He served as an Egyptian vassal until 605 B.C.E., when he became a Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian vassal.
Jeremiah spent most of his prophetic career speaking difficult truths to a nation under foreign domination. This context was extremely politically dangerous.
This sermon is thematically consistent with Hosea 6:4-6; Micah 3:9-12; and Amos 2:4-6. It is also thematically consistent with many other passages of Hebrew scripture. The link between idolatry and social injustice (especially economic injustice) is clear. Sacred rituals, even those the Law of Moses mandates, are not talismans. The joining of lived collective piety and justice on one hand and sacred ritual on the other hand is imperative. The combination of social injustice and sacred ritual makes a mockery of sacred ritual.
Mend your ways and your actions,
Jeremiah preached at the Temple. Then he unpacked that statement:
…if you execute justice between one man and another; if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place; if you do not follow other gods, to your own hurt–then only will I [YHWH] let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for all time. See, you are relying on illusions that are of no avail….
–Jeremiah 7:5-8, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Pay attention to 7:11, O reader:
Do you consider this House, which bears My name, to be a den of thieves? As for Me, I have been watching–declares the LORD.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
This is an allusion in Jesus’s mouth during the Temple Incident/the Cleansing of the Temple in Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; and Luke 19:46. Notice that Jeremiah predicted the destruction of the First Temple.
Chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book of Jeremiah. The Temple Sermon of Jeremiah is a case in point. We return to it and read of its aftermath in Jeremiah 26:1-24.
Idols abound. They may be tangible or intangible. If an activity, idea, or object functions as an idol for someone, it is an idol for that person. Money is one of the more common idols. Greed contributes greatly to economic injustice, and corruption is one of the major causes of institutionalized poverty. Obliviousness to participation in the violation of God’s moral commandments, including mutuality, will not shield us from the consequences of those sins any more than keeping sacred rituals will do so.
Circa 608 B.C.E. God was still holding out the possibility of repentance, prompting the cancellation of divine punishment, according to Jeremiah 26:3. This contradicts other passages from the Book of Jeremiah and other Hebrew prophetic books composed or begun prior to the Book of Jeremiah. Perhaps one reason for the contradiction is the addition of later material to the early Hebrew prophetic books, as late as the Babylonian Exile. I suppose that maintaining the hard line of the time for repentance having passed was difficult to maintain after the Fall of Babylon (539 B.C.E.).
The priests and prophets said to all the people, “This man deserves the death penalty, for he has prophesied against this city, as you yourselves have heard.
–Jeremiah 26:11, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Jeremiah prophesied against a government and a population under foreign domination. There was no separation of religion and state either. The prophet worked in a dangerous milieu.
Jeremiah had allies, though. Some cited the example of Micah, who had issued a dire prophesy (Micah 3:12) and had not received a death sentence. Fortunately for Jeremiah, the court’s sentence remained unfulfilled. Ahikam, a high-ranking royal official (2 Kings 22:12), saved him. Ahikam was also the father of Gedaliah, the assassinated governor of Judah after the Fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:1-41:18).
Uriah ben Shemiah, from Kiriath-jearim, was not as fortunate as Jeremiah was. Uriah, also prophesying in the name of YHWH, said what Jeremiah proclaimed. Uriah fled to Egypt for safety because King Jehoiakim wanted him dead. Royal agents found Uriah in Egypt and returned him to Judah, to die.
One may legitimately wonder why God protected Jeremiah from threats to his life yet did not spare faithful Uriah ben Shemaiah.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 7, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHEW TALBOT, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC IN DUBLIN, IRELAND
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF SAINT ALPHONSUS
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK LUCIAN HOSMER, U.S. UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HUBERT LAFAYETTE SONE AND HIS WIFE, KATIE HELEN JACKSON SONE, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARIES AND HUMANITARIANS IN CHNA, SINGAPORE, AND MALAYSIA
THE FEAST OF SEATTLE, FIRST NATIONS CHIEF, WAR LEADER, AND DIPLOMAT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, Year 2
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
and serve thee with a quiet mind. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 221
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Kings 21:17-25
Psalm 92
Acts 26:1-32
Matthew 21:28-44
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your enemies, LORD, your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
–Psalm 92:9, The Revised English Bible (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That was cold comfort for Naboth and his family.
We have evildoers in the readings this week. Those of us who know the stories realize that justice eventually came for King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, that St. Paul the Apostle died as a martyr in Rome, and that the targets of Christ’s justifiably harsh words did not take those words well.
I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.
–Matthew 21:31b, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
Those are harsh words to direct at conventionally pious religious leaders. After reading the four canonical Gospels many times, I conclude that our Lord and Savior, although capable of being very forgiving, had a low tolerance for malarkey. Good for him!
Anyhow, punishment and reward in the afterlife are emotionally satisfying. Given the injustice rife in this world, reversal of fortune in the hereafter (perhaps not the sweet hereafter) makes good the divine promise to punish the evil and to reward the righteous.
Evildoers come in three varieties:
- Those who know what they are doing is wrong,
- Those who think what they are doing is right, and
- Those who cannot tell the difference between right and wrong.
Circumstances are not always black-and-white. Frequently, circumstances are gray. Sometimes the choices are bad and worse. In such cases, people need to do the best they can in a fallen world.
Yet evil remains evil, objectively.
May you, O reader, and I, by grace, pursue just and righteous courses in life. May we do so regardless of the costs to us. And, when we must choose between bad and worse, may we opt for God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 26, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TIMOTHY, TITUS, AND SILAS, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple, by Theodor Rombouts
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For Monday in Holy Week, Year 1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who amid so many adversities do fail through our own infirmities,
may be restored through the passion and intercession of thine only begotten Son,
who liveth and reigneth, with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 159
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lamentations 1:1-14
Psalm 6
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Matthew 21:12-17
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lamentations is a good choice to read during Holy Week. The immediate, historical context in Lamentations 1 is the aftermath of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian conquest of Judah in 586 B.C.E. Nevertheless, according to the theme of the story of Israel being the story of Jesus–a prominent theme in the Gospel of Matthew–Lamentations 1 reads well in the context of Holy Week.
Interpretation of the “Temple Incident,” as many Biblical scholars call the Cleansing of the Temple, vary. Douglas R. A. Hare, writing for the Interpretation series of commentaries in 1993, argued against
the ever-popular interpretation that Jesus, as a champion of the poor, was protesting against dishonesty and price-gouging on the part of the vendors and the money changers.
No, according to Hare, Jesus objected to the secularization of the Temple, for in Jeremiah 7:9-11 (cited in the account in Matthew 21:12-17), the Temple had become a
den of thieves
where the thieves hid their booty and felt safe. Hare argued that, in Matthew 21:12-17, Jesus, by ejecting buyers and sellers alike, objected to those whose lives, although outwardly religious, contradicted their pious claims.
In other words, outward piety is not a talisman against consequences of hypocrisy and sin.
Furthermore, the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as a faithful Jew and the Torah as of God. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the Torah much better than conventionally orthodox religious authorities. If one, therefore, interprets the Temple Incident as an attack on the system of sacrifices, one misunderstands the story. No, one should interpret the Temple Incident as foreshadowing of the the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., according to Hare.
After all, the writing of the Gospel of Matthew postdated the destruction of the Temple. Certainly, that event influenced the telling of stories, including this one.
1 Corinthians 1:18 uses the divine passive voice.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
—Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
God is saving many of of us. Notice the present tense, O reader. Salvation is a process, not an event. This makes sense to me, for I have no great epiphany I can date. I can, however, recall a series of moments since childhood. I cannot even recall when I lacked God in my life. I am also sufficiently Catholic to affirm that salvation is a process the Church mediates via sacraments.
Each of us is a hypocrite. Each of us, to one degree or another, lives one way and puts on a a face to mask the reality or some portion thereof. If anyone thinks otherwise about self, that person is wrong.
There is hope, however. Yet is the cross a stumbling block or folly, functionally, or is it the wisdom of God, in one’s estimation?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 29, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD, COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND CONDUCTOR
THE FEAST OF DORA GREENWELL, POET AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN KEBLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JONAS AND BARACHISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 327
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Wicked Husbandmen, by Jan Luyken
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the Sixth Sunday of the Season of God the Father, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace:
give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 128
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 17:1-8
2 Corinthians 3:4-11
Matthew 21:33-43
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In parts of the Hebrew Bible, as in Jeremiah 23, that the people of Israel are, metaphorically, sheep, and their rulers are, metaphorically, shepherds. Unfortunately, the shepherds, we read, are usually bad at their jobs.
Shepherds tended the sheep, property of others. Shepherds were employees. Likewise, the leaders of Jesus in Matthew 21:33-43 were, metaphorically, tenants, not owners.
God is the owner of the sheep and the land in both metaphors. God has sufficient power in self; we do not. We are dependents. If we imagine otherwise, we deceive ourselves. May we be grateful and faithful dependents, behaving differently than the wicked tenants in Matthew 21.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTIUS FORTUNATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS
THE FEAST OF DOROTHY ANN THRUPP, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC
THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the First Sunday of Advent, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, whose throne is set eternal in the heavens:
make ready for thy gracious rule the kingdoms of this world, and come with haste, and save us;
that violence and crying may be no more, and righteousness and peace may less thy children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 117
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 10:6-12
Romans 13:8-10
Matthew 21:1-13
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reading of our Lord and Savior’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Advent may seem odd to some, but not to many members of the Moravian Church. That denomination has a tradition of using the same liturgy for Palm Sunday and the First Sunday of Advent. The theme of the arrival of the Messiah unites the two occasions.
The theme of being in exile at home unites Zechariah 10:6-12 and Matthew 21:1-13. In this matter I acknowledge the influence of N. T. Wright, author of Jesus and the Victory of God (1996) on my thinking.
Zechariah is a book in two separate sections: First Zechariah (Chapters 1-8) and Second Zechariah (Chapters 9-14). First Zechariah is historically related to and concurrent with Haggai (both chapters of it), and dates, in its current state, from no later than 515 B.C.E. Second Zechariah, from the late Persian period, dates, in its current state, from the middle 400s B.C.E.
The Persian Empire of that period was hardly an onerous taskmaster of Jews living within its borders. There were ups and downs, of course, but Persians were, overall, much better to live under than the Assyrians and the Chaldeans/Neo-Babylonians. Nevertheless, in the context of the militarization of the western satrapies during the Greco-Persian wars and the slow economic recovery in the Jewish homeland, many Jews dwelling in their homeland must have felt as if they were in a sort of exile. Where was the promised Davidic monarch prophets had predicted?
And where was the promised Davidic monarch in the first century C.E., when the Roman Empire ruled the Jewish homeland and a Roman fortress was next door to the Second Temple? Roman occupation must have felt like a sort of exile to many Jews living in their homeland.
And where was the promised Kingdom of God/Heaven in 85 C.E. and later, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire in 70 C.E.? The Kingdom of God was simultaneously of the present and the future–a partially realized reign and realm of God on Earth, but the Kingdom of Heaven was the promised fully realized reign and realm of God on Earth. (I refer you, O reader, to Jonathan Pennington‘s dismantling of the Dalman consensus, or the ubiquitous argument that, in the Gospel of Matthew, “Kingdom of Heaven” is a reverential circumlocution.)
For that matter, where is the promised Kingdom of Heaven today? We of 2018 live in exile while at home. Only God can usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.
We can, however, live ethically, both collectively and individually. Love, after all, is the fulfillment of the Law. May we, therefore, strive to live (both collectively and individually) according to the Golden Rule, and not make a mockery of that commandment by citing doctrine and dogma to excuse violations of it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 22, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK PRATT GREEN, BRITISH METHODIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMEW ZOUBERBUHLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST
THE FEAST OF EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER, U.S. METHODIST AUTHOR AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF KATHARINA VON SCHLEGAL, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.