Lectionary
Ruminations 2.0 is a revised continuation of Lectionary Ruminations. Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised
Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary
Ruminations 2.0 draws on nearly thirty years of pastoral experience. Believing that the questions we ask are often
more important than any answers we find, without overreliance on commentaries I
intend with comments and questions to encourage reflection and rumination for
readers preparing to teach, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are
invited and encouraged. All lectionary
links are to the via the PC(USA)
Devotions and Readings website.
FOR A REVISED AND UPDATED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK.
FOR A REVISED AND UPDATED VERSION, GO TO THIS LINK.
PREFACE: Christ is risen! He is rise, indeed! There are several possible
combinations of readings for this Sunday. If one uses the Isaiah passage for
the First Reading then either the Acts passage or the First Corinthians passage
is used for the Second Reading. If the First Reading is from Acts then the
First Corinthians passage is the default Second Reading. There are also two
possible Gospel Readings, one from John and one from Mark.
10:34 To whom was Peter
speaking? Would anyone expect God to show partiality?
10:35 What does Peter mean
by “nation”? What does it mean to fear God (See my comments on Mark 16:8)?
10:36 What does Peter mean
by “the people of Israel”? Is this the Gospel?
10:37 What is the
geographic relation of Judea to Galilee?
10:38 Peter now seems to
expand on 10:36. What is the difference between being anointed with the Holy
Spirit and being anointed with power? What does it mean to be oppressed by the
devil? How shall we handle possession and devil language and image in a
post-Christian and post-modern world?
10:39 What does it mean to
be a witness? In 10:37 it was Judea and Galilee. Now it is Judea and Jerusalem.
Who are “they”? Why does Peter say Jesus was hung on a tree (rather than a
cross)?
10:40 Note the passive: God
raised Jesus. Jesus did not raise himself. What if God had not allowed him to
appear?
10:41 Is this a proof text
for the doctrine of predestination? What is the significance of eating and
drinking? Is “rose” a passive or active verb?
10:42 Jesus was ordained? What
does it mean to judge the living and the dead?
10:43 All the prophets?
Really? Might Peter sometimes be prone to exaggeration?
25:6 What mountain? Watch for the
restatement of poetic parallelism. Does “all people” open up an argument for
universalism?
25:7 Why has a shroud been cast over all
peoples?
25:8 Note that 25:6 talks about food and
drink and 25:7 talks about death, and now we have death being swallowed up
(like food?)! How will God wipe away tears?
25:9 What day? The Lectionary apparently
views this as a passage that prefigures resurrection or in some way
theologically informs our understanding of resurrection. How would this passage
have functioned in the Hebrew Scriptures before Jesus?
118:1 By definition, does
not “steadfast love” endure “forever”?
118:2 This reads like
common liturgy, that is liturgy for use in common, or public, worship.
118:14 What is the
difference between strength and might? Does “salvation” mean something
different in the Psalms than it does in the New Testament?
vs. 15b-16 Do you think that
the Psalmist might actually be quoting a Psalm that never made it into the
Psalter? What is so special about the “right hand” of the LORD? Is this an example of a bias toward
right-handedness?
118:17 What are the “deeds”
of the LORD?
118:18 Are any punishments
worse than death?
118:19 What, and where, are
the gates of righteousness?
118:20 What is “this”? Is
the Psalmist referring to a metaphorical gate or one of the gates leading in
and out of Jerusalem?
118:21 What was the answer?
118:22 What stone might the
Psalmist had in mind? How does this fit in with the rest of the Psalm?
118:23 What the Psalmist
seeing something?
118:24 What day has the
LORD made?
15:1 Is this anamnesis? When
and where did Paul proclaim this?
15:2 How does one hold
firmly to a message?
15:3 How did Paul receive
what he is now handing on, and when did he receive it? Where does Paul begin the narrative? Did he
leave anything out?
15:4 Note the passive “he
was raised”.
15:5 Why are the
appearances to women not mentioned?
15:6 Is there are problem
caused by the fact that some have died?
15:7 Who is James? Is there
a difference between “the twelve” of 15:5 and the apostles?
15:8 Why does Pail consider
himself untimely born?
15:9 While Paul considers
himself the least of the apostles, he still considers himself an apostle.
15:10 Is “I am what I am”
an allusion to the tetragrammaton? Has this phrase made it into popular
English?
15:11 Who are they?
I covered this reading at the beginning
of this week’s ruminations.
20:1 Who removed the stone?
How and when was it removed?
20:2 Which disciple is “the
one whom Jesus loved”? Why did Mary say
“we”? Why the shift from the singular to the plural? Who were the “they” who
had taken the Lord?
20:3 Why is the other
disciple not bnamed?
20:4 Was the other disciple
faster, younger, or was Peter simply a slow poke?
20:5 Why might the disciple
not have gone in right away?
20:6-8 What do you make of Peter seeing, but the
other disciple seeing and believing? What did he believe?
20:9 How do you reconcile
this verse with the preceding one? How could they not have understood?
20:10 This reads like a
rather anticlimactic verse.
20:11 It seems the Mary is
alone, so why the “we” back in verse 20:2?
20:12 Would you recognize
an angel if you saw one? Why had the angels not appeared to Peter and the other
disciple, or where they there all along but Peter and the other disciple did
not or could not see them?
20:13 Do you hear an echo? Now it is “I”, not “we”.
20:14 If you saw Jesus,
would you recognize him?
20:15 I definitely hear an
echo. Where would Mary have taken the body of Jesus?
20:16 Does it make any
difference that at first Jesus addresses Mary as “Woman” but later addresses
her by her name? Why does John translate “Rabbouni”?
20:17 Was Mary attempting
to hold on, or already holding on to Jesus? As if Mary could hold on to Jesus
after the ascension? How do we try to hold on to Jesus when perhaps we
shouldn’t?
20:18 I think this makes
Mary the first “witness” of the resurrection.
16:1 Who was
James? How does one anoint with spices?
16:2 I wonder what
the women would have experienced if the women had gone to the tomb before
sunrise.
16:3 Why were they
wondering who would roll away the stone. This stone was most likely not a
spherical stone but a round stone much like a stone grinding wheel.
16:4 What does this
suggest?
16:5 Who was this
young man? What does the white robe symbolize or suggest? Why was he sitting on
the right side rather than the left or does it not matter? If it does not
matter, why is the detail included?
16:6 Why did the
young man think the women were alarmed? Note the passive voice. Jesus did not
rise. Jesus was raised.
16:7 Why is Peter
singled out? Why would the resurrected Jesus go to Galilee? Had Jesus told the
disciples that they would see him, resurrected, in Galilee? Is this anything
like a return to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry?
16:8 What does the
verb “fled” suggest? Are terror and amazement the same thing? Are you familiar
with Rudolf Otto’s concept of the Mysterium Tremendum (or Mickey Hart’s
recording by the same name)? If they said nothing to anyone, then how did the
details of their experience become known?
ADDENDUM
I am currently serving at the Interim Pastor of The Presbyterian Churchof Cadiz, worshiping at 154 West Market Street, Cadiz, Ohio, every Sunday at
11:00 AM. Please
like The Presbyterian Church of Cadiz on facebook.
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