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.
11:1 Why was the spring the
time when kings went out to battle? I
thought spring was the time for romance. David had been a great military
leader, so why does he now stay behind?
11:2 Was David a voyeur? Was
he looking for a beautiful woman? Did this beautiful woman know that the ing
could see her from the roof?
11:3 Does it make any
difference that this was the daughter of Eliam, or that her husband was a
Hittite?
11:4 One has to love
biblical euphemisms! What was the sin
here—David and Bathsheba committing adultery, or the two of them having sex
when she was possibly not yet fully ritually pure?
11:5 And this was before home
pregnancy tests!
11:6 Why did David send for
Uriah?
11:7 Did David send for
Uriah so he could ask these questions?
11:8 Once again, another
biblical euphemism! I wonder about the
nature of the present?
11:9 Why did Uriah not go
sleep with his wife in his home?
11:10 Was this a rhetorical
question or was it asked for the reader’s benefit?
11:11 There is your answer
to the question I asked related to verse 9, but would David not have known this
without asking?
11:12 Why would David want
Uriah to remain in Jerusalem another day?
11:13 Why did David get
Uriah drunk?
11:14 How ironic is this?
11:15 Why does David want
Uriah to die?
11:6-15 David stands out on
the royal balcony and proclaims to the crowd “I am not a crook!” Can you spell “c-o-v-e-r-u-p”? What was
worse, David’s sin of adultery, David arranging for the death of Uriah, or the
terrible web of cover up and deceit?
14:1 Apparently atheists
but not agnostics are, according to the psalmist, fools? I can agree with the first line, but not the
second and third.
14:2 OK, I know, it is
trite, but I am reminded of the Advent/Christmas saying “The Wise (Magi) sill
seek him.”
14:3 Who have all gone
astray?
14:4 How does one eat
people like bread. Who is “they”?
14:5 Where is “there”?
14:6 This sounds like
another Scripture passage for the 99%.
14:7 And when will that
deliverance and restoration come?
3:14 For what reason?
3:15 What does this mean?
3:16 What is the inner
being?
3:17 What does the heart
represent?
3:18 Four dimensions! I regularly pray that those who worship where
I preach and lead worship will have the power to comprehend. Is lack of comprehension the only problem
preachers and teachers face?
3:19 What does it mean for
something to surpass knowledge? What is beyond knowing?
3:20 What power is at work
in us?
3:21 How long would all
generations be?
6:1 After what? Why did
this sea have at least two names?
6:2 What is a “large”
crowd? In the context of this gospel, what are “signs”?
6:3 What mountain?
6:4 How near? So what?
6:5 If Jesus was on a
mountain, why did he look up to see people coming toward him? It seems like he should look down. Why ask Philip and not another one of the
disciples?
6:6 What was Jesus going to
do? How does Jesus test us?
6:7 By today’s standards,
six month’s wages at minimum wage would be over $7,500. How much bread could you buy with that and
how many people could you feed?
6:8 Why Andrew? I wonder if Andrew ever grew tired of being
identified as Simon Peter’s brother? I wonder if Simon Peter was ever
identified as Andrew’s bother.
6:9 Jesus asked about
bread, not fish and bread. Is there anything significant about five loaves and
two fish? Is there any significance to
the bread being barely loaves? What do
you know about Tabgha?
6:10 Why the comment about there being a lot of
grass? $7,500/5000 = $ 1.50 / person.\
6:11 What about people who
might be still be standing even though they were told to sit? Is this why we generally sit in the pews (not
grass) to receive the Eucharist? Does this sound like Eucharistic language to
you?
6:12 Why should no bread or
fish be lost?
6:13 Is there any
significance to there being twelve baskets?
6:14 Do all “signs” lead to
this public pronouncement of faith?
6:15 When did Jesus
withdraw from the mountain? The people
wanted to make Jesus King and he had not yet even given them a circus.
6:16 Why?
6:17 Is there a subtext to
the phrase “It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them”?
6:18 Is the “strong wind” a
metaphor for the Holy Spirit or might it symbolize something else?
6:19 Why were they
terrified?
6:2o What might “It is I” allude
to?
6:21 Did they take Jesus
into the boat or not?
ADDENDUM
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