Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 is a further revision and refinement of my Lectionary Ruminations and Lectionary Ruminations 2.0.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 draws on over thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without over reliance on commentaries, I intend with sometimes pointed and sometimes snarky comments and Socratic like questions, to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to lead a Bible study, draft liturgy, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.

ACTS 2:42-47

2:42 Who are “they” What does it mean to be devoted? What are you devoted to? Is it the apostles’ teaching and the apostles’ fellowship, or the apostles’ teaching and fellowship? In other words, does Apostles’ modify both teaching and fellowship or just teaching?  Regardless, I consider these the four marks of the church.  Against them, how do we measure up? What is meant by “the prayers?”

2:43 What is awe? When was the last time awe came upon you or your congregation? Are the wonders and signs the same thing as miracles or are they something different? How are these signs related to the signs Jesus performed in the Gospel According to John?

2:44 Is this pure communism?

2:45 “All” means whom?  If they distributed the proceeds to all, how did they have anything in common?

2:46 This seems to suggest that followers of Jesus were daily gathering together in the temple.

Note the distinction between what was happening in the temple and what was happening in homes.   Is “broke bread” a reference to a Eucharistic sort of meal or simply eating together? Do church covered dish and pot-luck dinners ever become sacramental?

2:47 How do you understand “day by day”?

PSALM 23

What can one say about the most popular passage in the Bible that has not already been said (like just six weeks ago on the Fourth Sunday in Lent)? Why does this Psalm appear twice in the lectionary in such a short span of time?

23:1 Does it serve any theological and homiletically purpose to point out that “The LORD” is not a reference to Jesus but to the LORD God?  How many Christians hear this Psalm as a Psalm about Jesus rather than a Psalm about God?

23:2-3 These verses speak to me from my experience and hope as a backpacker.  After a long, hot day on a trail there is no more comfort than to stop for the day in a soft, grassy clearing near a cool, mountain stream? What paths are right?

23:4 Do you prefer the “darkest valley” of the NRSV or the “valley of the shadow of death” of the KJV and RSV? What is the darkest valley, geographical, spiritual, or metaphorical, that you have ever experienced?  One afternoon when I was hiking out on the same snow covered trail that I had hiked in on in the morning, my hiking staff, with bear bell attached, was a great comfort as there were fresh bear tracks in the snow that had not been there earlier in the morning. What was the LORD’s rod and staff?

23:5 Who wants a table prepared for them in the presence of one’s enemies? What does it mean to have one’s head anointed with oil and one’s cup overflowing.  Can we really speak of overflowing cups when in the Eucharist we barely fill little plastic or glass  cups that hold less than a shot glass?  Can we speak of being anointed with oil when most congregations rarely, if ever, practice it?  I argue for anointing with oil at the time of Baptism as well as the laying on of hands associated with prayers for healing and wholeness.   If we practiced more anointing with oil, this popular Psalm might actually mean even more than it already does. Doe the “table” and “cup” inform our understanding of the Eucharist?

23:6 What is goodness and mercy? What does it mean to dwell in the house of the LORD all one’s life?  Is “house of the LORD” a reference and/or allusion to the Temple, or something else?

1 Peter 2:19-35

2:19 I would rather not receive this credit.  How about you?  What does it mean to be “aware’ of God?

2:20 I understand this within its context, but in our context, can this lead to and feed a martyr complex? Have you ever felt like no good deed ever goes unpunished?

2:21 I thought we were called to love one another, even to serve, but to suffer? How does this verse inform any theology of “call?”

2:22 Where is this quote from? Who was it originally about?

2:23 So much for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which is often wrongfully applied and interpreted. 

2:24 The first part of this verse often serves as a call to confession.  How is anyone healed by another’s wounds?

2:25 Is this the verse that motivated the creators of the lectionary to make Psalm 23 the Psalm for this day?  How and why do sheep stray? I like the “guardian of our souls” language.

JOHN 10:1-10

10:1 Here we have a formulaic Johannine opening introducing yet more sheep and shepherd imagery. Whom do you think Jesus/John had in mind when talking about anyone climbing in another way?

10:2 Whom do you think Jesus/John had in mind when talking about the shepherd of the sheep?

10:3 This verse seems to suggest that there are sheep of more than one shepherd in the sheepfold. Who is the gatekeeper?  Why are the sheep led out of the sheepfold?

10:4 What shall we make of the “voice”? What does the shepherd’s voice sound like?

10:5 Is there any correlation between the stranger of this verse and the thief and bandit of 10:1?

10:6 And want made John think that we would understand? Do we understand? What is a figure of speech?

10:7 Once again we have a formulaic Johannine phrase.  Why the change of metaphor from shepherd to gate? How can Jesus be both?

10:8 This verse seems to refer back to verse 1.  Whom is Jesus referring to? Who came before him?

10:9 I am fascinated by the “come in and go out” language, suggesting movement rather than stasis.  If I understand the imagery correctly, we come into the sheepfold at night to find protection, but during the day, we go out into pasture to find nourishment.  Is this what Jesus was talking about?

10:10 Who is the thief?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. Some of my other blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and The Trek.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the Third Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 is a further revision and refinement of my Lectionary Ruminations and Lectionary Ruminations 2.0.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 draws on over thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without over reliance on commentaries, I intend with sometimes pointed and sometimes snarky comments and Socratic like questions, to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to lead a Bible study, draft liturgy, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.

ACTS 2:14a, 36-41

2:14a You might recall that this verse was also part of last week’s Reading. Do you remember whom Peter is addressing? Last week’s First Reading gave us the first part of Peter’s Sermon. This week’s First Reading gives us the second part.

2:36 I hate it when a reading begin with a “therefore” because we do not hear the previous reasoning. Who is the entire house of Israel? Why does Peter refer to Jesus as “both” Lord and Messiah?  According to Peter, who crucified Jesus?

2:37 What does it mean and feel like to be “cut to the heart”?  When was the last time you were “cut to the heart” and what precipitated it?  Is there any significance to the fact that the crowd addresses Peter and the other apostles as “brothers”?

2:38 How do we reconcile the Trinitarian baptismal formula with Peter’s admonition to be “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”?  How does this verse address those who argue that one must receive the Holy Spirit before being baptized?

2:39 What is the “promise” Peter refers to? In this context, we might know who “you” and “your children” are, but who are those “who are far away”? Does this verse offer a justification for infant baptism?

2:40 I would love to hear all those “many other arguments.” How do you understand “argument”?

2:41 Is there any significance to the number three thousand?

PSALM 116:1-4, 12-19

116:1 Must one have a reason to love the LORD? What does the Psalmist mean by voice? What is a supplication?

116:2 Would the Psalmist still have prayed if the Lord had not inclined an ear?

116:3 What are pangs? What is Sheol?

116:4 This is perhaps the shortest prayer in Scripture, sort of a fox hole prayer. How does one call on the name of the LORD when the name of the LORD is not to be pronounced?

116:12 This is a good question to ask when talking and thinking about stewardship. Nothing truly belongs to us, yet we cannot realistically return it all.

116:13 What is the cup of salvation? How might this verse influence our understanding of the Eucharist and vice versa? Again, how does one call on the name of the LORD when the LORD’s name is never pronounced? Should Christians observe the Jewish admonition against pronouncing the LORD’s name?

116:14 What does it mean to pay vows? What is a vow? Why pay them in the presence of the Lord’s people rather than privately?

116:15 In what sense is death ever precious?  What about the death of those not faithful?

116:16 Note that the Psalm transitions from narration to direct address.  Who or what is a serving girl? What bonds have been loosed?

116:17 What is a thanksgiving sacrifice?

116:18 See verse 116:13.  Might this Psalm be a liturgical form?

116:19 What and where are the courts of the house of the LORD?

1 PETER 1:17-23

1:17 This sounds a lot more polished than what we heard from Peter in the First Reading.  Is this an argument for works righteousness?  What is reverent fear? What exile is Peter referring to?

1:18 Is there any other way to read this verse other than through the lenses of a ransom theory of the atonement? What ancestors is Peter referring to?

1:19 Is there any other way to read this verse other than through the lenses of a theory of blood atonement?  Must a ransom theory and blood theory of the atonement go hand in hand?

1:20 This sounds like Peter is talking about a preexistent Christ. Might Presbyterians identify this as a passage that argues for predestination? Why is “ages” plural?

1:21 Is this Theocentric rather than Christocentric? Note that God raised Christ from the dead. Christ did not raise himself.

1:22 How does obedience purify?  Does this suggest a works righteousness?

1:23 This being “born anew” sounds like John’s being “born from above,” but what is this “not of perishable but of imperishable seed?”

LUKE 24:13-35

24:13 What day is it? Is there any significance to the fact that Emmaus was seven miles from Jerusalem?  What do you know about Emmaus? Who are “them” and why are they not named?

24:14 What things had happened?

24:15 I wonder from what direction Jesus approached them.

24:16 How can one’s eyes be kept from recognizing Jesus? Have you ever not recognized someone you knew intimately?

24:17 Was this a rhetorical question?  Why did Jesus ask it? Why did the two look sad?

24:18 Do we know anything else about Cleopas?  Is this question the height of irony, or what?

24:19 Is this another rhetorical question?  To refer to Jesus as a “prophet” is pretty low Christology and not much of a statement of faith.

24:20 Who crucified Jesus?

24:21 Notice the past tense. Do they no longer hope this?  Has all hope been lost?

24:22 Why are these “Some Women” not named?  What does it mean to be astounded?  When was the last time you were astounded and what astounded you?

24:23 Is there a difference between “seeing angels” and “seeing a vision of angels”?

24:24 Who are “those who were with us”?  Who are “us”?

24:25 How often have you wanted to preach something similar? What does it mean to be slow of heart?

24:26 Is this yet another rhetorical question?

24:27 We have the law and the prophets but no writings. Why no writings?  I wonder how long this interpretation took. What “scriptures” are being referred to?

24:28 It sounds as though the two were either stopping or that Jesus started walking faster than they were walking.  Sometimes it seems like the church is still trying to catch up with the resurrected Christ; that Jesus is out in front of the church.

24:29 What does the time of day have to do with anything? This “stay with us” reminds me, in some sense, of the Transfiguration account. Where were they staying? What were they staying in?

24:30 Déjà vu: Where have we heard this before?

24:30-31 I think these verses offer one of the best arguments for frequent—even every Sunday—celebration of the Eucharist.  Why did Jesus vanish from their sight as soon as they recognized him?

24:31 Read this in light of verse 24:16.

24:32 Is there any relation between the opening of the scriptures and the opening of the eyes? What does a burning heart feel like?  Has your heart ever burned and why?

24:33 Is “hour” perhaps more than a simple reference to the chronological time of day?  These two are not numbered among the eleven. Who are their companions? Since it was almost evening and the day was almost over back in 24:29, did they have to travel to Jerusalem in the dark of night?

24:34 Who was saying this? Where and when did the Lord appear to Simon? Is Simon the only one that matters?  Did the Lord appear to no one else?
24:35 Does this offer new or additional meaning to Eucharistic remembering?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. Some of my other blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and The Trek.

My go to GORP Recipe

Most hikers and backpackers probably have their favorite trail mix which is some variety of GORP, or Good Old Raisins and Peanuts. While there are many commercial varieties available, I prefer to make my own. Here is my go to recipe. It is simple, easy to mix, easy to store, and does not melt in the heat.

Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl or plastic bag:

½ 16 oz jar of Planters Unsalted Peanuts
1 11.4 oz bag of milk chocolate M&M’s
2 5 oz bags of Ocean Spray Reduced Sugar Craisins

Yields about six cups

A zip lock bag of  2 cups of  my GORP

Mix all the ingredients so they are as equally distributed as possible. Each cup will contain about 600 calories. I measure out two cups each into three pint size Zip Lock Freezer Bags, each bag containing about 1,200 calories of good looking, great tasting, long lasting energy. I usually carry a bag with me whenever I am hiking, cycling or kayaking. One bag will last for several day trips. Once a bag is almost empty, I will place another bag in my pack. If I am planning an extended trip, I will pack enough to provide a cup of GORP for each full day on the trail.

I use unsalted peanuts because I think I already receive enough salt in my diet, and salt in my trail mix would only make me thirstier than I might already be. I currently use plain milk chocolate M&M’s, but in the future, I plan to experiment with dark chocolate M&M’s as soon as I can readily find them. M&M’s add a nice color mixture to the GORP and unlike chocolate chips won’t melt in the heat unless they get crushed. I am not of big fan of raisins; therefore I prefer Craisins. I opt for the reduced sugar variety because this GORP already provides enough calories for my needs and sweetness for my taste.

Be sure to follow this cautionary advice if you are going to be sharing your trail mix with others. DO NOT ALLOW anyone, even yourself, to stick a hand in the bag to grab a handful of GORP. Doing so will contaminate the contents for everyone. ALWAYS pour from the bag into the hand so that no one’s hands come into contact with the trail mix.

If you try my GORP recipe, please let me know what you think about it. I also encourage you to reply with your own favorite and original homemade recipe for trail mix.

This post originally appeared on The Trek.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the Second Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 is a further revision and refinement of my Lectionary Ruminations and Lectionary Ruminations 2.0.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 draws on over thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without over reliance on commentaries, I intend with sometimes pointed and sometimes snarky comments and Socratic like questions, to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to lead a Bible study, draft liturgy, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.

ACTS 2:14a, 22-32

2:14a Whom is Peter addressing?

2:22 Are “deeds of power”, “wonders” and “signs” synonyms?

2:23 This does not sound like the same Peter portrayed in the Gospels.  “Definite plan and foreknowledge” sounds a little like predestination.  Who were outside the law?

2:24 Death might not have been able to hold Jesus indefinitely but apparently it had him for a while, otherwise he could not have been freed. Note that according to Peter, God raised Jesus. Jesus did not raise himself.

2:25-28 Where does David say this?  Was David really talking about Jesus? How would you grade Peter’s interpretation of David’s words?

2:29 What argument is Peter making?

2:30 And God did this in the person of Solomon.

2:31 see my comments for 2:25-28.

2:32 Is Peter trying to show that the resurrection of Jesus fulfills prophecy or that the Scriptures foretold his resurrection?  What is the difference and does it matter?

PSALM 16

16:1 How might the contemporary United States National Wildlife Refuge system help us understand this passage?

16:2 As you read this passage, watch for the transitions between direct address and narrative. Why does the Psalmist seem to alternate between direct address to God and speaking of God in the third person?

16:3 Who are “the holy ones in the land?”

16:4 Whom is being referred to?

16:5 What is a chosen portion?

16:6 What boundary lines is the psalmist referring to? I find this an interesting verse in light of the recent political history of the Middle East, especially regarding borders.

16:7 How does the heart instruct during the night?  Might this be a reference to dreams?

16:8 Reference is usually made to the LORD’s right hand, not a human’s. This verse almost make the LORD sound like an talisman. How do, or can we, keep the LORD always before us?

16:9 With heart, soul, and body, is there more going on here than typical Hebrew poetry?

16:10 What is the “Pit” being referred to and why is it capitalized in the NRSV? Are Sheol and the Pit the same thing/place?

16:11 What is the path of life?  What pleasures might the psalmist have in mind?

1 PETER 1:3-9

1:3 New birth through resurrection from the dead!

1:4 Is this “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” inheritance being implicitly compared to any other inheritance?

1:5 What does this verse say about Peter’s eschatology?

1:6 What trials might Peter be referring to?

1:7 Is Peter suggesting that faith, like Gold, needs to be purified by fire?

1:8 Is this verse evidence that Peter is writing to perhaps second generation or even later Christians, or at least Christians who did not know Jesus before his ascension?

1:9 Should we make anything of the tense of “are receiving”?

JOHN 20:19-31

20:19 This reading might be for the First Sunday After Easter, but the narrative is from the events of Easter day. Why were the disciples afraid of the Jews? What is the significance of Jesus’ words “Peace be with you.”?

20:20 Did the disciples not recognize Jesus until after he showed them his wounds?

20:21 Why might Jesus have repeated what he said? Where was Jesus sending the disciples?

20:22 Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit?  If so, was it Jesus words or his breathing on them, or both, that allowed them to receive it?

20:23 To whom was Jesus speaking? How shall we Protestants deal with this verse?

20:24 Why was Thomas called the Twin? Why might Thomas have not been there?  Where might he have been?

20:25 Would Thomas have said this if it were not for what is described in 20:20? In this Gospel’s scheme of things, whom might Thomas represent?

20:26 Now we are dealing with events on the same schedule as we are, a week after Easter.  Did the disciples make it a habit to gather in the same place on a weekly basis?  This time the doors are shut but not necessarily locked.  How many times have we now heard “Peace be with you.”? Had Jesus not appeared to anyone during the time between these two appearances?

20:27 Was Jesus inviting or commanding Thomas to touch his wounds?  Does Thomas do so?  Was Jesus inviting Thomas to believe or commanding him to believe? Was seeing Jesus’ wounds, and being invited to touch them enough to ignite Thomas’ belief?

20:28 Can we categorize Thomas’s reaction as a statement of faith?

20:29 Whom is this verse referring to when it speaks of “those who have not seen and yet come to believe”?

20:30 I wonder what “other signs” are being thought of.  I think there is a novel or two waiting to be inspired by this verse.  Perhaps Dan Brown will take up the challenge, writing “The Other Signs of Jesus”. I find it interesting that this Gospel refers to itself as a “book”.

20:31 Who is the “you” being addressed?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. Some of my other blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and The Trek.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the Resurrection of the Lord / Easter (Year A)

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 is a further revision and refinement of my Lectionary Ruminations and Lectionary Ruminations 2.0.  Focusing on The Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the upcoming Sunday from New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 draws on over thirty years of pastoral experience.  Believing that the questions we ask are often more important than any answers we find, without over reliance on commentaries, I intend with sometimes pointed and sometimes snarky comments and Socratic like questions, to encourage reflection and rumination for readers preparing to lead a Bible study, draft liturgy, preach, or hear the Word. Reader comments are invited and encouraged.

PREFACE: There are several options regarding the Readings. If you use the Jeremiah 31:1-6 Reading then you would usually use the Acts 10:34 Reading rather than the Colossians 3:1-4 Reading. You may choose either John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10 as the Gospel Reading.

ACTS 10:34-43

10:34 What is the context of this passage? To whom is Peter speaking? What would it mean if God did show partiality?

10:35 What does “nation” refer to? Does it refer to political realities or ethnic groups? What does it mean to “fear” God? Is Peter referring to “God fearers?”

10:36-39 This reads like a brief synopsis of the life and ministry of Jesus.

10:36 What is this message?

10:37 This message began in Galilee. Where might it end?

10:38 What does it mean to be anointed with the Holy Spirit? What is the difference between being anointed with oil and being anointed with the Holy Spirit and power? Is not the Holy Spirit the same thing as power?

10:39 Why is Judea distinguished from Jerusalem? Why does Peter say Jesus was hung un a tree rather than a cross?

10:40 The Easter Proclamation!  Note that God raised Jesus. Jesus did not rise by his own power. How do you understand “allowed”?

10:41 What is the significance of eating and drinking with the resurrected Christ? How does this inform our practice and understanding of the Eucharist?

10:42 Who commanded “us”? What is the difference, if any, between preaching and testifying?

10:43 What “prophets” is Peter referring to?

JEREMIAH 31:1-6

31:1 At what time? How many families of Israel will there be “at that time”?

31:2 What sword and what wilderness?  Is this a reference to the Exodus or something else?

31:3 Who is “him”?  Who is “you”? It your Bible provides them, be sure to check the textural footnotes/apparatus.

31:4 How is Israel virgin? I would like to see this dance of the merrymakers.

31:4-5 Is something silently being contrasted here? Why all the “again”s? Samaria?

31:6 What do you know about the hill country of Ephraim?  Sentinels usually watch for invaders.  Why would sentinels call for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem?

31:1-6 I am struggling to determine why anyone would choose this reading over Acts 10:34-43.

PSALM 118:1-2, 19-29

118:1-2 We have a call and response here that could easily be used or adapted as a Call to Worship.

118:14 How shall Christians read “salvation” in the Hebrew Scriptures?

118:15 Is the Psalmist quoting a glad song of victory? Does our congregational singing sound like glad songs or more like funeral dirges?

118:15-16 Why do we never read about the left hand of the LORD?

118:17 What are the deeds of the LORD and how do we recount them?

118:18 What do you think was the nature of the Psalmist’s punishment? Can some punishments be worse than death?

118:19 What are, and where are, the gates of righteousness? Note that “gates” is plural, not singular!

118:20 I would love to know how you interpret this verse in light of verse 19. If there are many gates of the righteous, why is there only one gate of the LORD?

118:21 Note the shift from speaking of the LORD in the third person to speaking to the LORD in direct address.

118:22 Where and when will Christians hear this verse again?

118:23 What is the LORD’s doing? Why am I thinking of Billy Crystal?

118:24 What is the day the LORD has made?  How can we be glad in it? Like the first two verses, this verse could be used or adapted as a Call to Worship, perhaps combined with 118:1-2, such as:

           One: O Give thanks to the LORD, for the LORD is good;

           All:  the LORD’s steadfast love endures forever!

           One: Let Israel say,

           All:  God’s steadfast love endures forever.

           One: This is the day that the LORD has made;

           All:  let us rejoice and be glad in it.

           One: Let us worship the LORD our God!

COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

3:1 Why the “So”? Why an “if/then” statement even though the “then” is implicit? Is this raising a reference to baptism or the final resurrection?  What are the things that are above?  Regarding the right hand of God, see Psalm 118:15-16.

3:2 Does it make any difference that the admonition refers to the mind rather than the heart? What does it mean to “Set your mind”? What things are above and what things are on the earth? How do we read this in light of a round earth?

3:3 How have we died? What does it mean that your life is hidden?

3:4 I thought Christ has already been revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus.  Must this, by necessity, refer to the final resurrection at the end of the age?

JOHN 20:1-18

20:1 What is the first day of the week?  What does it mean that it was still dark?  How did Mary see that the stone had been removed from the tomb if was still dark?

20:2 Let’s speculate about the identity of the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.  From the context, I think we can rule out Peter.  Whom might Mary have meant by “they”?  Why does Mary say, “we do not know”? If she was not alone, who was with her?

20:3 Do we ever set out and head toward the tomb?

20:4 Poor Peter the slowpoke, slow to run, quick to speak. Maybe he was not a faster runner because he was always sticking his foot in his mouth.

20:5 Why did the other disciple not go in?

20:6 Peter might be slow but he is not hesitant.

20:7 What is the significance to the wrapping from the head being folded and not with the other wrappings?  Why mention it if it is not significant?

20:8 I find it interesting that in reference to Peter, there is no mention of him believing.  In this passage, it is this “other disciple” that is the first to “believe,” but what did he believe?

20:9 Did the other disciple believe that Jesus had been raised, that the tomb was indeed empty, or that someone (they of verse 2) had taken the Lord out of the tomb? What is the difference between knowing and understanding the scripture? What scripture is being referred to?

20:10 This is a pretty anticlimactic verse.  I am glad the story does not end here.

20:11 Why did the disciples abandon Mary, leaving her all alone? Were they simply being typical men?  Why did Mary remain rather than departing with the two disciples? Why did Mary apparently not look into the tomb until the disciples had left?  Note that both Mary and the other disciple (John 20:5) had to bend over to look into the tomb?

20:12 How shall we moderns, or post-moderns, deal with angels when we encounter them in Scripture? Why had Peter and the other disciple not seen any angels?

20:13 Did the angels speak in unison? Apparently Mary is still convinced that someone has taken and moved the body of Jesus to another location.

20:14 How could, and why would, Mary not recognize Jesus?

20:15 Both Jesus and the Angels (John 20:13) address Mary in the same way and ask the same question, but Jesus asks even more than the angels asked.  Where else, when else, and who else has Jesus addressed as “Woman”? How could Mary confuse the risen Christ for the gardener?

20:16 After having first addressed her as “Woman”, Jesus now address Mary by name and she calls him “Rabbouni” rather than “gardener”. Does the risen Christ ever address us by name?

20:17 Why would Jesus say this?  Was Mary attempting to grab hold of him or had she already done so? What do you make of Jesus talking about not yet having ascended?  What is the meaning of “brothers”?  Why “I am ascending” rather than “I will ascend”? Must this have been written from a post ascension perspective?

20:18 Does this make Mary the first post resurrection witness? Preacher? Evangelist? Perhaps, in recognition of the role played by Mary, the first words of any Easter liturgy ought to be spoken by a woman!

MATTHEW 28:1-10

28:1 What is different in this account compared to John’s account?  How do we account for the differences?  Do the differences matter? Who was “the other Mary”?

28:2 I will repeat the same question as above.  Does the rolling away of the stone “cause” the earthquake?  Might the earthquake be symbolic of something else? Did the two Mary actually see the stone being rolled away?

28:3 What do we usually associate lightning and snow with?

28:4 Are there any other occurrences in Scripture where an angel caused so much fear that people acted dead?

28:5 When and where else have we heard an angel say “Do not be afraid”? Did the angel want the guards to be afraid?

28:6 Does seeing an empty tomb prove that Jesus was raised? If your Bible provides it, not the textual variant.

28:7 Why were the women not permitted to see the resurrected Jesus at the tomb?  Why did the disciples have to go to Galilee to see the resurrected Jesus? Why did the angel send this message through the Mary’s rather than also appearing before the disciples?

28:8 How often in your experience has fear been accompanied by great joy? Why are the two Mary fearful when the angel told them not to be afraid?

28:9 Note that here, unlike in John 20:17, the women are allowed to take hold of Jesus.  What is so special about “feet”? Had anyone in the Gospel, prior to this point, worshiped Jesus? Had anyone in this Gospel, prior to this, taken hold of Jesus’ feet?

28:10 Note that this time it is Jesus, not an angel, who says “Do not be afraid”?  What are we afraid of when it comes to Easter, Jesus, and the resurrection?

ADDENDUM

I am a Minister Member of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and am serving as the Interim Pastor of the Richmond United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Ohio. Sunday Worship at Richmond begins at 11:00 AM. Some of my other blog posts have appeared on PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS and The Trek.