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:
LITURGY
OF THE PALMS
LUKE
19:28-40
19:28 After he had said
what? Why does one always go “up” to Jerusalem?
19:29 Is there anything
special we need to know about Bethphage and/or Bethany? Which two
disciples do you think Jesus sent?
19:30 What village was
ahead of them? Are the details about the colt at all significant?
19:31 Was Jesus meaning
to refer to himself as “The Lord?”
19:32 How did Jesus
know what the two disciples would find?
19:33 How many owners
were there and was it a common practice for a colt to be owned by more than one
person?
19:34 They respond just
as they were told.
19:35 What is the
meaning and/or purpose of throwing cloaks on the colt?
19:36 Why would people
throw their cloaks on the road? This is beginning to look like a political,
military, or sports team triumphant victory parade.
19:37 How many
disciples were there? What deeds of power had the whole multitude of the
disciples seen?
19:38 Where is this
saying from?
19:39 Why were there some
Pharisees in the crown and why would they want Jesus to order the disciples to
stop? Stop what?
19:40 When was the last
time you heard stones shout out?
PSALM
118:1-2, 19-29
118:1 Why do many
Psalms begin with “O?”
118:2 This reads like a
rubric or call for an antiphonal response.
118:19 Where are, and
what are, the gates of righteousness? Who are the righteous?
118:20 We have gone from
the plural to the singular.
118:21 How has the
psalmist been answered?
118:22 What stone did
what builders reject? What is a chief cornerstone? What is its function?
Juxtapose this verse with Luke 19:40.
118:23 What is the
Lord’s doing?
118:24 What day did the
LORD make? Did the LORD not make all our days?
118:25 What does it mean
to beseech?
118:26 Who comes in the
name of the Lord? Do you recall Luke 19:38?
118:27 Why bind the
festal procession with branches? What are and where are the horns of the
altar? Might this and the preceding verse lead one to think of Luke 19:28-40 as
a midrash of Psalm 118?
118:29 This verse and
other parts of the Psalm could be used as a responsive Call to Worship. See
Psalm 118:1-2.
LITURGY
OF THE PASSION
ISAIAH
50:4-9A
50:4 What is the
tongue of a teacher like? Note that the teacher is taught by God.
50:5 Does the Shema
have anything to contribute to our understanding of this verse?
50:6 Who is
speaking? How did this verse become associated with The Passion? Could we
read The Passion narratives as a midrash of this passage?
50:7 What is a face
like flint?
50:8 Who are the “us”
that stand together?
50:9 Will the Lord God
declare the prophet guilty?
50:7-9 I sense some sort
of self-righteousness here that bothers me. What about you?
PSALM 31:9-16
A prayer for
deliverance from personal enemies is an obvious choice for the liturgy of the
passion. They read as if they could have been spoken by Job. We can almost
imagine hearing these words from the lips of Jesus as he was being crucified,
or at any time during his passion. This Psalm reads like the thoughts and
feelings of the dejected, rejected, and defeated. Nevertheless, the Psalm, in
the end, expresses prayerful trust. Are we to read these words
as referring to or prefiguring Christ’s Passion, or simply as a meditation or
commentary on Christ’s Passion?
31:9
What was the Hebrew understanding of the relation between the soul and the
body?
31:10
Does the Psalmist have no hope or joy?
31:11 Why
would others react to the Psalmist in these ways? How and when do we react to
someone in these ways?
3:12
What does it mean to pass out of mind like one who is dead? Are we to read these words as
referring to or prefiguring Christ’s Passion, or simply as a meditation or
commentary on Christ’s Passion?
31:14-16 The Psalm, in the end, expresses
prayerful trust.
31:14 How
might the psalmist maintain trust in God despite all the psalmist’s suffering?
31:15 Who
might have been the Psalmists enemies and persecutors? Who are your enemies and
persecutors?
PHILIPPIANS
2:5-11
2:6 How much should
we focus on “form?” I am thinking about Plato. Was Paul? What if
Christ had exploited equality with God?
2:7 Emptied himself
of what? Is there a difference between likeness and form?
2:8 Does how Christ
died matter?
2:9 What name is
above every name?
2:10 What does the
bended knee represent or symbolize?
2:11 Is “Jesus Christ
is Lord” a minimalist confession of faith?
LUKE
23:1-49 (Alternate)
23:1 What assembly?
23:2 Why is a
religious assembly is making civil accusations?
23:3 What sort of
answer is “You say so?”
23:4 How many chief
priests were there? Why does Pilate receive such bad press?
23:5 What does “stirs
up the people” refer to?
23:6 What difference
does it make if Jesus is a Galilean?
23:7 Why does
jurisdiction matter? Was Pilate passing the buck?
23:8 If Herod had
really wanted to see Jesus, what had been stopping him? Was Herod seeking to be
informed or merely entertained?
23:9 I wonder how long
Herod questioned Jesus. Why did Jesus not answer?
23:10 What is the
difference between a chief priest and a scribe? Why were they so opposed to
Jesus?
23:11 Why would Herod
put an elegant robe on Jesus?
23:12 What motivated or
facilitated the changed relationship between Herod and Pilate?
23:13 Is there any
group Pilate did not call together?
23:14 Is there
significance to the “any of your charges” language?
23:15 Is Pilate simply
covering his backside by referencing Herod?
23:16 Why have Jesus
flogged if he had done nothing wrong?
23:17 What happened to
verse 17?
23:18 Who was Barabbas?
23:19 Why the
parenthesis?
23:20 Why was Pilate so
intent on releasing Jesus?
23:21 Is this an
example of mob rule?
23:22 Is there any
significance to Pilate addressing the crowd three times?
23:23 Since when did a
mob trump a Roman official?
23:24 I thought Pilate
had already, several times, given his verdict, a verdict different than this.
23:18-25 What might have
happened if Pilate had not given in to the crowd’s demands?
23:26 Why make someone
else carry Jesus’ cross?
23:27 So not all in the
crowd were antagonistic toward Jesus. I wonder who these women were.
23:28 What does it mean
to be a daughter of Jerusalem?
23:29-31 Is Jesus quoting
from something? Where else might we find these sayings?
23:32 I wonder what
sort of criminals.
23:33 What is the
significance of Jesus being crucified between two criminals?
23:34 Who was Jesus
asking forgiveness for? Who was casting lots? What are lots?
23:35 Did the crowd scoff
or only the leaders?
23:36 How is offering
sour wine a form of mocking?
23:37 What is the irony?
23:38 Is this an
example of more irony?
23:39 Why would a
criminal also being crucified deride Jesus?
23:40-41 I think this is a
multivalent statement.
23:42 Why am I thinking
of Taizé?
23:43 Do not get
preoccupied with temporal issues. .
23:44 Is there anything
significant or symbolic about three hours of darkness and when it started to
get dark? Was this a miracle? A sign? A metaphor? A solar eclipse?
23:45 What purpose did
the temple curtain serve?
23:46 Where have we
heard this before?
23:47 What is a
centurion? Was this centurion a Jew? A proselytize? A God fearer?
23:48 Why the plural
“crowds?” What does beating one’s breasts symbolize.
23:49 Who were Jesus’
acquaintances? Would the disciples be considered among his acquaintances? Why
are the women who followed him singled out? Why did they all stand at a
distance?
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.
