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

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 or ISAIAH

I usually use the Acts passage rather than the Isaiah passage because Acts specifically refers to Jesus’ resurrection. Using the Acts Reading as the First Reading leaves room to also use the 1 Corinthians Reading. If you use the Isaiah reading rather than the Acts Reading as the First Reading, then you can choose between the Acts Reading or the 1 Corinthians Reading for the Second (or Epistle) Reading.

ACTS 10:34-43

10:34 Do we hear this verse any differently considering Pope Francis?  To whom is Peter speaking?  How shall we hear this considering some of the rhetoric emanating from the current US administration?

10:35 Is “nation” a geographic, ethnic, or religious designation? What does it mean to fear God?

10:36 What is the message, or more specifically the content of the message Peter is referring to? Is Jesus Christ the Lord of even those who do not follow him?

10:37 What is the size of Galilee compared to Judea? Why might it be important to reference John? Consider that even after Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, John the Baptizer is still part of the story.

10:38 I think we might generally know how Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism but how and when was he anointed with power?  Is the Holy Spirit the same as power? Must we buy into a personified “devil” to find truth in this verse? I usually think that Rome, not the devil, was the oppressor, unless one considers Rome the devil.

10:39 Who are “we?” What does it mean to be a witness? Paul could not write or say this, but Peter can.  Why “tree” rather than “Cross?”

10:40 Please note Jesus did not rise from the dead.  God raised him from the dead. What is the nuanced meaning of “appear?” Could God not have allowed Jesus to appear?

10:41 Does Peter mean to suggest that only those who ate and drank with the risen Christ are witnesses? Does partaking of the Lord’s Supper make us witnesses?

10:42 Who commanded, God or Christ?  What is the difference between preaching and testifying?

10:43 Is “All” hyperbole? What prophets might Peter have had in mind?

ISAIAH 65:17-25

65:17 Do Christians consider this prophecy to have been fully fulfilled? Note that “heavens” is plural while earth is singular. How many heavens are there? What do we remember and what do we forget? Out of the death and destruction of the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, their 9/11, arose a hope of resurrection and new life. Don’t forget the old but don’t be bound by it.

65:18 Why is the passing of the old and the coming of the new something to be glad about? Note the present participle “creating.”

65:19 God rejoices? But weeping and cries of distress are still heard in Jerusalem today. Sometimes the weeping and cries are those of Jews and sometimes they are those of Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Christians.

65:20 So everyone who dies a natural death before they turn a hundred will be  accursed?

65:21 Shall they build houses and plant vineyards on occupied territory?

65:22 What are the days of a tree like?

65:23 What shall we say when an Israeli child or a Palestinian child dies from violence?

65:24 So God is proactive?

65:25 Oh, if only this last phrase were true today.

PSALM 118:1-2, 14-24

118:1 The LORD is good, but the Lord’s followers often are not.

118:2 This is beginning to sound like a rubric for a responsive reading.

118:14 Are strength and might synonyms? What is their relation to salvation? What sort of salvation might the psalmist have in mind?

118:15 If we were to ever hear a glad song in worship, it ought to be on Easter!

118:15b-16 What is so special about the right hand of the LORD?  Do these verses display a bias against left handers? Is this a quote from glad song of victory?

118:17 Not dying is different from resurrection. What are the deeds of the LORD?

118:18 Is this a singular or a collective “me”?  I wonder about the nature of this punishment. Are some punishments worse than death?

118:19 Where are the gates of righteousness located and how many of them are there?

118:20 Is the gate of the LORD one of the gates of righteousness or a different gate?

118:21 What was the answer?  At least this psalmist apparently experienced prayer being answered. How often do you feel your prayers have been answered?

118:22 What is a cornerstone and what purpose does it serve.  Do not confuse a corner stone with a keystone. Is there a special cornerstone associated with your church building?

118:23 What is the LORD’s doing?  Who are “we?”

118:24 I thought the LORD made all days.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:19-26

15:19-26 This passage is proclamation, not explanation.

15:19 This sounds more like the end of an argument rather than the beginning. So, are we to be pitied or not? While hope in Christ certainly has something to do with the afterlife, does it not also have something to do with the present life?

15:20 Note again that Christ has been raised from the dead.  He did not rise from the dead. What does it mean that Christ was the first fruits?

15:21-22 Is this logical? Does this depend on Paul’s conception of Christ as the second Adam, or does Paul’s conception of Christ as the second Adam naturally and logically lead to this point?

15:23 Who belong to Christ?

15:24 Is it possible to celebrate Easter without a little eschatology? Is this an indictment of secular and political power?

15:25 Who are Christ’s enemies.  What does it mean to put an enemy under one’s feet?

15:26 Did Christ defeat death when he was raised, or is this something yet to happen?

JOHN or LUKE? John is my favorite gospel and since there is no liturgical year dedicated to John, I usually prefer to use the John Reading rather than the Luke Reading. Use one or the other but not both.

JOHN 20:1-18

20:1 Note that, contrasted with other Gospels, only Mary Magdalene is mentioned.  We are not given a reason for her coming to the tomb.

20:2 Did Jesus not love Peter and the other disciples, or just this one?  Considering verse 1, who is the “we” Mary is talking about? Who did she mean by “They?”

23:3 Why is the other disciple not named?

20:4 Is there any deeper meaning here? How could they be running together and not arrive at the same time?

20:5 Why do you think the disciple did not go into the tomb?

20:6 Peter may have been slower, but he was apparently the braver or more inquisitive? Had the stone been removed so that Jesus could come out of the tomb or so Peter and the other disciple could go into the tomb?

20:7 Does this detail matter?

20:8 Believed what?

20:9 Note that here it is “rise from the dead” and not “be raised from the dead.”  How could they not understand the scripture? What scripture did they not understand?

20:10 Well, this is ant-climactic! Where were the homes of the disciples?

20:11 Peter and the other disciple were typical men, abandoning the woman!  Why had Mary not left with the two disciples? I find it interesting that we are told the other disciple “bent down to look in” (20:5) and that Mary “bent over to look into the tomb”. What is it about “bending down?” Do we need to bend down in some way to see into the truth of the empty tomb?

20:12 Why had the two disciples not seen the two angels?  Have you ever seen an angel?  What is your angelology?  Do angels ever wear anything but white?

20:13 Did the angels really need to ask the question? Who else in this Gospel is addressed as “woman?”

20:14 Remember, this story is being told from the perspective of after the fact. Is there any significance to the fact that Mary did not see Jesus until after she turned? Do we need to somehow “turn” in order to see Jesus?

20:15 Why does Jesus ask the same question asked by the angels? Was Jesus’ question a rhetorical one?  How cold Mary mistake the risen Jesus for the gardener? Could she not see his feet?

20:16 What does it mean when someone calls you by name?

20:17 Would Mary be allowed to hold on to Jesus if he had ascended?  Why all this ascension talk? What is the meaning of “brothers?”

20:18 Thus Mary Magdalene is the first evangelist.  End of story!  Well, not quite.

LUKE 24:1-12

24:1 What is early dawn? Note that in the John, Mary was the only woman at the tomb. In Luke, there are several. Why the discrepancy and does it make a difference?

24:2 Similar to the question I asked regarding John 20:6, I wonder if the stone had been rolled away so that Jesus could come out of the tomb or so the women could go in?

24:3 No habeas corpus.

24:4 Who were then men in dazzling white? Could this be an allusion to Moses and Elijah? How many witnesses were required by Jewish law?

24:5 The women were awed that the tomb was empty but terrified when confronted by the two men in dazzling white. Does Easter still awe and terrify us? Note that here it is “he has risen” and not “he has been raised.”

24:6 Anamnesis! When was Jesus last in Galilee?

24:7 When and where did Jesus say this? Note the “Son of Man” language. Why “again?”

24:8 More Anamnesis! What words did they remember, the ones above?

24:9 Who were “the rest?”

24:10 Why are only three of the women named? How many other women were there? Why are the recipients of this news called apostles rather than disciples?

24:11 Do most people in our post-modern and post-Christian culture hear the Easter story as an idle tale? What might this verse say about male’s tendency to doubt the testimony of women?

24:12 Peter must not have had his foot in his mouth in order to run to the tomb. Did he have to see for himself because the women’s testimony was not powerful enough?  What happened, exactly, that amazed Peter? Where was Peter’s home?

                                                                  

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 Palm/Passion Sunday (Year C)

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: For liturgical churches, this Sunday’s Lectionary Readings offers more Scripture than perhaps any other day other than the Easter Vigil, and far more possibilities for non-liturgical churches than they are used to. If one uses the primary Gospel Reading of Luke 22:14-23:56 there may be little time or need to expound on the reading in a sermon. Therefore, I opted to ruminate on the optional and shorter Luke 23:1-49.

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? Could Jesus not get on the colt by himself?

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? A geologist might be able to understand what a stone was saying.

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? What sort of success might the Psalmist have been asking for? Who are the “us?”

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

2:5 What mind was in Christ Jesus?

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? If so, why was it later expanded?

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? Have similar charges and accusations ever been made against any other teacher?

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? Did he take “the fifth?”

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? Why had they been enemies before this day?

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? So much for the rule of law!

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? A discerning Roman?

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.

Lectionary Ruminations 2.5 for the 5th Sunday in Lent (Year C)

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.

ISAIAH 43:16-21

43:16-17 These verses appear to reference the Exodus. Is that the only way they can be interpreted?

43:18-19 These are two of my favorite verses, but how do they relate to what has come before and what follows?  What images come to mind when you hear “former things” and “things of old?”  As leaders or members of congregations facing change, how do these verses both challenge and comfort us?  Does “way” in any way point back to the “way in the sea” of 43:16? It seems that God does not totally transform the wilderness, or the desert, but rather provides a way in and through it.

43:20 Apparently even the prophet knew that all God’s critters have a place in the choir.  Why do humans so often assume that God’s new heaven and new earth is reserved only for humans and no other living creatures?  If wild animals honor God, why do humans find honoring God so difficult?

43:20-21 Did God not form all people, not just God’s chosen people, for the divine self? 

PSALM 126

126:1  When did the LORD restore the fortunes of Zion? How were the people like those who dream?

126:2 When was the last time you heard Presbyterian pews or any pews filled with laughter let alone shouts of joy?

126:3 What “great things” might the Psalmist have had in mind? What great things has the LORD done for you?

126:4 Why does the psalmist ask the LORD to restore fortunes when in 126:1 it was stated the LORD has already restored fortunes? When and how are the watercourses in the Negeb restored? You may want to juxtapose this verse with Isaiah 43:19-20.

126:5-6 Why would someone cry when they sow? How can tears nurture joy?

PHILIPPIANS 3:4b-14

3:4b To what is Paul referring?

3:5 Paul was a Pharisee? I recognize there is still a distinction between cultural or secular Judaism and religious Judaism., but is this the distinction Paul was making? Can we extend Paul’s argument to cultural or secular Christianity?

3:6 How can Paul claim to be blameless under the law?

3:7 What gains might Paul have been referring to? Note that Paul uses the past tense “had.”

3:8 What Greek word does the NRSV translate as “rubbish” and how else might it be translated?

3:9 Is there more than one kind of righteousness?

3:10 What is the power of Christ’s resurrection? What does Paul mean “becoming like him in his death?” Was Paul seeking to be a martyr? How do we become like Christ in his death?

3:11 What did Paul mean by “if somehow?” Was obtaining the resurrection from the dead the only or prime motivating factor for Paul? Is it the only or prime motivating factor for our faith?

3:12 Already obtained what?

3:13 You may want to juxtapose “forgetting what lies behind” with Isaiah 43:19.

3:13-14 What imagery is being employed? Is Paul’s faith based on or motivated by a reward or goal?

JOHN 12:1-8

12:1-8 Where do we find ourselves in this story, at the table with Jesus and Lazarus, serving with Martha, anointing Jesus’ feet, complaining about church budget priorities, watching from an open window?

12:1 Is there anything special about the number six or six days?  What do you know about Bethany?  Where and when have we met Lazarus before?

12:2 Only Lazarus has been named, so who is the plural “they?” Where and when have we met Martha before?  Who do you think, in addition to Lazarus, was at table with Jesus?

12:3 Where and when have we met Mary before?  How costly was this perfume? What is nard?

12:4 The parenthetical expression reminds us that this was written after the fact and that the author was writing with the benefit of hindsight.

12:5 Adjusting for inflation, what is the current value of three hundred denarii?

12:6 Might this parenthetical expression be redactor overkill? Note that Martha and Mary were doing for others while Judas was doing for himself. Martha and Mary gave for others. Judas gave nothing but his criticism.

12:7 Why would Mary buy this perfume before Jesus died? If she bought it for Jesus’ burial, why is she now, at least six days before his death, using it to anoint his feet?

12:8 How shall we interpret and apply this passage considering the issue of income inequality in the midst of a presidential campaign?

                                                                  

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.