St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

The Lessons: Isa 8:11-20; Rom 10:1-15

Matthew begins his narrative with the angel’s appearance to Joseph and comments ^“All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us’.” He ends the narrative with Jesus’ words: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” “God is with us;” “I am with you always;” Emmanuel. Appropriately, the Lectionary chooses the portion of Isaiah which includes “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears, or be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over– a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” In these chapters of Isaiah Emmanuel is about both judgment and salvation (7:14; 8:8, 10)—depending largely on the hearers’ choices. We might hear “Do not call…” as also a guide to making good choices, for then as now there is plenty that demands our fear. Few of us have as much freedom as we’d like, but we can choose whom to fear. As did Matthew.

The Lessons: Job 28:1-28; Acts 16:25-40; John 12:27-36a

Job. Among the multiple ways we might enter the text, here are two. (1) The poem is a timely reminder of the difficulty of attaining wisdom and understanding. Timely, in a society that often confuses wisdom with what I just saw on the internet. (2) Within Job chapter 28 comes at the end of the dialogue (argument?) between Job and his friends, serving as an implicit negative verdict on their success in attaining a shared wisdom. The Lectionary’s placement of the chapter at the end of the book invites us to incorporate (privilege?) the Lord’s speeches from the whirlwind and Job’s response as we hear “the fear of the Lord” and “depart from evil.” Recall Habel’s translation of 42:6 (“Therefore I retract / And repent of dust and ashes”) and Davis’ commentary cited in yesterday’s post.

John. Here again Jesus’ context and John’s audience’s context merge: vv.34-36a reflect equally the latter’s arguments. “The Messiah remains forever:” this reading of the law is ever attractive, negating Jesus’ “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (12:24). The crowd understands that the Messiah’s trajectory and his followers’ trajectories run parallel. The crowd has a point: what good is salvation if it means taking up the cross? What’s the point of Passover if Jesus’ message is that the model for all the participants is that poor lamb whose blood is on the lintel (whose blood keeps death away)? And this theology of glory as an alternative to a theology of the cross leaves us defenseless before swindlers and shysters. “While you have the light, believe in the light,” so that, like the disciples as portrayed in the Gospels—slow on the uptake on their best days—we may continue exerting ourselves to attaining and practicing wisdom.

The Lessons: Job 42:1-17; Acts 16:16-24; John 12:20-26

Job. Verse 6, critical to the book’s interpretation, is laconic. The NRSV gives the traditional (worst case) option; CEB and NJPS move in a more positive direction. Davis: “Therefore I recant and change my mind / concerning dust and ashes.” Habel: “Therefore I retract / And repent of dust and ashes.” Among the most useful essays on Job I’ve encountered: Davis’ “The Sufferer’s wisdom” in Getting Involved with God. It ends like this: “The two portraits of Father Job that stand at either end of this book mark the true measure of his transformation. Job, this man of integrity who was once so careful, fearful of God and of the possible sins of his children, becomes at the last freewheeling, breaking with custom to honor daughters alongside sons, bestowing inheritances and snappy names. The inspiration and model for this wild style of parenting is, of course, God the Creator. Job learned about it when God spoke out of the whirlwind. And now Job loves with the abandon characteristic of God’s love—revolutionary in seeking our freedom, reveling in the untamed beauty of every child.”

Acts. Witness can be messy, and Luke, to his credit, leaves the messiness in full view. The slave girl is now free from that spirit, but is still a slave, and of less value to her owners. Paul’s action provided a pretext for the owners to stir the Jew/Gentile pot, and the Jews will have to keep dealing with that after Paul leaves. God will bring good out of the situation; much good remains to be done.

John. “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” A protean parable, which in turn calls for discernment: when is it time for this grain to fall into the earth? (“Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun” [Eccl. 11:7]. “Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come” [Jn. 7:8].) I wonder: is Jesus as a Jew also talking about Jewish identity? When do other groups or institutions need to hear this parable?

The Lessons: Job 40:1; 41:1-11; Acts 16:6-15; John 12:9-19

In John we read “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’” The source is often identified as Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Here Raymond Brown’s attention to detail is helpful: the “as it is written” points to not only Zech 9:9, but also (first!): “On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.” From the context of this verse in Zephaniah, Brown wonders if there isn’t a counterpoint to the crowd’s messianic celebration: Jesus’ presence is God’s presence, which brings restoration (Lazarus!) and blessing to the nations (the Greeks who wish to see Jesus in the next verses in John!).

Symbols are important. Entering Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt was important. At the same time, with the Lord’s proud descriptions of Behemoth (Job 40—bumped yesterday by Holy Cross) and Leviathan ringing in our ears, was there not a part of Jesus that would rather have been entering astride one of them?

Holy Cross Day

The Lessons: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:11-17

AD 335: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was dedicated on this date, a fitting day to celebrate the victory of the cross. I like what James Kiefer does in his reflection at Mission St Clair, recalling Tertullian’s report that “Christians seldom do anything significant without making the sign of the cross” (early 3^rd century). So we might take the day as an opportunity to wonder about the many possible meanings associated with crossing oneself. The sign as a starting gun for violence—in Jesus’ Name, of course—we probably want to stay away from that one, even in an election year. Kiefer recalls Minucius Felix (late 2^nd century) on the ubiquity of the sign, e.g., a ship’s mast and spar. That one resonates: I sign myself: Jesus has claimed this boat. There will be storms; Jesus is in the boat.

The Lessons: Job 38:1, 18-41; Rev. 18:1-8; Matt. 5:21-26

“Come out of her, my people…” When is this the word we need to hear? This is a question of community discernment, and highlights the importance of an element in today’s Gospel reading: ^“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” It’s likely that the brother or sister whose voice we most need to hear for discernment here (and elsewhere!) is the brother or sister with whom we’re at odds.