By searaven, on March 29th, 2011% Matthew 11:20-30; Jonah; Genesis 18:16-33; Genesis 19:1-28
In a report by Luke and Matthew, and skipped by the Elves in both instances, Jesus condemns cities in Galilee for not changing their ways after he had performed miracles: “Damn you, Chorazin! Damn you, Bethsaida! . . . And you, Capernaum . . . you’ll go to Hell. . . .” Matthew’s Jesus promises that those cities will be overturned, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, “Because if the miracles had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have sat in sackcloth and ashes and changed their ways long ago,” like the ancient gentile Ninevites in the satrical story of the prophet Jonah.…
. . . → Read More: The Secret Code: Revealed to Infants: 4th Sunday in Lent
By searaven, on March 23rd, 2011% Galatians 1:1-3:5; Matthew 11:1-19
The Elves skip Matthew 11:1, 11:12-15, and 11:20-24; they put 11:2-11 on the Third Sunday in Advent. Then they pair Matthew 11: 16-19 and 25-30 with Romans 7:15-25a, which is a typical non-sequitur that happens in mid-July. All this cherry-picking may reinforce Christian dogma, but it hardly contributes to an understanding of who Jesus was, what he taught, and what it all may have meant to 1st century followers. This is especially the case when Paul’s letters are considered after the gospel reading in Christian liturgy. The result is that Paul’s insights and arguments get interpreted in the light of the gospel writers instead of the other way around.…
. . . → Read More: Go and Tell John: Third Sunday in Lent
By searaven, on March 15th, 2011% Romans 12; Matthew 10:37-11:1
The Elves won’t get around to considering specific verses from Romans 12 until late summer (propers 16 and 17), and then they are paired with Matthew 16: 13-28 (considered in last week’s blog, along with Philemon and Romans 6. So far as scholarship has been able to determine, Paul either did not know about the sayings of Jesus that were orally preserved by the Q people, or if he did, he did not quote them directly. Paul was the contemporary of Jesus and the first followers who mourned his death and did their best to make sense of it. The gospel writers presented their interpretations 20, 50, possibly as long as 125 years after Paul (according to some scholars concerning Luke/Acts and John). When Paul’s pastoral letters are considered first, what the gospel writers created may be heard as an echo of Paul’s insight into an oral tradition.…
. . . → Read More: Counter the Culture: 2nd Sunday in Lent
By searaven, on March 11th, 2011% Matthew 10:24-36; Philemon; Romans 6
Matthew’s Jesus says, “Students are not above their masters . . .; there is nothing veiled that will not be unveiled . . . do not fear those that kill the body but not the soul; even the hairs on your head are numbered; I came not to bring peace but a sword . . . mother against daughter; a person’s enemies are members of the same household.”
Matthew’s message seems to be, “do not be afraid” of those who criticize or threaten bodily harm. Trust God, and don’t hide your message out of fear of those who kill the body. Instead, Matthew’s Jesus says, announce the good news from the rooftops. Everyone who proclaims the message will be recognized and protected by God, even in the face of the possibility of death. These words are a call to action. They hold far more power than the church tradition imagines, especially if considered after Paul’s radical illustration of equality in the letter to the slave-owner Philemon, and Paul’s astounding argument in Romans 6. We do not know if the writer of Matthew’s Gospel had Paul’s letters in front of him, or if he knew of Paul’s interpretation of the meaning of Jesus’ life and death. But when Paul’s point in Philemon and Romans 6 is considered in the light of the new translation by scholars Arthur J.…
. . . → Read More: Think Globally, Act Locally: First Sunday in Lent
By searaven, on March 1st, 2011% Matthew 10:1-23; Romans 5:1-8
While the Revised Common Lectionary follows its own esoteric pattern, the end of the season of the Epiphany seems an appropriate time to remember the conditions under which Jesus’ messengers were sent out with the news that the kingdom of God has now been revealed. Scholars are divided over whether Jesus ever actually made any rules about sandals, staff, food, or money. The rules differ among Mark, Matthew, and Luke. They were likely made up by various groups who attempted to live the same way they thought Jesus and his followers had originally lived: as itinerant beggars.…
. . . → Read More: Living Out the Covenant Part II: 9th Sunday in Epiphany
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