Joel 1:1-13 (Today’s reading from the Book of Common Prayer, which was the reading yesterday from the Presbyterian and Lutheran Books of Worship)

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

Lament over the Ruin of the Country (Ex 10.1-20)

2 Hear this, O elders,

give ear, all inhabitants of the land!

Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children another generation.

4 What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;

and wail, all you wine-drinkers,

over the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,

powerful and innumerable;

its teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste my vines,

and splintered my fig trees;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches have turned white.

8 Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth

for the husband of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the LORD.

The priests mourn,

the ministers of the LORD.

10 The fields are devastated,

the ground mourns;

for the grain is destroyed,

the wine dries up,

the oil fails.

11 Be dismayed, you farmers,

wail, you vinedressers,

over the wheat and the barley;

for the crops of the field are ruined.

12 The vine withers,

the fig tree droops.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple-

all the trees of the field are dried up;

surely, joy withers away

among the people.

A Call to Repentance and Prayer

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;

wail, you ministers of the altar.

Come, pass the night in sackcloth,

you ministers of my God!

Grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God. (Joel 1:1-13, NRSV)

For comments on Joel 1:1-13, see yesterday’s comments on the Presbyterian and Lutheran readings.

Joel 1:1-13 or Joel 1:15-2:2 (Presbyterian and Lutheran references for today)

15 Alas for the day!

For the day of the LORD is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

16 Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17 The seed shrivels under the clods,

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are ruined

because the grain has failed.

18 How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle wander about

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep are dazed.

19 To you, O LORD, I cry.

For fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

and flames have burned

all the trees of the field.

20 Even the wild animals cry to you

because the watercourses are dried up,

and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near-

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness spread upon the mountains

a great and powerful army comes;

their like has never been from of old,

nor will be again after them

in ages to come. (Joel 1:15-2:2, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated with revision and supplement here from November 9, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two):

In the earlier reading, the people have been called upon to lament the effects of the devastating famine. “Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth / for the husband of her youth” (Zeph. 1:8). The farmers and winedressers are told to “be dismayed,” and to “wail” over their ruined crops (v. 11). Joel now gives the devastation a label; he announces the judgment of "the day of the LORD" (Joel 1:15; 2:1). R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Brueggemann say, “This calamitous day portends the final day of the LORD which comes as destruction from the Almighty (Zeph. 1:14-18)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Joel 1:15). They call the continued description of the disastrous effects of the locust invasion a “lament” (on 1:15-20 over what seems to be the result of the locust invasion. "Is not the food cut off before our eyes / joy and gladness from the house of our God?" (Joel 1:16). "The seed shrivels . . . the storehouses are desolate; / the granaries are ruined / because the grain has failed" (v. 17). The animals suffer. “How the animals groan! / The herds of cattle wander about / because there is no pasture for them; / even the flocks of sheep are dazed” (v. 18).

The prophet himself voices lament. “To you, O LORD, I cry. / For fire has devoured / the pastures of the wilderness, / and flames have burned / all the trees of the field” (v. 19. This devastation affects even the wild animals (v. 10). So he renews the call to sound the alarm for lamenting and repenting as the catastrophe approaches. “Blow the trumpet in Zion; / sound the alarm on my holy mountain! (2:1a, b) “The priests blow the ram’s horn (‘shofar’) to warn of the immediate danger (Hos. 5:8; Am. 3:6; Zeph. 1:16; Rev. 8:6-13)” (Hicks and Brueggemann on 2:1). The people are to tremble, “for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near” (v. 1c, d). Joel describes the coming day of the LORD as “a day of darkness and gloom, / a day of clouds and thick darkness!” (v. 2a, b). “Like blackness spread upon the mountains,” he says, “a great and powerful army comes” like nothing else past or future (v. 2c, d, e, f, g). As tomorrow’s reading will indicate, the locusts “have the appearance of horses,” that is, like charging “war horses” (2:4). But the devastation is understood as judgment (cf. 2:11)

Revelation 18:15-24

15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16 “Alas, alas, the great city,

clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

“What city was like the great city?”

19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.

20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.”

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“With such violence Babylon the great city

will be thrown down,

and will be found no more;

22 and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters

will be heard in you no more;

and an artisan of any trade

will be found in you no more;

and the sound of the millstone

will be heard in you no more;

23 and the light of a lamp

will shine in you no more;

and the voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more;

for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,

and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

24 And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.” (Revelation 18:15-24, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and supplement from November 8, 2004, two years ago (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and from comments on Revelation 18:21-24 from November 9, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday closest to November 9, Year One):

The reading from Revelation (18:15-24) continues the description of the downfall of Babylon (i.e. Rome). The merchants mourn the downfall of the city. "Alas, alas, the great city, / clothed in fin linen, in purple and scarlet, / adorned with gold, / with jewels, and with pearls! / For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!" (Rev. 18:16-17, cf. v. 15). The "shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea" also mourn the loss of the city (vv. 17-20). In the Roman empire, the city was fed by the grain of Egypt and the produce of other provinces. In this passage, an angel takes up a stone like a great millstone, which is “thrown into the sea [which] symbolizes Rome’s downfall (adapted from Jer. 51:63-64)” (D. E. Aune, HarperCollins Study Bible, on Rev. 18:21). The poetic lines which follow announce that the music of celebration, harpists, minstrels, flutists and trumpeters, will be silent, and artisans will not be found (Rev. 18:22). Lamp light will be gone, as will “the voice of bridegroom and bride” (v. 23a). The city is accused of having merchants who dominated the world’s commerce; they “were the magnates of the earth,” and they deceived the nations “by your sorcery” (v. 23b). John's final indictment comes in verse 24: "And in you [note: Gk her] was found the blood of the prophets and of saints, / and of all who have been slaughtered on earth." "The martyrs' prayer is answered (see 6:10)" (Aune, on v. 20).

Luke 14:12-24

The following text of Luke 14:12-24 and the parallel in Matthew 22:1-14 is presented in two sections, with minor adjustment, as on November 6, 2005 (the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday closest to November 9,Year One). The comments from that date are combined with revision and supplement with comments from November 8, 2004, two years ago (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and from May 21, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to May 18, Year One):

Luke presents a paragraph of Jesus’ teaching on humility (Lk. 14:7-14) which has no parallel passage in the other Gospels except for a brief saying, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12; cf. Lk. 18:14). His remarks about humility and hospitality (Lk. 14:7-11) lead to advice about inviting giving a banquet. He tells his host to give banquets for “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (Lk. 14:13), rather than for “your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors” (v. 12). The principle is giving with no expectation of reciprocation, not giving “in case they may invite you in return” (v. 12). There are a few churches in Houston that take this advice literally, maintaining food pantries, some even feeding “street people” regularly on Sunday.

One of the dinner guests apparently expects to have the blessing of sharing in the “eschatological banquet”: “Blessed,” he says, “is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v. 15). Jesus responds with the “parable” of the great dinner, and the reasons or excuses given by many for not coming.

The Parable of the Great Dinner puts the dinner invitation to the outcasts after the rejections and excuses of the first invited guests (vv. 18-20). In Matthew, the excuses are abbreviated (Mt. 22:3, 5), but a sinister note appears: "while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them." In both there is an emphasis on responding to God's invitation, but the incident of the guest who lacked the wedding robe (Mt. 22:11-14) focuses on the need to be worthy of entering the kingdom, whereas Luke's parable illustrates the instruction about hospitality. Both themes call for our serious consideration.

For Matthew, this parable follows the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mt. 21:33-46) as a part of a series of teachings and debates in Jerusalem during the final week (21:28-25:46). Luke gives it a setting as a part of Jesus’ teaching at “the house of a leader of the Pharisees” (Lk. 14:1), in response to an exclamation from “one of the dinner guests”: “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v. 15). For Luke, the dinner is given by “someone” (v. 16), whereas Matthew’s parable is about a “wedding banquet” given by a king (Mt. 22:1). Matthew’s detailed description of the preparations (v. 4; cf. Lk. 14:17) implies the importance of the occasion, and though both accounts decry the excuses of the first invited guests (Mt. 22:5-6; Lk. 14:18-20), Matthew’s account continues the focus on the rejection and killing of Jesus by the “wicked tenants” of the preceding parable. Those invited “made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them” (Mt. 22:5-6). Finally the owner of the house sends his slave “into the streets and lanes of the town” to “bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (v. 21; cf. Mt. 22:9-10), repeating the words that Jesus directed to his host earlier (v. 13).:

While Luke’s version of the parable implies eschatological judgment and rejection of the ones first invited, “none of those who were invited will taste my dinner” (Lk. 14:24), that is, exclusion from the “messianic banquet” (cf. Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Lk. 14:24), Matthew emphasizes this aspect with the removal of the guest “who was not wearing a wedding robe” (Mt. 22:11-14, cf. the parables of chaps. 24-25). We may take courage from the fact that those excluded from the banquet were not merely overlooked. There was a conscious rejection of the invitation on the part of those who did not come, but the invitation was thrown open to “everyone” (Mt. 22:9), to “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” (Lk. 14:21). Most of us are probably “crippled” in one way or another, but we are all invited.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com