Daily Scripture Readings     

Thursday (September 9, 2010)*

Daily Office Lectionary, The Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1979; cf. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), Abingdon Press, 1992

Daily Lectionary, Book of Common Worship, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1993

Daily Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing) ‡

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm

http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi

YOU MAY NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THESE URLs IN YOUR BROWSER

‡ Daily Lectionary, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA, 2006. In the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book of 2006, the Daily Lectionary (pp. 1121-1153) is revised to correlate with the Sunday Lectionary (the Revised Common Lectionary) on the three year cycle: Year A, Year B, Year C (now current). “The readings are chosen so that the days leading up to Sunday (Thursday through Saturday) prepare for the Sunday readings. The days flowing out from Sunday (Monday through Wednesday) reflect upon the Sunday readings” (p. 1121).

Unless otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1989.

Thursday

AM Psalm 50

PM Psalm [59,60] or 93, 96

Job 29:1, 31:1-23

Acts 15:1-11

John 11:17-29

Constance and her Companions:

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Constance.htm

Psalm 25:15-21

Job 16:6-9; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; John 12:24-28

Eucharistic Readings:

1 Cor. 8:1-13; Psalm 139:1-9, 22-23;

Luke 6:27-38

Thursday

Morning: Psalms 97; 147:12-20

Job 29:1, 31:1-23

Acts 15:1-11

John 11:17-29

Evening: Psalms 16; 62

Thursday

Morning Pss.: 116, 147:13-21

Job 8:1-10, 20-22

Acts 10:17-33

John 7:14-36

Evening Pss.: 26, 130

 

Year C Daily Readings

Psalm 51:1-10

Genesis 6:1-6

1 Timothy 1:1-11

* Thursday in the week of the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two

 

For the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for August 26, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

 

Episcopal and Presbyterian Readings:

 

Job 29:1; 31:1-23

 

Job Finishes His Defense

 

     29:1 Job again took up his discourse and said: (Job 29:1, NRSV)

 

31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I look upon a virgin?

2 What would be my portion from God above,

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Does not calamity befall the unrighteous,

and disaster the workers of iniquity?

4 Does he not see my ways,

and number all my steps?

5 “If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hurried to deceit–

6 let me be weighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!-

7 if my step has turned aside from the way,

and my heart has followed my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands;

8 then let me sow, and another eat;

and let what grows for me be rooted out.

9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;

10 then let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be a criminal offense;

12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my harvest.

13 “If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,

when they brought a complaint against me;

14 what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

 

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the orphan has not eaten from it--

18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow -

19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor person without covering,

20 whose loins have not blessed me,

and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan,

because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his majesty. (Job 31:1-23, NRSV)

 

The following comments are repeated here from September 11, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from September 14, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two):

 

In Job chapter 31 Job states in most emphatic terms that he is innocent of the charges leveled against him by his friends. He uses the word “if” (Mx9, ’ im) sixteen times (Job 31:5, 7, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 31, 33, 36, 38, 39). Several of these introduce an oath formula in the form of a conditional sentence with a protasis (the conditional, or subordinate clause, the “if” clause) followed by the apodosis, the conclusion, or principal clause, that states the consequence if the condition is met (cf. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed., trans., E. Kautzsch, A. E. Cowley, 2nd Engl. ed., 1910, 18th impression, 1985, sec. 149), followed by “then” (“then” is based on the imperfect tense verb forms, in meaning cohortative, v. 8, or jussive, vv. 10, 22; ‘cohortative’ and ‘jussive’ refer to 1st person and 3rd person imperative meanings). The pattern is set: “If I have walked with falsehood, / and my foot has hurried to deceit,” he says (v. 5), before asking for a just judgment in the matter (v. 6); then he repeats the “if” clause: “if my step has turned aside from the way, / and my heart has followed my eyes, / and if any spot has clung to my hands” (v. 7)–in other words, if I am guilty–and he proceeds to the consequence: “then let me sow, and another eat; / and let what grows for me be rooted out” (v. 8). The statement is a strong denial, as much as to say, “I have never done this or that!” In other words we would not go wrong to translate most of the “if” statements in this chapter into strong denials, for example, “I have never walked with falsehood, / nor has my foot hurried to deceit” (v. 5, reworded to bring out the force of the oath). Mayer Gruber finds here “an affirmation that Job has not cheated in business; for the prohibition,” says Gruber, “see Lev. 19:35-36; Deut. 25:13-16)” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1544, on Job 31:5-6).

 

As the chapter proceeds, the “then” clauses take various forms, but the “if” clauses present a list of offenses which Job denies having committed in the most emphatic terms. It’s as if he really said–as he surely means–“My heart has never been enticed by a woman, and I have never lain in wait at my neighbor’s door” (v. 9, reworded to bring out the denial indicated by the oath). The consequence–unthinkable for Job, to be sure, but stated as a contrary-to-fact consequence, is “then let my wife grind for another, / and let other men kneel over her” (v. 10). He adds that such action–his own, not that of the “other men”–“would be a heinous crime” (v. 11a), “a fire consuming down to Abaddon, / and it would burn to the root all my harvest” (v. 12). We may note that on this issue he professes a level of integrity very close to what Jesus would later demand (Mt. 5:27-30). According to Gruber,

 

committing adultery with another man’s wife is an offense against that man’s property in ancient Near Eastern law. In ‘measure-for-measure’ penalties, or the law of talion [‘a punishment identical to the offense, as the death penalty for murder,’ “The Free Dictionary,” on the Internet at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/talion, accessed Sept. 18, 2010], found in the Bible and the ancient Near East, if a man injures or mistreats a member of another man’s family, the comparable member of the criminal’s family is similarly injured or mistreated. There is, however, no biblical law stating that an adulterer’s wife may be sexually used by the man whose own wife engaged in the adulterous relationship. Job is merely speaking rhetorically here, to show how innocent of wrong-doing he is. He invokes the principle of talion against himself in the following vv. as well, for the same reason. (ibid., pp. 1544-1545, on Job. 31:9-12)

 

Gruber recognizes “the self-imprecation (curse) of this chapter,” and says it “would have been seen as very serious in antiquity, and not as a mere rhetorical statement” (ibid., p. 1544 on Job 31:1-40). Following the JPS TANAKH translation (NJPS, 1985, 1999), he assigns different meanings to the word “if” (Mx9, ’ im) in some instances. For example, verse 5 is taken as a question: “Have I walked with worthless men, / Or my feet hurried to deceit” (Job 31:5 NJPS). And so he finds here “three especially significant rhetorical features”:

 

First, a list of 14 (i.e. 7 x 2) sins from which Job claims innocence, similar to the listing of 14 capital offenses punishable by stoning to death in m. Sanh. 7:4; to the 14 ages of humans in m. ’Avot 5:21; and to the 14 qualities induced by the study of Torah according to ’Avot 6:7. Second, twenty instances of the particle “’im” in three distinct meanings (1) “if” in the protasis (conditional clause) of an ordinary conditional sentence (31:19); (2) “if” in the protasis describing a crime where the apodasis [apodosis] (concluding [or ‘then’] clause) describes the penalty (vv. 7-8, 9-10; 21-22-38-40); (3) the interrogative particle introducing a rhetorical question which calls for a negative reply (vv. 5, 13, 16, 19, 24, 25, 26, 33). Third, virtual quotations of Job’s thought processes in vv. 2-4 and 14-15. (ibid., p. 1544 on Job 31:1-40; crediting Robert Gordis, The Book of Job, 1978, pp. 543-545).

 

In any case, as said above, Job emphatically denies being guilty of any of these charges. He has not rejected the cause of slaves who complain to him: “If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, / when they brought a complaint against me; / what then shall I do when God rises up? / When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?” (vv. 13-14). According to Gruber, “the rhetorical question requiring a negative answer is tantamount to asserting that Job has granted his slaves the full protection of the law; see Exod. 21:20-21, 26-27; Deut. 23:16-17. Likewise, he expects that God will treat His servant, i.e., Job, just as fairly” (ibid., on vv. 13-14). In a similar manner Job denies ever withholding “anything that the poor desired” (v. 16a). He denies ignoring the needs of hungry orphans. “[If I] have eaten my morsel alone, / and the orphan has not eaten from it” (v. 17). Contrast the charge of Eliphaz, “You have given no water to the weary to drink, / and you have withheld bread from the hungry” (22:7). According to Gruber, “Here Job denies ever having failed to provide for the needs of the impoverished. If so, Eliphaz in 22:7 is either mistaken or sarcastic” (ibid., p. 1545, on v. 16a). On the contrary, Job claims to have nurtured the orphan, saying, “from my youth I reared the orphan [‘Heb. him, NRSV note a] like a father” (v. 18a NRSV). The recent Jewish translation paraphrases a bit here. “Why, from my youth he grew up with me as though I were his father” (v. 18a NJPS 1985, 1999).

 

Job also denies the charge of neglect of widows made by Eliphaz (22:9a). He denies having “caused the eyes of the widow to fail” (31:16b). The recent Jewish translation says, “Or let a widow pine away” (NJPS 1985, 1999), with a text note (a, after “Or let a”: “Lit. ‘the eyes of a’ ”). Gruber says:

 

“Or let a widow pine away: Heb. ‘ ’almanah,’ commonly translated ‘widow,’ actually means a once-married woman who has no means of financial support and who is thus in need of special legal protection. Pine away, better, ‘cry her eyes out.’ The Heb. ‘Kilah ‘einei’ refers to causing someone’s eyes to empty, as it were, by profuse crying. It is taken for granted here as also in 22:9 that Job, as an extremely affluent person, would have been expected by the social norms of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age (Levant (see, e.g., Isa. 1:17) to provide legal and financial aid to the underprivileged, including the ‘ ’almanah.’ His failure to do so would be a crime. (op. cit., p. 1545, on v. 16b).

 

Job goes beyond denying that he oppressed the widow (v. 16b); he says, “from my mother’s womb I guided the widow” (v. 18b). He goes on to deny further charges of oppression and neglect. “If I have [= I have not] seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, / or a poor person without covering, / whose loins have not blessed me, / and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep” (vv. 19-20). Gruber contrasts “Eliphaz’s assertion in 22:6” (ibid., on v. 19). Job says, “If I have [= I have not] raised my hand against the orphan, / because I saw I had supporters at the gate [= ‘in court,’ cf. Ruth chap. 4]; / then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket” (vv. 21-22). If for no other reason, Job has avoided all of these crimes, due to “terror of calamity from God,” as he says (v. 23a), adding, “and I could not have faced his majesty” (v. 23b). Such affirmations of innocence–or, conversely, denials of guilt–continue in tomorrow’s reading, which concludes Job’s part in the dialogue.

 

Acts 15:1-11

 

The Council at Jerusalem

 

            15:1 Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

            6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. 8 And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; 9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. 10 Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” Acts 15:1-11, NRSV)

 

The following comments are based on comments on Acts 15:1-12 of June 20, 2010 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 23, 2009 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were repeated with some editing from September 11, 2008 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two), when comments were repeated from 22, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 26, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), when comments were used with editing and supplement that were combined and revised on June 25, 2006 (the Sunday closest to June 22, Year Two) from June 20, 2004 (the Sunday closest to June 22,Year Two) in an email sent June 14, 2004, for June 14-20, and from July 21, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20).

 

The Jerusalem Council, as reported in Acts 15:1-35 is covered by readings for September 8-10, 2010 (Thursday through Saturday of this week). Paul and Barnabas have completed their First Missionary Journey and returned to a welcome at Antioch of Syria (Acts 14:26-28). “Then,” says Luke, “certain individuals (tineV, tines, an indefinite pronoun) came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ” (Acts. 15:1). The views of these unnamed individuals were those opposed by Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians. “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,” says Luke, “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders” (v. 2). According to Christopher R. Matthews, commenting on “were appointed, in Gal. 2:2 Paul says he went ‘by revelation’ ” (The New Oxford Annotated Bible [NOAB], 3rd. edition, augmented 2007, on Acts 15:2). As they travel to the conference “through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they [report] the conversion of the Gentiles, and [bring] great joy to all the believers” (v. 3). Beverly Roberts Gaventa notes that “Phoenicia has not previously been mentioned as a location of disciples” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 15:3). Paul and Barnabas arrive in Jerusalem and are “welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders,” and they report “all that God had done with them” (v. 4). This, says Gaventa would be what was done “to effect the conversion of the Gentiles. See 14:27; 15:12; 21:10” (ibid., on v. 4). Although not named earlier (v. 1), later at Jerusalem, we are told that it was “some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees” who said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses” (v. 5). “In Acts,” says Matthews, “Pharisees are portrayed as believers (26:5) or tolerant of Christianity (5:34), often in sharp contrast to Sadducees (4:1-2; 5:17; 23:6-9)” (op. cit., on v. 5).

 

So the Christian Jerusalem Council was convened. “The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter” (v. 6). “After there had been much debate,” says Luke, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers’ ” (v. 7). “Much debate,” says Gaventa, “reveals the intense involvement of both parties” (op. cit., on v. 7). Earlier, Peter had given a report to the church in Jerusalem(11:1-18), a report to “the apostles and the believers who were in Judea” (v. 1), including “the circumcised believers” who “criticized him (v. 2). At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), Peter’s testimony omits description of his vision and that of Cornelius, but summarizes the results of his ministry in Cornelius house in much the same way as he reported earlier to the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:7-9; cf. 11:15-17), but with more emphasis on “cleansing their hearts by faith”: “And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing (kaqarivsaV, katharisas, aorist participle, ‘having cleansed’) their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us” (15:8-9). For “no distinction,” Gaventa refers to Rom. 3:22 (ibid., on v. 9). Although the verb translated “cleansing” can refer to physical cleaning “of everyday things,” or to ritual purification, it can be used, as Frederick William Danker says, “in extended sense, with special reference to inner purity” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. kaqarivzw, katharizō).

 

In the light of this experience, Peter questions those who advocate circumcision for all. “Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (v. 10). “The yoke,” says Matthews, “is that of the law (Lk. 11:46); Paul’s view (Rom. 7:12; Phil. 3:6) is different” (op. cit., on v. 10). For “putting God to the test,” Gaventa refers to “5:;9; Ex. 17:2; Ps. 78:41,” and adds, “Jewish writers sometimes spoke of the law as a yoke to be chosen (Mishnah Avot 3:5; Berakot 2:2; cf. Mt. 11:29-30)” (op. cit., on v. 10). On the contrary,” says Peter, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (v. 11). He emphasizes that salvation is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” for Christian Jews as well as Gentiles. Luke’s report of the Council will continue in further lessons (as indicated above). The debate portion of the Council concludes as “the whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles” (v. 12). In the continuation James articulates the Council’s decision (vv. 19-20), and arranges for the announcement of this decision (vv. 22-29).

 

John 11:17-29

 

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

 

            17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

 

            28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. (John 11:17-29, NRSV)

 

The following comments are based on relevant comments on John 11:17-27, 38-44 of January 5, 2010 (Tuesday in the week of the Second Sunday after Christmas, ref. for Jan. 5., Year Two), when comments were based on selected portions of John chapter 11 in comments on John 11:1-27 and 28-44 of April 3 and 4, 2009 (Friday and Saturday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), and earlier comments as indicated there.

 

At the close of yesterday’s reading Jesus, having heard of Lazarus’s illness. Jesus “told them [i.e., his disciples] plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him’ ” (Jn. 11:14-15). Thomas, who–like the others–apparently misunderstands [Jesus’ reference to Lazarus as sleeping, v. 13], expresses his misgivings. “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16). The danger, of course, was all too real, from the human point of view. Upon arrival in Bethany, Jesus faces what must have been an impossible situation in human terms. Due to his delay in coming (Jn. 11:6), when he arrived, “Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days” (v. 17). John notes the proximity to Jerusalem. “Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles (ajpo; stadivwn dekapevnte, apo stadiōn dekapente, cf. NRSV text note d ‘Gk. fifteen stadia) away” (v. 18). According to Frederick William Danker, a stavdion (stadion) is “ ‘a distance of about 192 meters,’ stade, one-eighth mile” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. stavdion, stadion). According to David K. Rensberger, revised by Harold W. Attridge, “Bethany [was] not the same as Bethany across the Jordan, where John had baptized . . . This Bethany lay just east of Jerusalem (v. 18), across the Kidron Valley and on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Jn. 11:1, with ref. from v. 18). According to the Evangelist John, “many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother” (v. 19. Of “Many came to console them,” says Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., “they become witnesses of Jesus’ life-giving power (12:9-11)” (The New Oxford Annotated Bible [NOAB], 3rd. edition, augmented 2007, on Jn. 11:19).

 

When Martha, the woman of action, “heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home” (v. 20). According to Rensberger and Attridge, “People in mourning normally did not leave the house during the first seven days except to go to the tomb to grieve for the deceased” (op. cit., on v. 20). But when she met him, “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if (eij, ei) you had been here, my brother would not have died (oujk a]n ajpevqanen, ouk an apethanen)” (v. 21). Martha’s statement, marked by if (eij, ei) and the untranslated particle a[n (an) with a past (aorist) tense, is a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, implying “you weren’t here,” and, consequently, “he did die.” But she expresses some hope. “But even now,” she says, “I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him” (v. 22). In reference to “whatever you ask,” Rensberger and Attridge refer to “14:13-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23-24” (ibid., on v. 22). Jesus responds with a promise, saying to her “Your brother will rise again” (v. 23), which Martha, as other Jews would have, understand the reference as to resurrection “on the last day.” She “said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (v. 24). According to Hendricks, “Belief in the resurrection on the last day was widespread among Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (see Dan. 12:1-3; 2 Macc. 7:9)” (op. cit., on v. 24). But Martha does not expect the immediate raising of Lazarus, for she pins her hopes on “the resurrection in the last day” (v. 24). While affirming that hope (v. 23), Jesus also emphasizes the present reality of resurrection life for those who believe in him. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (vv. 25-26). Martha’s response affirms the faith that John’s Gospel was written to engender in its readers: “But these [“signs,” John’s terms for miracles] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (20:31). She says “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (11:27). But she does not yet realize the immediate blessing that is in store for her.

 

Nevertheless, “when she had said this,” we are told, “she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you’ ” (v. 28). Because “Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him” (v. 30), Mary, when she heard Martha’s news, “got up quickly and went to him” (v. 29). The story will continue in tomorrow’s reading.

 

As noted above, for the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the Episcopal Readings in the file for August 26, 2010, two weeks ago. These traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.

 

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net