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Daily
Scripture |
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Monday
(November 29, 2010)* |
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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 |
Daily
Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on
Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing) ‡ |
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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 |
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‡
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). |
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Unless
otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised
Standard Version ( |
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Monday AM Psalm 1, 2,
3 PM Psalm 4, 7 Isa. 1:10-20 1 Thess. 1:1-10 Luke 20:1-8 Eucharistic Psalm 122 Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 8:5-13 |
Monday Morning Pss.: 122, 145 Isaiah 1:10-20 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Luke 20:1-8 Evening Pss.: 40, 67 |
Monday Morning Pss.: 122, 145 Isaiah 1:10-20 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Luke 20:1-8 Evening Pss.: 40, 67 |
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Year A Daily Psalm 124 Genesis 8:1-19 Romans 6:1-11 |
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*Monday in the
week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One |
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Isaiah 1:10-20
10 Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
13 bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation–
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:10-20, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here from December 1, 2008 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were repeated from December 4, 2006 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from November 29, 2004 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One):
Yesterday’s reading concluded with a comparison of desolated
That you come to appear before Me–Who asked that c-of you? / Trample My courts 13no more; / Bringing oblations is futile,-c [“To trample My courts? / 13Bring no more vain oblations.”] / Incense is offensive to Me.” (Isa. 1:12-13a, b NJPS 1985, 1999)
Sommer’s alternatives apparently turn on whether to interpret xv4wA (š~w’) as an adverb, “Bringing oblations is futile” (NJPS), “bringing offerings is futile” (NRSV), or as an adjective, “Bring no more vain oblations” (NJPS text note c). William L. Holladay supports the latter, defining xv4wA (š~w’) as “worthless Is 1:12,” though he includes the adverbial sense for Ps. 89:48 (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10th corrected impression 1988, s.v. xv4wA, š~w’, meanings no. 1 and 3).
Isaiah, speaking for the LORD, singles out and rejects
certain assemblies. “New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation–I cannot
endure solemn assemblies with iniquity (hr!cAfav1 Nv@xA, ’~wen
wa‘ ats~r~h)”
(v. 13c, d NRSV). Both the NRSV and the NJPS have “assemblies with iniquity”
here, though a text note in the latter says “Septuagint “Fast and Assembly”;
cf. Joel 1:14.” (NJPS text note d). Assuming the validity of the
condition, that the LORD hates their sacrifices, offerings and festal
assemblies because of their sin and not outright as such–the traditional view,
including that of rabbinical commentary mentioned above by Sommer–we can
understand the call for repentance that follows (vv. 18-20). But first we are
told that God has become weary of their various festivals. “Your new moons and
your appointed festivals / my soul hates; / they have become a burden to me, /
I am weary of bearing them” (v. 14). Their sinful and rebellious condition (cf.
vv. 2, 5) prevents God from hearing their prayers. “When you stretch out your
hands, / I will hide my eyes from you; / even though you make many prayers, / I
will not listen; / your hands are full of blood” (v. 15). For “when you stretch
out your hands” (Mk,yPeKa Mk,W;r9pAb;U,
ûveph~riÑkem
kappêkem), “when you lift up your hands” (NJPS 1985, 1999), Sommer says,
“People lifted up their hands when praying in ancient
The remedy is repentance and cleansing: “Wash yourselves;
make yourselves clean; / remove the evil of your doings / from before my eyes;
/ cease to do evil, / learn to do good” (vv. 16-17a). They need to turn away
from injustice, “seek justice” (v. 17b), turn away from oppression, that is,
“rescue the oppressed” (v. 17c), “defend the orphan” (v. 17d) and “plead for
the widow” (v. 17e). Blenkinsopp calls this “a very strong statement of the
prophetic protest against worship divorced from social justice (cf. Am.
5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8; Jer6:20-21; 7:1-15)” (on vv. 10-17). “Because of their
relative powerlessness,” says J. J. M. Roberts, “orphans and widows
were two classes of people often subject to oppression in ancient Near Eastern
societies. Following the Near Eastern legal tradition, Israelite law extended
special concern for their protection (Es. 22:21; Deut 24:17; 27:19), and this
concern is also reflected in
The basis for the hope seen here by Sommer (cf. the citation in yesterday’s comments, op. cit., on Isa. 1:2-31) is a call to repentance. “Come now, let us argue it out, / says the LORD: / though your sins are like scarlet, / they shall be like snow; / though they are red like crimson, / they shall become like wool” (v 18). This call for repentance is certainly genuine, but if there is not a touch of irony, it certainly comes with a warning. It is conditional: on the one hand, “If you are willing and obedient, / you shall eat the good of the land,” says the LORD (v. 19); but on the other hand, “if you refuse and rebel, / you shall be devoured by the sword; / for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (v. 20). “The unit,” says Sommer, with reference to verses 2-20 or 2-31, does not confine itself to complaint but ends with an invitation to repentance and ethical action. Calls to repentance are rare in Isaiah, especially compared with the work of other prophets; they never appear from ch. 6 through 31:6” (ibid., on 1:16-20).
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Salutation
1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers,
constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor
of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know,
brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our
message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in
the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons
we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and
of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy
inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the
believers in
The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from April 27, 2010 (Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from December 1, 2008 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from April 15, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from December 4, 2006 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were combined with revision and supplement from November 29, 2004, (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from May 9, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year Two).
First Thessalonians is one of Paul’s earliest Letters,
perhaps the first New Testament book written. Some, who hold to an early date
for Galatians, would put it before First Thessalonians. They identify the
“Galatians” addressed as the peoples of southeast
Paul’s customary salutation, the briefest of the Pauline
Epistles, includes Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy as senders. “Paul, Silvanus,
and Timothy” (1 Thess. 1:a). Although Paul, after leaving Thessalonica (Acts
17:10) and Beroea (Acts 17:14), was alone in
In his typical thanksgiving, Paul gives “thanks to God” for
all of the Thessalonian believers. “We always give thanks to God for all of you
and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and
Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our
Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 12-3). “Ancient letters,” says Edgar M. Krentz,
“often begin with a prayer for the readers’ well-being; Paul begins with thanks
for the Thessalonians’ present activity (see. e.g., Rom. 1:8)” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed.,
2006, on 1 Thess. 1:2-3). Krentz adds that “faith,
hope, and love occur together
here for the first time in Paul’s Letters; see also 5:8; Rom. 5:1-5; 1 Cor.
13:13; Gal. 5:5-6)” (ibid., on v. 3). Paul elaborates by reference to God’s
choice of them. “For we know, brothers and sisters (ajdelfoiv, adelphoi) beloved by God, that he has chosen you (th;n
ejklogh;n uJmw:n, tēn eklogēn hymōn, lit.
‘[God’s] choice of you’)” (1 Thess. 1:4). According to Philip F. Esler, Paul
“says he knows of their election (eklogē).
The notion of election, with its long history antecedent to Paul of describing
God’s choice of
Paul
explains his confidence in the choice of the Thessalonian believers and their faith: “because our message of the
gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:5a). “Our . . .
gospel,” says Abraham Smith, “is not just words, but the saving power of
God” (The New Oxford Annotated Bible
[NOAB], 3rd. edition, augmented 2007,
on 1 Thess. 1:5). According to Esler,
this verse, in which Paul states how his gospel came
among them not only in word, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full
conviction, outlines either the occasion and manner of their election or the
grounds by which Paul inferred the fact of their election. It is essential to
given Paul’s reference to power and the Holy Spirit its full force and meaning.
He is reminding the Thessalonians of the miracles and other charismatic
phenomena (probably prophesying, glossolalia, visions, and auditions) which
accompanied their reception of his preaching. (op. cit., p. 1203, on v.5)
Paul
continues by reminding them of his own exemplary conduct at Thessalonica: “just
as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake” (v.
5b). And he recalls their following his example. “And you became imitators of
us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy
inspired by the Holy Spirit” (v. 6). According to Krentz, “Paul often uses
himself (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1), other Christians (1 Thess. 2:14), and the Lord (1
Cor. 11:1) as models for imitation”
(op. cit., on 1 Thess. 1:6). We may also compare Philippians 3:17). A result of
their faith and their response to the example of Paul was “that you became an
example to all the believers in
Paul describes this reputation of the Thessalonian believers as related to Paul and his work in establishing the church there. “For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols” (v. 9a). As Paul reminds them, “turned to God from idols, indicates,” according to Smith, “(cf. Acts 17:1-4) the strictly Gentile background of Paul’s Thessalonian converts (2:14)” (ibid., on 1 Thess. 1:9). As often in Paul’s letters, his thanksgiving serves as something of an introduction and an indication of significant topics to follow in the main body of the letter. His reference to their reception of his gospel message (vv. 3-9) anticipates more detailed reference to that in chapter two. And the final verse here reminds them that they have turned from their former religious ways “to serve a living, and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming” (vv. 9b, 10). Apart from general moral and ethical admonitions, the coming of the Lord will be a significant topic in chapters 4 and 5.
Luke 20:1-8
The Authority of Jesus Questioned (Mt 21.23-27; Mk 11.27-33)
20:1 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” 3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” 5 They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Luke 20:1-8, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here from June 13. 2009 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One), when comments were repeated from December 1, 2008 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from June 16, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One), when comments were repeated with some editing and supplement mainly from December 4, 2006 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday of Advent, Year One), though there is some use of comments from June 11, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One).
In each of the Synoptic Gospels, the account of Jesus’
Cleansing of the
In this context, then, he was confronted by the question. On his visit to the temple at age twelve, Jesus answers the question of his parents who had been searching for him by asking, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49 NRSV). The alternative translation, “be about my Father’s interests” (NRSV note f) is closer to the literal sense: “Did you not know that it is necessary for me to be in [‘taking care of] the things ( ejn toi:V, en tois) of my Father?” So we now find him still pursuing the Father’s interests, “teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news.” In this first of a series of controversies during Holy Week, Jesus and officials of Judaism exchange questions and answers in what Krister Stendahl calls typical Rabbinic fashion, “similar to such material in the Talmud” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 690f, p. 791, on Mt. 21:23-27).
The account of the debate is essentially the same, with a
few differences of style in the wording of each Gospel. “Tell us,” say the
chief priests, scribes and elders, “by what authority are you doing these
things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” (Lk. 20:2). The question is
essentially the same in the parallels, though Mark and Matthew lack the words
“Tell us” (Mk. 11:28; Mt. 21:23b). Jesus responds, “I will also ask you a
question, and you tell me” (Lk. 20:3; cf. Mk 11:29a; Mt. 21:25a), but Luke
omits Jesus’ redundant repetition of their question, “and I will tell you by what
authority I do these things (Mk. 11:29b; cf. Mt. 21:24b). Jesus’ question, “Did
the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” (Lk. 20:4;
Mk. 11:30; Mt. 21:25a) puts them “between a rock and a hard place,” so to
speak. Their response is the same in each Gospel except for the follow-up in
Mark, “Answer me.” “They discussed it (sunelogivsanto, synelogisanto)
with one another,” says Luke (20:5a), or “argued (dielogivzonto, dielogizonto;
‘reasoned’ AV/KJV) with one another (Mk. 11:31a; Mt. 21:25b). The verbs are
close to synonymous, but Luke’s verb, meaning “reason, discuss, debate,” occurs
only here in the New Testament (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature,
3rd ed., 2000, s.v. sullogivzomai, sullogizomai). Mark’s verb, followed
by Matthew, is frequent in the New Testament, meaning “to discuss a matter
in some detail, consider and discuss, argue” in a few passages
(BDAG, s.v. dialogivzomai,
dialogizomai, meaning no. 2, which includes Mk. 11:31 with a question
mark), but “to think or reason carefully, especially about the implications
of something, consider, ponder, reason” in many passages, including
both Mt. 21:25 and Mk. 11:31, meaning no. 1). Why the Lexicon would
distinguish the meanings in Matthew and Mark is not clear; perhaps due to the
prepositional phrases, pro;V [often ‘toward’] eJautouvV, pros heautous (Mk.),
ejn
[‘among’] eJautoi:V,
en heautois (Mt.), both translated “with one another.” Jesus’ opponents
recognize the dilemma in his challenge, and spell it out in their
deliberations. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why [then,
Eric Franklin says,
“Elsewhere, when Jesus is questioned, and even when the question is motivated
by hostility, he deals with it seriously (10:25; 17:20). Here, he engages in a
form of one-upmanship” (The Oxford Bible Commentary 2001, p. 952, on Lk.
20:1-8).
Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.