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Daily
Scripture |
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Wednesday
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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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Wednesday AM Psalm 72 PM Psalm 119:73-96 Ecclus. 43:23-33 Rev. 16:1-11 Luke 13:10-17 Richard Hooker: Psalm 19:7-11 Sirach 44:10-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10,13-16; John 17:18-23 Eucharistic Phil. 2:12-18; Psalm 62:6-14 Luke 14:25-33 |
Wednesday Morning: Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11 Ecclus. 43:23-33 or Zeph. 2:1-15 Rev. 16:1-11 Luke 13:10-17 Evening: Psalms 1; 33 |
Wednesday Morning Pss.: 96, 147:1-12 Ecclus. 7:4-14 or Micah 3:9-4:5 Rev. 8:1-13 Luke 10:17-24 Evening Pss.: 132, 134 |
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Year C Daily Psalm 50 Amos 5:12-24 Luke 19:11-21 |
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* Wednesday in
the week of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week
of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two |
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For the Lutheran
Episcopal and Presbyterian
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43:23-33
23 By his plan he stilled the deep
and planted islands in it.
24 Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers,
and we marvel at what we hear.
25 In it are strange and marvelous creatures,
all kinds of living things, and huge sea-monsters.
26 Because of him each of his messengers succeeds,
and by his word all things hold together.
27 We could say more but could never say enough;
let the final word be: “He is the all.”
28 Where can we find the strength to praise him?
For he is greater than all his works.
29 Awesome is the Lord and very great,
and marvelous is his power.
30 Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,
for he surpasses even that.
When you exalt him, summon all your strength,
and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.
31 Who has seen him and can describe him?
Or who can extol him as he is?
32 Many things greater than these lie hidden,
for I have seen but few of his works.
33 For the Lord has made all things,
and to the godly he has given wisdom. (Ecclesiasticus 43:23-33, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here with some editing from November 5, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when comments were revised with supplement from November 3, 2004 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two).
The early part of this chapter describes the glories and wonders of God’s creation (yesterday’s reading). Today’s reading focuses on the greatness of God himself. The created world is the result of God’s plan. “By his plan he stilled the deep / and planted islands in it” (Ecclus. 43:23; cf. Gen. 1:2, 6-7, 9-10). According to Burton L. Mack, revised by Benjamin G. Wright III, “That the Lord stilled the deep is derived from an ancient myth of creation according to which God had to slay the monster of the deep, or still the chaotic waters, in order to let the dry land appear and construct upon it his house. Cf. Pss. 104:24-26; 107:23-24” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Ecclus. 43:23). But such a battle is not described either here or in Genesis. God is in control throughout the process. The result of his plan is a sea of dangers, but also of marvels. “Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, / and we marvel at what we hear” (v. 24). The sea is full of “strange and marvelous creatures, / all kinds of living things, and huge sea monsters” (v. 25). It is “because of him,” that is, because of God, that “each of his messengers succeeds,” and it is “by his word (lovgoV, logos) [that] all things hold together” (v. 26). Mack and Wright say:
This verse, which serves as a conclusion to the poem of praise for the natural order (42:22-43:26), brings together two cosmologies, or mythologies of the way in which the world is ordered. Messengers refers to all of the natural phenomena as servants of the Lord who do his bidding so that the universe may stand firm (42:17). His word by which all things hold together derives from the Stoic view of the logos (Greek ‘word’ or ‘logic’) that permeates the natural world (kosmos) as a principle of cohesion and order. It is probable that Ben Sira had the Genesis account of creation in mind, according to which God spoke the world into being, and that both mythologies were understood as explications of God’s words, as commands (to his ‘messengers’) and as expressions of rhyme and reason for the world for the world he had in mind (‘logos’). In somewhat later literatures, such as the works of Philo of Alexandria and the Gospel of John (Jn. 1:1-18), the Stoic logos became the primary concept for interpreting the Genesis account. (ibid., on v. 26)
The final stanza focuses upon the awesome God who created all of these natural wonders. So after describing the glories and wonders of nature, Ben Sira declares that God is greater than them all. "We could say more [about the wonders of nature] but could never say enough; / let the final word be: ‘He is the all.' / Where can we find the strength to praise him? / For he is greater than all his works" (43:27-28). According to Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, the statement, "He is the all" should not be understood in a pantheistic sense, but “in the sense that all creatures reveal the divine presence” (NOAB, 2nd ed., 1994, on Ecclus. 43:27), though some, for example Mack, say the phrase “derives from Stoic philosophies of the world as an organism generated and held together by a single (divine) principle”(op. cit., on 43:27).
“Awesome is the Lord and very great,” says Ben Sira, “and marvelous is his power” (v. 29). “Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,” he urges, “for he surpasses even that” (v. 30a, b). Ben Sira’s enthusiasm builds, so to speak, toward a climactic peroration. “When you exalt him [i.e., God],” says Ben Sira, summon all your strength, / and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough” (v. 30c, d). “To praise and glorify the Lord is a demonstration of one’s own wisdom,” say Mack and Wright, “that one has come to see how marvelous his works are despite the limitations of human capacity to plumb their mysteries. According to 15:10, in wisdom must praise be uttered” (op. cit., on v. 30). “Who has seen him and can describe him?” asks Ben Sira. “Or who can extol him as he is? / Many things greater than these lie hidden, / for I have seen but few of his works” (vv. 31-32).
At this point we come to a significant transition, closing a section on the marvelous works of God’s creation (42:22-43:33), and preparing for “the praises of famous men” (44:1). “For the Lord has made all things,” says Ben Sira, “and to the godly he has given wisdom” (43:33). “This,” say Mack and Wright,
is a transitional verse, providing a summary for the hymn to creation and pointing ahead to the hymn in praise of the famous men to follow. It shows that Ben Sira intended the two poems to be taken together, now to call the works of the Lord to mind (42:15), now to sing the praises of famous men (44:1). The combination follows a recognizable pattern in certain psalms and other poems that begin with a meditation upon creation and come to focus upon the sweep of epic history. Cf. Pss. 135; 136. (op. cit., on v. 33)
Zephaniah 2:1-15 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions–This passage is not included in the Daily Office Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.)
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
2:1 Gather together, gather,
O shameless nation,
2 before you are driven away
like the drifting chaff,
before there comes upon you
the fierce anger of the LORD,
before there comes upon you
the day of the LORD’s wrath.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the LORD’s wrath.
4 For
and
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Ah, inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant
of the house of
on which they shall pasture,
and in the
houses of
they shall lie down at evening.
For the LORD their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard
the taunts of
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live, says the LORD of hosts,
the God of
and the
Ammonites like
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they scoffed and boasted
against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible against them;
he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the coasts and islands of the nations.
12 You also, O Ethiopians,
shall be killed by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
and destroy
and he will make
a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in it,
every wild animal;
the desert owl and the screech owl
shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl shall hoot at the window,
the raven croak on the threshold;
for its cedar work will be laid bare.
15 Is this the exultant city
that lived secure,
that said to itself,
“I am, and there is no one else”?
What a desolation it has become,
a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
hisses and shakes the fist. (Zephaniah 2:1-15, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 5, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when they were repeated with editing and supplement from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two).
The prophet issues a brief call to repentance as today’s
reading begins. Noting the word “perhaps” (ylaUx, ’ûlay) in
Zephaniah 2:3, Gregory Mobley calls it “a muted call to repentance” (NOAB,
3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Zeph. 2:1-3; cf. his remarks in the
Introduction to Zephaniah).
The prophet continues with an oracle against
Zephaniah claims the seacoast from the Philistines for his
own people. “The seacoast shall become the possession / of the remnant of the
house of
The language points to the image of
a wilderness retaking a place of culture and city (cf. 2:;6-7). The
characterization of
Revelation 16:1-11
The Bowls of God’s Wrath
16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say,
“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were,
for you have judged these things;
6 because they shed the blood of saints and prophets,
you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7 And I heard the altar respond,
“Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty,
your judgments are true and just!”
8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; 9 they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16:1-11, NRSV)
The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 5, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when comments were repeated from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two):
As this reading begins, John says, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’ ” (Rev. 16:1). These angels are the ones who emerged from the temple when the “tent of witness in heaven was opened” (15:5; cf. yesterday’s comments). They are “robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests” (15:6) and the bowls were given to them by “one of the four living creatures” (15:7; cf. 4:6-11). The contents of the bowls were “the seven plagues” (15:5), hot enough to fill the temple “with smoke from the glory of God,” and prevent anyone’s entrance into the temple “until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended” (15:8).
And so, as noted, they are instructed to “pour out on the
earth” their “bowls of the wrath of God.”
These bowls have been compared to the plagues inflicted on
“So,” says John, the first angel poured his bowl on the
earth and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast
and who worshiped its image” (v. 2). Metzger refers here to the sixth plague on
Next, we are told, “the second angel poured his bowl into
the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in
the sea died” (Rev. 16:3). In a similar manner, “the third angel poured his
bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood (v. 4), as
did the waters of
“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were,
for you have judged these things;
because they shed the blood of saints and prophets,
you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve.” (Rev. 16:5-6, NRSV)
This Metzger calls “divine retribution” (op. cit., on v. 6); and Ruiz, following Metzger, agrees, with reference to Isa. 49:26 (op. cit., on v. 6):
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the LORD your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26, NRSV)
This emphasis on God’s justice draws a response from the altar, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, / your judgments are true and just!” (v. 7). For “the altar,” Ruiz refers to Rev. 6:9-11 (ibid., on v. 7).
The fourth angel’s bowl is poured “on the sun,” which is “allowed to scorch people [i.e., the people who have worshipped the image of the beast] with fire” (v. 8). John explains: “they were scorched by the fierce heat,” but that did not produce the desired effect, for “they cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent and give him glory” (v. 9). “They did not repent,” says Aune, is “a motif from the Exodus plagues tradition” (op. cit., on v. 9). He refers to a similar verse earlier, where he says, “actual repentance is not expected” (ibid., on 9:20).
John continues: “The fifth angel poured his bowl on the
throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness,” but though the
people “gnawed their tongues in agony” (v. 10), they “cursed the God of heaven
because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds” (v.
11). In spite of this hardening opposition to God’s will and way, it is
comforting to know that he is the one who controls the situation. He “had
authority over these plagues” (v. 9). According to Aune, “the throne of the beast [is] the center of imperial power in
The two remaining bowls will be presented in tomorrow’s reading.
Luke 13:10-17
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17, NRSV)
The following comments are based on comments of June 27,
2010 (the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two). When comments were based on those of November 5, 2008 ( Wednesday in the week of the
Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when comments were repeated from June
29, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two), when comments were repeated
from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November
2, Year Two), when comments were repeated from earlier as follows: For the
comments of November 3, 2004,(Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to
November 2, Year Two), on Luke’s description of Jesus’ healing of a crippled
woman who "was bent over and was unable to stand up straight" (Lk.
13:11), I simply quoted parts of a sermon delivered earlier that fall by my
wife, Dr. Barbara Worden. To that I have added comments of my own, repeated
here from July 2, 2006 (the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year Two), when
comments were combined and revised from June 27, 2004, in an email sent June
25, 2004 for June 26-27, and from May 17, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of
Pentecost Sunday [using Proper 2], Year One).
This
account of Jesus’ healing of a crippled woman, “the woman bent over,” is found
only in Luke, though certain details resemble other healing stories, for
example, the immediacy of the healing itself (Lk. 13:13; cf. Mt. 12:13; Mk.
3:5; Lk. 6:10), and criticism for healing on the sabbath (Lk. 13:14; cf. Mt.
12:10; Mk. 3:2; Lk. 6:7). “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
sabbath,” says Luke (Lk.13:10). The indefinite time reference reminds us that
Luke’s so-called “travel narrative,” about Jesus journey from Galilee to
“When
Jesus saw her [i.e., the bent-over woman], he called her over and said, ‘Woman,
you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his hands on her, immediately
she stood up straight and began praising God” (13:12-13). The healing is
clearly instantaneous, and—one would think—a cause for rejoicing. But for this
compassionate action Jesus is immediately criticized. “But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus
had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on
which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the
sabbath day’ ” (v. 14). “The objection to the healing,” say Tiede and Matthews,
“is based on Ex. 20:9-10; Deut. 5:13-14” (ibid., on v. 14). But Jesus responds
to the criticism; he “answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of
you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away
to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan
bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath
day?’ ” (vv. 15-16). According to Marion Lloyd Soards, “Jesus relates the
physical disorder of the woman to the work of Satan (cf. 11:14). Such
afflictions conflict with God’s purpose of salvation in his covenant with
Abraham and are the concern of Jesus’ ministry (4:18)” (The New Oxford Annotated Bible [NOAB],
3rd. edition, augmented 2007, on Lk. 13:16). Tiede and Matthews say, “Jesus
argues from a lesser issue of care for the needs of animals (a point granted by
the rabbis; see 14:5) to the greater issue of care for an afflicted woman”
(ibid., on vv. 15-16). In 14:5, when Jesus was about to heal the man with
dropsy, Jesus says, “If one of you has a child (uiJovV, huios) or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately
pull him out on a sabbath day?” There is an alternate reading in some
manuscripts, with o[noV (onos,
‘donkey’) for uiJovV (huios, ‘son’ or ‘child’).
Bruce M. Metzger says:
The oldest reading preserved in the manuscripts seems to be uiJo;V ήj bou:V [huios ē bous]. Because the
collocation of the two words appeared to be somewhat incongruous, copyists
altered uiJoV [huios] either to o[noV [onos] (cf. 13:15) or to provbaton [probaton, ‘sheep’] (cf. Mt. 12:11). Several witnesses (Q 2174 syrc)
conflate all three words. (A Textual
Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 1971, on Lk 14:5)
In
a footnote, Metzger adds, “It has been conjectured that uiJovV [huios] is a corruption of
the old Greek word o[i&V [oïs] (‘a sheep’); see John
Mill Novum Testamentum Graecum, 2nd
ed. (
According
to Luke, “When he [i.e., Jesus] said this, all his opponents were put to shame;
and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was
doing” (v. 17). G. W. H. Lampe understands
Jesus to be calling here for “
As noted
above, my wife, Dr. Barbara Worden, has a sermon on “the Bent-Over Woman,”
which includes the following:
The woman bent over made herself intentionally or not, less
conspicuous. Being bent over is a way we sometimes cope with our bad feelings
about ourselves. She hoped she could go through life, both unseeing, and
unseen. Linda was a girl who lived on my street when I was young. Ironically,
her bent over body made her more not less conspicuous. Our woman bent over was
compelled to look forever at her feet, certainly not the most attractive part
of herself and occasionally at other people's feet. Linda was so focused on her
own self-defined ugliness, she hardly ever looked at anyone else to really see
them.
Another thing that tends to make our spirits bend over is carrying
loads too heavy for us without asking for help. In
Jesus addresses the woman by the honorable name daughter of
Abraham; he honors someone most people would prefer not to look at. She is
honored by the name of her great ancestor; the quibblers of the law get no such
honor. Part of lifting this woman from her bent over state is recognizing who
she is, a daughter of Abraham, not a walking disease. Fortunately the bent over
woman in Luke was able to see where healing was to come from with her spiritual
eyes, and was present to worship God when Jesus saw her. (From Dr. Barbara
Worden’s sermon)
As noted
above, this is one of several times when Gospel narratives report that Jesus’
healing activity was resisted by Jewish leaders because it occurred on the
Sabbath. Another follows in Luke 14:1-6. Catherine Clark Kroeger calls this
episode “a monument to the rights and dignity of women” (The IVP Women’s
Bible Commentary, 2002, 577 on Lk. 13:10-17). She adds, “Marginalized women
are objects of consistent concern to Jesus. With no request made of him, Jesus
undertakes her healing. Its instant effect is contrasted with the long years
that she has spent with her affliction. ‘Woman, you are set free from your
ailment’.” After further comment, Kroeger adds, “As a liberated member of the
covenant community, she may now stand erect and look people in the face. Those
who must hide their faces in shame are they who would deny her this right.”
As noted above, for the Lutheran
Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.