BCP Daily Office Lectionary for Nov. 25, 2004
Source: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm
Morning Psalm(s): 131, 132, [133] [Presbyterian: 116:1-19]
Evening Psalm(s): 134, 135 [Presbyterian: 26:1-12]
Old Testament: Zechariah 13:1-9
Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel Luke 19:11-27
Presbyterian Readings for the current day:
http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi
“On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zech. 13:1). After struggles and conflict within Judah and Jerusalem, followed by mourning and weeping (12:10-11), chapter 13 begins with a fountain for the cleansing of the people. It has been compared to the river of Psalm 46:4 or of Ezekiel chapter 47 and Revelation 21:6; 22:1-2, the water of life that Jesus promises to the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:10-14) and to all Israel (Jn. 7:38). Adam Clarke begins with the reference to Christ, but the cleansing is needed in the Old Testament context. Prophets face rejection (Zech. 13:3-6), and refer to their wounds as “The wounds I received in the house of my friends.” Jesus cites the next verse, which focuses on the shepherd–“Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered”–before predicting that the disciples will desert him after he is arrested (Mt. 26:31; Mk. 14:27). But there is grace, including purging, in the end. “I will say, ‘They are my people’;/and they will say, ‘”The LORD is our God’” (v. 9).
Paul is thankful for the faith and love of the Christian believers to whom he writes (Eph. 1:15). Because his thanks is not for specific help, as in Philippians 1:5, “because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now,” but for basic Christian values, it would apply to many Christian congregations. He prays for their wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17), and their enlightenment and knowledge of the Christian hope and inheritance (v. 18). The inheritance has its basis in God’s power which raised Christ from the dead and placed him above “all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come” (v. 21). The chapter concludes with a view of Christ similar to that of Philippians 2:9-11: “And he [God] has put all things under his [Christ’s] feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (vv. 22-23).
The Parable of the Pounds, Luke 19:11-27, similar to the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30, is not about investment. At one level Qoheleth does speak about investment. “Send out your bread upon the waters,/for after many days you will get it back” (Eccl. 11:1). But even in Ecclesiastes, the bread is more than money. Good deeds have a way of bringing their own reward (which shouldn’t be the motivation, should it?). G. W. H. Lampe finds these lessons in the Parable of the Pounds (Peake’s Commentary). “(1) Christ’s kingdom is not to appear now, as some expected; he must depart in order to receive it. (2) This will involve his rejection by Israel and the consequent destruction of the nation. (3) The Kingdom will be administered by his disciples. (4) This will involve its continual expansion, in contrast to the narrow and self-complacent attitude of the Jewish leaders.”
Ronald D. Worden