LENT 2
Worship
Scripture Notes
For use with Common, Lutheran and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
The unifying factor in all eight of the texts that are utilized on Lent 2 within the Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries currently employed is access to God and to the grace of God. In each text the initiative is said to have been primarily with God. Because God acts with grace, we are expected to react with faith.
Common:
Psalm 33:18-22
Roman Catholic: Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
Not only the Israelites, but the entire earth is said in this psalm to be filled with the steadfast, loving kindness of Yahweh. The eye of Yahweh is on all who fear Yahweh, so that Yahweh may deliver them from death. The Israelites in particular, but all people who are willing to turn to Yahweh in general, are urged to "wait for Yahweh," to let Yahweh be their help and shield. As Christians, we enter into this Israelite perception of access to God and to the grace of God. For us as Christians, Jesus is Lord just as for the ancient Israelites and for Jews today Yahweh is Lord; for us as Christians, we need the grace of God, just as for the ancient Israelites and for Jews today the steadfast loving kindness of God is needed.
Lutheran: Psalm 105:4-11
This portion of Psalm 105 is linked closely to Genesis 12:1-8, the only text in which the three lectionaries under consideration converge. Access to God for the Israelites is through the covenant of land, many descendants, a free and independent people in their own nation, blessed by God to be a blessing to others. Israel is to be a model of the judgments of the Lord for all of the people of the earth. The covenant, in its particularity for Israel and in its universality for all people, is intended to be forever, to last "for a thousand generations."
Common:
Genesis 12:1-4a (4b-8)
Lutheran: Genesis 12:1-8
Roman Catholic: Genesis 12:1-4
In this well-known text we have the earliest instance sequentially in Genesis of the great four-part promise to the patriarchs. The descendants of Abraham are to be given the land of Canaan, they will be numerous, will have a great empire, and will be blessed in order to become a blessing to the tribal groups to be brought into that great empire. Abraham is depicted as obedient to the command and promise of Yahweh and is said to have built an altar for Yahweh and to have worshiped Yahweh in the land. This text remains the biblical basis for the Zionist movement, through which God's gifts of land, peoplehood, descendants, blessing, and responsibility come to the Jewish people.
What is the significance of this text for us who are Christians? In addition to our recognition of it as the primary basis for Jewish peoplehood and nationhood, we see it as a primary example of God's graciously given gifts, to which we are expected to react with faith in God.
Common:
Romans 4:1-5 (6-12) 13-17
Lutheran: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
In this text Paul claims the inheritance of the world for the followers of Jesus and for all who share with them in the faith of Abraham their father. Paul, therefore, includes the Jews who base their lives on their attempts to live in accordance with the Torah and are not followers of Jesus. However, Paul contends that the descendants of Abraham are his descendants, not because of their adherence to a written Torah that was not available to Abraham, but because they, like Abraham, believe in God, and their faith in God is the channel by which the grace of God is given to them. Therefore, according to Paul in this text, both Jewish background followers of Jesus and Gentile background followers of Jesus - and other descendants of Abraham for that matter - have access to God and to the grace of God through faith rather than through what they may try to do.
Roman Catholic: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
Here in this text, also, the initiative for our salvation is said to have been taken by God. God called us because that was what God wished to do, not because we were so good. God called us because of God's grace given to us ages ago, but manifested fully only through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ and Savior from the dead. Therefore, those who are addressed in this document are urged to respond boldly by testifying of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by sharing in whatever suffering may come to them from the oppressive Roman State and from the adherents of Roman Civil Religion. The Roman State and Civil Religion of the time of the writing are not mentioned specifically, of course, because to mention them specifically would only jeopardize the followers of Jesus further. The message was conveyed to the faithful, however, by use of the code words "share in suffering for the gospel."
Common:
John 3:1-17
God took the initiative in giving God's Son, in permitting the Son to be lifted up on the cross. This was done so that "the world" might be saved through him. Our responsibility, our response, is to believe in him. God permitted the oppressors to triumph, or to appear to triumph, but through the action of God in raising Jesus from the dead, the power of the oppressors was broken.
It is no different in our time. The oppressors may appear to triumph. Nevertheless, because of the resurrection of Jesus and our own future resurrection, the oppressors can have no ultimate victory over us. This is the liberating message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We, however, generally want more than the members of the early church wanted. We also want liberation from oppression now, not only for ourselves, but also for others. We want the end of oppression, at least of the most blatant forms of oppression. We want this for the world, because God loved the world so much that God gave God's only Son to be the Lamb of God who would take away the sins and oppression of the world.
Lutheran: John 4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42)
In this text, the grace of God is expressed in terms of Jesus as the living water that Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world, provides. Our response is to be like the response of the Samaritan woman. We are to believe in Jesus along with her and with the other Samaritans who believed.
We see also that any adequate interpretation of the Fourth Gospel today should take into consideration what J. Louis Martyn in History and Tradition in the Fourth Gospel (rev. ed., Nashville: Abingdon, 1979) calls the two-level drama in John. These extended dramas, such as this one in the fourth chapter, present two major levels of witness. They witness to an einmalig ("once upon a time") event during Jesus' public ministry. They also witness to the powerful presence of Jesus the Risen Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the pre-existent divine Redeemer, who continues to be with the members of the Johannine community in their own ongoing experiences. These two levels of witness overlie one another so thoroughly that we can hardly distinguish them with clarity. It is important, however, that we are aware of these two levels of witness as we study and as we interpret this Gospel.
With an awareness of these two levels of witness, what is the message of this fascinating drama? It says something about the Samaritans, first of all. It says that many of them became followers of Jesus, if not during Jesus' public ministry, at least during the decades after the crucifixion. It says that many of these Samaritans became followers of Jesus within the Johannine community of believers. It is possible within the symbolism of the Fourth Gospel that the "five husbands" of the woman at the well and "the man she has now who is not her husband" are representatives of the five books of Moses, that are legitimate and that the Samaritans share with the Jews, and of the sixth book, the Samaritan book of Joshua, which as a history of Samaritan existence and belief traced from the time of Joshua, was not recognized as legitimate by the Jews.
Much more important for us and in the proclamation of the gospel today, of course, is what this story says about Jesus and about us. It says that Jesus is greater than the patriarch Jacob, that he can give living water that will satisfy our thirst forever, that the true worshipers will worship the Father, not with animal sacrifices in Samaria or in Jerusalem, but in "spirit and in truth." It says that Jesus is the Messiah who is to come who will reveal all things, that he is the Savior of the world. Our witness, our telling of the story, also progresses along two levels just as does the witness of the Fourth Gospel. We also tell it - if we tell it well - on both an einmalig level and on a here-and-now level, and these two levels can hardly be distinguished. We can, as Richard A. Jensen, Telling the Story: Variety and Imagination in Preaching (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1980), puts it, offer either didactic, proclamatory, or story preaching. For variety, some story-type preaching in which the message of the gospel, the "help" provided by the gospel, is offered indirectly, in a story in which help happens, as in so many of the accounts in the Fourth Gospel, may be desirable. Then (as Jensen puts it) as listening participants in the life and action of the story we recognize that the same sort of help is offered to us.
Roman Catholic: Matthew 17:1-9
For comments on this text, please see the Transfiguration section above.
Common:
Psalm 33:18-22
Roman Catholic: Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
Not only the Israelites, but the entire earth is said in this psalm to be filled with the steadfast, loving kindness of Yahweh. The eye of Yahweh is on all who fear Yahweh, so that Yahweh may deliver them from death. The Israelites in particular, but all people who are willing to turn to Yahweh in general, are urged to "wait for Yahweh," to let Yahweh be their help and shield. As Christians, we enter into this Israelite perception of access to God and to the grace of God. For us as Christians, Jesus is Lord just as for the ancient Israelites and for Jews today Yahweh is Lord; for us as Christians, we need the grace of God, just as for the ancient Israelites and for Jews today the steadfast loving kindness of God is needed.
Lutheran: Psalm 105:4-11
This portion of Psalm 105 is linked closely to Genesis 12:1-8, the only text in which the three lectionaries under consideration converge. Access to God for the Israelites is through the covenant of land, many descendants, a free and independent people in their own nation, blessed by God to be a blessing to others. Israel is to be a model of the judgments of the Lord for all of the people of the earth. The covenant, in its particularity for Israel and in its universality for all people, is intended to be forever, to last "for a thousand generations."
Common:
Genesis 12:1-4a (4b-8)
Lutheran: Genesis 12:1-8
Roman Catholic: Genesis 12:1-4
In this well-known text we have the earliest instance sequentially in Genesis of the great four-part promise to the patriarchs. The descendants of Abraham are to be given the land of Canaan, they will be numerous, will have a great empire, and will be blessed in order to become a blessing to the tribal groups to be brought into that great empire. Abraham is depicted as obedient to the command and promise of Yahweh and is said to have built an altar for Yahweh and to have worshiped Yahweh in the land. This text remains the biblical basis for the Zionist movement, through which God's gifts of land, peoplehood, descendants, blessing, and responsibility come to the Jewish people.
What is the significance of this text for us who are Christians? In addition to our recognition of it as the primary basis for Jewish peoplehood and nationhood, we see it as a primary example of God's graciously given gifts, to which we are expected to react with faith in God.
Common:
Romans 4:1-5 (6-12) 13-17
Lutheran: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
In this text Paul claims the inheritance of the world for the followers of Jesus and for all who share with them in the faith of Abraham their father. Paul, therefore, includes the Jews who base their lives on their attempts to live in accordance with the Torah and are not followers of Jesus. However, Paul contends that the descendants of Abraham are his descendants, not because of their adherence to a written Torah that was not available to Abraham, but because they, like Abraham, believe in God, and their faith in God is the channel by which the grace of God is given to them. Therefore, according to Paul in this text, both Jewish background followers of Jesus and Gentile background followers of Jesus - and other descendants of Abraham for that matter - have access to God and to the grace of God through faith rather than through what they may try to do.
Roman Catholic: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
Here in this text, also, the initiative for our salvation is said to have been taken by God. God called us because that was what God wished to do, not because we were so good. God called us because of God's grace given to us ages ago, but manifested fully only through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ and Savior from the dead. Therefore, those who are addressed in this document are urged to respond boldly by testifying of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by sharing in whatever suffering may come to them from the oppressive Roman State and from the adherents of Roman Civil Religion. The Roman State and Civil Religion of the time of the writing are not mentioned specifically, of course, because to mention them specifically would only jeopardize the followers of Jesus further. The message was conveyed to the faithful, however, by use of the code words "share in suffering for the gospel."
Common:
John 3:1-17
God took the initiative in giving God's Son, in permitting the Son to be lifted up on the cross. This was done so that "the world" might be saved through him. Our responsibility, our response, is to believe in him. God permitted the oppressors to triumph, or to appear to triumph, but through the action of God in raising Jesus from the dead, the power of the oppressors was broken.
It is no different in our time. The oppressors may appear to triumph. Nevertheless, because of the resurrection of Jesus and our own future resurrection, the oppressors can have no ultimate victory over us. This is the liberating message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We, however, generally want more than the members of the early church wanted. We also want liberation from oppression now, not only for ourselves, but also for others. We want the end of oppression, at least of the most blatant forms of oppression. We want this for the world, because God loved the world so much that God gave God's only Son to be the Lamb of God who would take away the sins and oppression of the world.
Lutheran: John 4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42)
In this text, the grace of God is expressed in terms of Jesus as the living water that Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world, provides. Our response is to be like the response of the Samaritan woman. We are to believe in Jesus along with her and with the other Samaritans who believed.
We see also that any adequate interpretation of the Fourth Gospel today should take into consideration what J. Louis Martyn in History and Tradition in the Fourth Gospel (rev. ed., Nashville: Abingdon, 1979) calls the two-level drama in John. These extended dramas, such as this one in the fourth chapter, present two major levels of witness. They witness to an einmalig ("once upon a time") event during Jesus' public ministry. They also witness to the powerful presence of Jesus the Risen Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the pre-existent divine Redeemer, who continues to be with the members of the Johannine community in their own ongoing experiences. These two levels of witness overlie one another so thoroughly that we can hardly distinguish them with clarity. It is important, however, that we are aware of these two levels of witness as we study and as we interpret this Gospel.
With an awareness of these two levels of witness, what is the message of this fascinating drama? It says something about the Samaritans, first of all. It says that many of them became followers of Jesus, if not during Jesus' public ministry, at least during the decades after the crucifixion. It says that many of these Samaritans became followers of Jesus within the Johannine community of believers. It is possible within the symbolism of the Fourth Gospel that the "five husbands" of the woman at the well and "the man she has now who is not her husband" are representatives of the five books of Moses, that are legitimate and that the Samaritans share with the Jews, and of the sixth book, the Samaritan book of Joshua, which as a history of Samaritan existence and belief traced from the time of Joshua, was not recognized as legitimate by the Jews.
Much more important for us and in the proclamation of the gospel today, of course, is what this story says about Jesus and about us. It says that Jesus is greater than the patriarch Jacob, that he can give living water that will satisfy our thirst forever, that the true worshipers will worship the Father, not with animal sacrifices in Samaria or in Jerusalem, but in "spirit and in truth." It says that Jesus is the Messiah who is to come who will reveal all things, that he is the Savior of the world. Our witness, our telling of the story, also progresses along two levels just as does the witness of the Fourth Gospel. We also tell it - if we tell it well - on both an einmalig level and on a here-and-now level, and these two levels can hardly be distinguished. We can, as Richard A. Jensen, Telling the Story: Variety and Imagination in Preaching (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1980), puts it, offer either didactic, proclamatory, or story preaching. For variety, some story-type preaching in which the message of the gospel, the "help" provided by the gospel, is offered indirectly, in a story in which help happens, as in so many of the accounts in the Fourth Gospel, may be desirable. Then (as Jensen puts it) as listening participants in the life and action of the story we recognize that the same sort of help is offered to us.
Roman Catholic: Matthew 17:1-9
For comments on this text, please see the Transfiguration section above.
