LENT 4
Worship
Scripture Notes
For use with Common, Lutheran and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
Since here, as in the texts selected for Lent 3 in Series A, the Common and the Roman Catholic texts are nearly identical, while the Lutheran readings are entirely different from the Common and the Roman Catholic texts, we shall again consider the Common and the Roman Catholic texts first and then consider the Lutheran selections separately.
Common, Roman Catholic
In the Common and Roman Catholic selections, the Lord (Yahweh in Psalm 23 and 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Jesus in Ephesians 5:8-14 and in John 9:1-41) overcomes the darkness of the "valley of the shadow of death" and provides life and hope all of our days.
Common, Roman Catholic: Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is certainly for us an effective psalm of hope. When we are confronted by the death of loved ones or by the reality of our own impending death, we turn individually and as the church corporately to this Israelite song of trust. It may even be accurate to state that Psalm 23 is one of the few texts of the Israelite Scriptures that has greater use among Christians than it has among Jews. For us, of course, the Lord is not only Yahweh but also Jesus and "all the days of our life" are perceived to include not only life in this time and space but also eternal life beyond the limits of this time and space.
Common:
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Roman Catholic: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13
According to this text, "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily over David" from the time that Samuel anointed him. The shepherd boy became the chosen one of the shepherd God, the designated king over Israel the People of God. From grief and despair over Saul, the prophet Samuel turns to hope and gladness over the shepherd lad David. Even so we also are called to turn from grief and despair to hope and gladness repeatedly during this Lenten Season.
Common, Roman Catholic: Ephesians 5:8-14
The Gentile background followers of Jesus addressed by the Pauline writer of Ephesians 5:8-14 are told that although they were once blind in darkness, they now can see with the light of their Lord Jesus the Christ. A source that probably comes from some gnosticizing Christian document unknown to us is quoted in 5:14 as an indication of how the Christ will shine on these Gentile background followers of Jesus. They, and we, are admonished to honorable conduct, as is appropriate for children of light.
Common, Roman Catholic: John 9:1-41
When we are not so heavily distracted by the unnecessary anti-Jewish polemic of this Johannine mini-drama, we see also how we who are "blind" from the day of our birth are to be led by stages to full sight. Like the man in this text, we also are to look up, to recognize in Jesus first a prophet, then the Son of man, and finally in the Johannine Jesus fully revealed to us, a divine figure the Risen Christ to be worshiped.
For additional comments on this "most elaborate success story in all of the Four Gospel accounts," please see Norman A. Beck, Mature Christianity: The Recognition and Repudiation of the Anti-Jewish Polemic of the New Testament, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press, 1985, pp. 261-262.
Lutheran:
Among the many themes presented in Psalm 43, Hosea 5:15--6:2, Romans 8:1-10, and Matthew 20:17-28, there is the important unifying factor that in each text there is suffering and in each text the suffering is or will be overcome by action on God's part. The "bad news" in each text is the human condition of sin and suffering; the "good news" in each text is the proclamation that God overcomes that suffering. We too can recognize the sin and suffering of our human condition and proclaim the gospel of God in our situation. In these texts we have four excellent biblical resources that can be the basis for our message.
Lutheran: Psalm 43
Psalm 43 is the final third of the unit of material that comes to us as Psalms 42-43. The genre is basically personal lament. The psalmist calls upon Elohim (not Yahweh) throughout the psalm. The situation appears to be one in which the writer is isolated from the rest of the Israelite people, perhaps in the Mt. Hermon region, the head waters of the Jordan. The lament includes introspection, and in the introspection the self is chided and urged to trust in Elohim, who will certainly guide the psalmist to the holy place where thanks can be given to Elohim. The psalmist tries to reassure the psalmist's self that Elohim will overcome the present suffering and bring joy and gladness.
Lutheran: Hosea 5:15--6:2
In this text the suffering of the People of God is attributed to the guilt of the people for turning away from Yahweh. The theology of this section of the Hosea tradition is that Yahweh tears apart and strikes out against Yahweh's people because they have turned away from Yahweh. However, within two or three days (very soon) Yahweh will end the suffering and revive the people. The people are perceived as a corporate personality who shall be revived within "two or three days." We can see this text, therefore, as an important step in the process in which hope developed for the resurrection and new life of the People of God (Israel) as a whole, of institutions such as prophecy within Israel, and finally of individual Israelites. Although the situation is in some respects, of course, different for us as followers of Jesus after his crucifixion, our faith in the power of God is not different from the faith proclaimed in this text. It is our belief that God revived Jesus within "two or three days" after the Romans had killed him. It is our belief that God will also revive us soon after we die.
We notice how completely the power of Yahweh is proclaimed in this text. There is no "Devil" or "Satan" who can be blamed for the suffering. People hurt people; people cause the suffering. Nevertheless, God is in control. God will cause suffering to end. This is the theology that we should proclaim with this text.
Lutheran: Romans 8:1-10
Obviously sin and death are the human condition for everyone. However, for those who are "in Christ," regardless of whether they are of Jewish or of non-Jewish background, there is no longer condemnation because of sin. God overcomes sin, suffering, and death. God declares us to be "not guilty" in a new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" that provides life in Jesus as the Christ. We are to be guided by this new "Torah of the Spirit."
What are the implications of this text for us today? What is being proclaimtd as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" in the church and in the synagogue and in the mosque today? What are we as Lutheran Catholic Christians proclaiming as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" today? What shall we proclaim as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" next Sunday on Lent 4? Let us listen to God through these texts. What new "Torah" do we hear from God today in our situation? Within the tradition received from God through the Apostle Paul, let us proclaim this new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" courageously. For this we are called. No old, warmed-over sermon will do.
Lutheran: Matthew 20:17-28
It would be helpful as we proclaim this prediction of the arrest, condemnation, torturing, and crucifixion of Jesus if we would share as much as possible of what can be known about the political situation in Palestine at the time of Jesus' death. When we do this, the suffering and death of Jesus have even greater meaning for us today than if we do no more than paraphrase the text.
Analysis of the political situation of Palestine during the first century indicates that Jesus was not crucified merely because he was such a good man, nor solely because it was God's will that he suffer a most painful and degrading death. Palestine had been occupied by Roman military forces for many decades prior to Jesus' birth, and the Roman rule in Palestine was far more oppressive than a surface reading of the Gospel accounts indicates. Only the very small percentage of Jesus' own people - probably much less than one percent - that was willing to cooperate with the oppressive Roman rulers "delivered Jesus over" to the Romans who mocked and tortured and crucified him. These few among Jesus' own people, basically the Herodians who as political and religious leaders were vassals of the Roman state, were understandably afraid that the common people of the land, who were given hope when Jesus proclaimed boldly and openly that Yahweh, not Caesar, is Lord, might rise up against the Roman oppressors. These few, together with the Roman representative Pontius Pilate and the Legion of Roman occupation troops, did to Jesus what they had done so many times before and would do many times later. They seized the top leaders among the common, oppressed people, and the Romans promptly crucified them, using the ready-made inscription on their cross, "King of the Jews," as a most effective public warning to other leaders among the oppressed that, if they would give hope to the oppressed people, they would soon die on the same cross. Even though Jesus, his mother, his brothers and sisters, and all of their oppressed fellow Jews knew this all too well, Jesus went up to Jerusalem anyway to proclaim there what he had proclaimed in Galilee, that Yahweh, not Caesar, is Lord. He went up, as Matthew 20:17-28 clearly indicates, "to give his life as a ransom for many." He went up, not to be served, but to serve. He went up, while his followers quarreled over leadership roles in his kingdom, as they would later quarrel over leadership roles in the church.
The "bad news" in this text, which permeates the text, is the human condition of sin, jealousy, hatred, and suffering. The "good news" of this text, which nevertheless shines through the text, is Jesus' life of proclamation of God and service to people, and the announcement that on the third day God will raise him from the dead.
It was not "safe" for the inspired writers of the New Testament documents to depict in writing the political situation in Palestine as it is depicted here, but it is "safe" for us to depict it as it was, and for us to speak out against oppression and for God as Jesus did and to proclaim that he gave his life because he was not afraid to proclaim God and to give hope to his people, even though these courageous actions led to his death on the cross. This is what God through this text calls us to proclaim and to do.
Common, Roman Catholic
In the Common and Roman Catholic selections, the Lord (Yahweh in Psalm 23 and 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Jesus in Ephesians 5:8-14 and in John 9:1-41) overcomes the darkness of the "valley of the shadow of death" and provides life and hope all of our days.
Common, Roman Catholic: Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is certainly for us an effective psalm of hope. When we are confronted by the death of loved ones or by the reality of our own impending death, we turn individually and as the church corporately to this Israelite song of trust. It may even be accurate to state that Psalm 23 is one of the few texts of the Israelite Scriptures that has greater use among Christians than it has among Jews. For us, of course, the Lord is not only Yahweh but also Jesus and "all the days of our life" are perceived to include not only life in this time and space but also eternal life beyond the limits of this time and space.
Common:
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Roman Catholic: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13
According to this text, "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily over David" from the time that Samuel anointed him. The shepherd boy became the chosen one of the shepherd God, the designated king over Israel the People of God. From grief and despair over Saul, the prophet Samuel turns to hope and gladness over the shepherd lad David. Even so we also are called to turn from grief and despair to hope and gladness repeatedly during this Lenten Season.
Common, Roman Catholic: Ephesians 5:8-14
The Gentile background followers of Jesus addressed by the Pauline writer of Ephesians 5:8-14 are told that although they were once blind in darkness, they now can see with the light of their Lord Jesus the Christ. A source that probably comes from some gnosticizing Christian document unknown to us is quoted in 5:14 as an indication of how the Christ will shine on these Gentile background followers of Jesus. They, and we, are admonished to honorable conduct, as is appropriate for children of light.
Common, Roman Catholic: John 9:1-41
When we are not so heavily distracted by the unnecessary anti-Jewish polemic of this Johannine mini-drama, we see also how we who are "blind" from the day of our birth are to be led by stages to full sight. Like the man in this text, we also are to look up, to recognize in Jesus first a prophet, then the Son of man, and finally in the Johannine Jesus fully revealed to us, a divine figure the Risen Christ to be worshiped.
For additional comments on this "most elaborate success story in all of the Four Gospel accounts," please see Norman A. Beck, Mature Christianity: The Recognition and Repudiation of the Anti-Jewish Polemic of the New Testament, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press, 1985, pp. 261-262.
Lutheran:
Among the many themes presented in Psalm 43, Hosea 5:15--6:2, Romans 8:1-10, and Matthew 20:17-28, there is the important unifying factor that in each text there is suffering and in each text the suffering is or will be overcome by action on God's part. The "bad news" in each text is the human condition of sin and suffering; the "good news" in each text is the proclamation that God overcomes that suffering. We too can recognize the sin and suffering of our human condition and proclaim the gospel of God in our situation. In these texts we have four excellent biblical resources that can be the basis for our message.
Lutheran: Psalm 43
Psalm 43 is the final third of the unit of material that comes to us as Psalms 42-43. The genre is basically personal lament. The psalmist calls upon Elohim (not Yahweh) throughout the psalm. The situation appears to be one in which the writer is isolated from the rest of the Israelite people, perhaps in the Mt. Hermon region, the head waters of the Jordan. The lament includes introspection, and in the introspection the self is chided and urged to trust in Elohim, who will certainly guide the psalmist to the holy place where thanks can be given to Elohim. The psalmist tries to reassure the psalmist's self that Elohim will overcome the present suffering and bring joy and gladness.
Lutheran: Hosea 5:15--6:2
In this text the suffering of the People of God is attributed to the guilt of the people for turning away from Yahweh. The theology of this section of the Hosea tradition is that Yahweh tears apart and strikes out against Yahweh's people because they have turned away from Yahweh. However, within two or three days (very soon) Yahweh will end the suffering and revive the people. The people are perceived as a corporate personality who shall be revived within "two or three days." We can see this text, therefore, as an important step in the process in which hope developed for the resurrection and new life of the People of God (Israel) as a whole, of institutions such as prophecy within Israel, and finally of individual Israelites. Although the situation is in some respects, of course, different for us as followers of Jesus after his crucifixion, our faith in the power of God is not different from the faith proclaimed in this text. It is our belief that God revived Jesus within "two or three days" after the Romans had killed him. It is our belief that God will also revive us soon after we die.
We notice how completely the power of Yahweh is proclaimed in this text. There is no "Devil" or "Satan" who can be blamed for the suffering. People hurt people; people cause the suffering. Nevertheless, God is in control. God will cause suffering to end. This is the theology that we should proclaim with this text.
Lutheran: Romans 8:1-10
Obviously sin and death are the human condition for everyone. However, for those who are "in Christ," regardless of whether they are of Jewish or of non-Jewish background, there is no longer condemnation because of sin. God overcomes sin, suffering, and death. God declares us to be "not guilty" in a new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" that provides life in Jesus as the Christ. We are to be guided by this new "Torah of the Spirit."
What are the implications of this text for us today? What is being proclaimtd as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" in the church and in the synagogue and in the mosque today? What are we as Lutheran Catholic Christians proclaiming as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" today? What shall we proclaim as the new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" next Sunday on Lent 4? Let us listen to God through these texts. What new "Torah" do we hear from God today in our situation? Within the tradition received from God through the Apostle Paul, let us proclaim this new, spoken "Torah of the Spirit" courageously. For this we are called. No old, warmed-over sermon will do.
Lutheran: Matthew 20:17-28
It would be helpful as we proclaim this prediction of the arrest, condemnation, torturing, and crucifixion of Jesus if we would share as much as possible of what can be known about the political situation in Palestine at the time of Jesus' death. When we do this, the suffering and death of Jesus have even greater meaning for us today than if we do no more than paraphrase the text.
Analysis of the political situation of Palestine during the first century indicates that Jesus was not crucified merely because he was such a good man, nor solely because it was God's will that he suffer a most painful and degrading death. Palestine had been occupied by Roman military forces for many decades prior to Jesus' birth, and the Roman rule in Palestine was far more oppressive than a surface reading of the Gospel accounts indicates. Only the very small percentage of Jesus' own people - probably much less than one percent - that was willing to cooperate with the oppressive Roman rulers "delivered Jesus over" to the Romans who mocked and tortured and crucified him. These few among Jesus' own people, basically the Herodians who as political and religious leaders were vassals of the Roman state, were understandably afraid that the common people of the land, who were given hope when Jesus proclaimed boldly and openly that Yahweh, not Caesar, is Lord, might rise up against the Roman oppressors. These few, together with the Roman representative Pontius Pilate and the Legion of Roman occupation troops, did to Jesus what they had done so many times before and would do many times later. They seized the top leaders among the common, oppressed people, and the Romans promptly crucified them, using the ready-made inscription on their cross, "King of the Jews," as a most effective public warning to other leaders among the oppressed that, if they would give hope to the oppressed people, they would soon die on the same cross. Even though Jesus, his mother, his brothers and sisters, and all of their oppressed fellow Jews knew this all too well, Jesus went up to Jerusalem anyway to proclaim there what he had proclaimed in Galilee, that Yahweh, not Caesar, is Lord. He went up, as Matthew 20:17-28 clearly indicates, "to give his life as a ransom for many." He went up, not to be served, but to serve. He went up, while his followers quarreled over leadership roles in his kingdom, as they would later quarrel over leadership roles in the church.
The "bad news" in this text, which permeates the text, is the human condition of sin, jealousy, hatred, and suffering. The "good news" of this text, which nevertheless shines through the text, is Jesus' life of proclamation of God and service to people, and the announcement that on the third day God will raise him from the dead.
It was not "safe" for the inspired writers of the New Testament documents to depict in writing the political situation in Palestine as it is depicted here, but it is "safe" for us to depict it as it was, and for us to speak out against oppression and for God as Jesus did and to proclaim that he gave his life because he was not afraid to proclaim God and to give hope to his people, even though these courageous actions led to his death on the cross. This is what God through this text calls us to proclaim and to do.
