Proper 16
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook, SERIES II
for use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
Comments on the Lessons
The Jeremiah passage tells of the prophet's confrontation with the false prophet Hananiah in August, 594 B.C. The Isaiah reading foretells the return of Israel, and the fate of the wicked with the praise of God by his people. In the Hebrews 12:18-29 passage, the heavenly Jerusalem is described, a kingdom which cannot be shaken. Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 sounds a note of encouragement and interprets discipline by God as a sign of God's love which produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness. It was dealt with in (L) last week and will not be repeated here. Luke records Jesus' teaching about the End of the age when Messiah will come.
Commentary
Jeremiah 28:1-9 (C)
Our pericope is part of larger section of verses 1-17, telling of Jeremiah's confrontation with Hananiah. Verse 17 tells us Hananiah died in the same year this happened, in the seventh month, but the circumstances are not given. In the Septuagint Hananiah is called a "false prophet." The date was August, 594 B.C. The place is the Temple in Jerusalem, in the presence of the priests and all the people.
This story is an independent account, and we should read it as such, understanding it apart from what precedes and follows in chapters 27 and 29. To do otherwise will only expose contradictions between chapter 28 and the remainder of the tradition. In fact, Carroll in his commentary on Jeremiah treats this as a story rather than a historical account of a real event. Others, like Koch, regard it as an eye-witness account which is fully reliable.
The main thrust of this passage is the assertion of the truth of Jeremiah's prophetic word. This is done in an indirect way by focusing on Hananiah and letting God distinguish between the two:
"As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet." (v. 9)
Earlier in chapter 29, Jeremiah's message had been validated by princes and people. Now God puts his stamp of approval on Jeremiah's message in relation to the king of Babylon. Hananiah serves as a foil, and at the end of the account his dead body invalidates his message, vindicating God's word as spoken by Jeremiah.
Very little is told about Hananiah. He is in some ways the "shadow" or "mirror image" of Jeremiah. Their ideologies are quite opposite, but they share their claim to speak for Yahweh, Israel's God. Hananiah comes from outside Jerusalem, and he speaks to Jeremiah in the Temple, in front of the priests and all the people. Hananiah is pictured as a "peace" prophet, while Jeremiah is a prophet of war.
We are told only of Hananiah's message in verses 2-4, and his action in verses 10-11. He represented the anti-Babylonian element in Judea. In shaping this story, the redactors make Hananiah the foil for picturing Jeremiah as the true prophet. One, Hananiah, is portrayed as being self-assertive, wnile Jeremiah (in an uncharacteristic way) is a listener and humble servant of God. Elsewhere Jeremiah denounces the false prophets, who are silent or have words put into their mouths. Because of the peculiarities of chapter 28, we should treat it as a disjunctive story.
Jeremiah sides with tradition and against innovation. He speaks a word of judgment, over against a promise of salvation. Notice that verse 9 is a blocking move which is full of subtle nuances. While it appears to leave the issue open, it has actually closed it, since the weight of tradition is now against Hananiah. Hananiah is faced with the question of what to do. Wait two years? But he cannot, for this would expose him to ridicule and an empty career. But instead of keeping silent, he acts, taking the yoke-bars from Jeremiah's neck and breaking them. (v. 10) He did this while saying, "Thus saith Yahweh ..." The preacher should read the whole chapter in order better to interpret our pericope. Jeremiah gets iron yoke-bars, which cannot be broken, replacing the ones Hananiah broke. Then Hananiah dies, with no one to mourn him or bury him, and so the story ends. There will be no return of the temple furnishings, or of Jeconiah and the exiles to Jerusalem, as he had prophesied. Rather, God's word to Jeremiah is confirmed.
Isaiah 66:18-23 (L)
Isaiah 66:18-21 (RC)
In these closing verses of the book of Isaiah we have described the return of Israel and the fate of those who have rebelled against God. In verses 18, 19, and 21, God's glory among the nations is portrayed. Note that verse 18 is corrupt and some scholars suggest that the words "their thoughts and their deeds" should be transferred to verse 17. The Hebrew lacks "know" in verse 18, which makes the reading of verse 18:
But I am coming
to gather all nations and tongues;
and they come and see my glory.
Also, note that the words "but I am coming" relate to the words "he comes" in verse 15, where the writer says the Lord will "come in fire." The meaning is that God's coming to judge the world is far from being the final act. Rather, it is followed by something else, namely, a gathering which is unique in Israel's history. Elsewhere, "gathering" (when prompted by God) refers to the bringing back of dispersed Israelites. But here it includes all nations and tongues, which means that God's salvation is truly universal. The purpose of this gathering is that all people may come and see God's glory. (v. 18)
In verse 19 we read that God will set a sign among them. The Dead Sea Scroll reads "signs." But the sign or signs are not clearly stated. Nor is it stated among whom the sign(s) will be set up. Note that the glory of God is a dynamic, active reality, working destruction on some and salvation on others.
God says he will send survivors to the nations, to the coastlands afar off that have neither heard of him nor seen his glory, that they shall declare God's glory among all the nations. Consider that this is the first sure and certain mention of mission as we know and use the term today. Individuals are sent to proclaim God's glory among the nations. This corresponds to the mission of the apostles in the New Testament. It is significant that here, at the end of Isaiah and as the Old Testament is coming to an end, God's way is seen as leading from the narrow confines of Israel as God's chosen people out into the whole world. The Word of God's glory is borne by his messengers to peoples of the world. This parallels Isaiah 45:20-25, and is the thrust of the servant songs, which describe the Servant as one appointed as a light to the nations. The Servant will bring justice to all peoples. Those who are survivors from a catastrophe, who have experienced God as savior in their lives, go out to those who have not seen and heard.
Notice that verse 21 makes the point that the witnesses and messengers from the nations are as much a part of the chosen people as those whom they win over by their witnessing. Therefore, they are qualified for service in the holy place. But reflect on the paradox here: Gentiles who were not priests by descent are admitted to the innermost circles of priesthood! We cannot be certain whether "and some of them" refers to the Diaspora or to the nations in general. But the universal thrust is congenial with verses 20, 23.
Take notice that verse 22 promises the final, uninterrupted and complete continuance of the Jewish cultic community. "The new heaven and the new earth" and the community are tied together. The latter is to be as enduring as the former.
In verses 23-24 the author develops further aspects of this final, everlasting persistence, everlasting worship, and everlasting judgment. The same thrust is found in Zechariah 14:16ff.
Unfortunately for the church and hearers of the lectionary readings verse 24 is omitted by both Lutheran and Roman Catholic lectionaries. A biblical scholar no less than Walter Brueggemann called attention to such deliberate omissions by the shapers of the lectionary in a forum during his Sprunt Lectures at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia in 1987, and in a personal letter to me. To omit biblical references to judgment, punishment and hell from the lectionary readings is to give a distorted understanding of the biblical message.
According to Claus Westermann in his commentary, verse 24 provides the earliest idea of hell as the state of perdition. It doesn't set well with the contemporary emphasis on "possibility thinking" or "positive thinking" or with the contemporary American mindset. But the worm that does not die and the fire that shall not be quenched will be the punishment for those who rebelled against God. They will be an abhorence to all flesh.
The Masora directed that when this passage is read in the synagogue, verse 23 should be repeated after the reading of verse 24, and some manuscripts actually do this, so that the reading does not end with the awful oracle of doom, but with a promise. Mark has a number of references to Isaiah 66:24 in Mark 9:43-48. The idea of eternal destruction made a deep impression.
Consider that in this passage we have two different biblical traditions side by side: verses 18ff and 21, and verses 20, 22ff stand side by side. In the post-exilic period the thinking about the way in which God was going to act upon Israel and other nations took two different roads. Westermann agrees with the first, which stresses the great missionary move out to the nations. But we must remember at the same time that a theology which sets up one place of eternal annihilation for all God's enemies, and which restricts worship to one place, is foreign to the central core of the Old Testament. So we are left with a tension between different roads, and the preacher must deal with this in light of the New Testament's teaching.
Hebrews 12:18-29 (C)
Hebrews 12:18-24 (L)
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 (RC) (see previous Sunday text)
The theme of this pericope is the new accessibility of God's holiness. Note the contrast between God's giving the Law at Mount Sinai, with its fire, darkness, gloom, tempest, sound of trumpet, and voice, over against the tender graciousness of God's revelation in Christ. The sight was so terrifying that Moses trembled with fear. But now the reader has come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jersualem, says the author. God now invites the reader to come to the gathering of angels in festal celebration, to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.
How much more, the winter asks, should not the reality of the heavenly Jerusalem inspire obedience over against its earthly copy? And how much greater is the dread of rejecting the new city? The punch line is in verse 28: "Therefore let us be grateful ... and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe."
This passage has been carefully designed to contrast two dramatic reflections. The approach to Sinai was such that it was emotionally disintegrating, making Moses tremble with fear. While the approach to heaven might be more awesome, the author makes it inviting, although it is dramatically different from this life. Note the contrast of awe as fear (as Sinai) with awe in the sense of holy joy (in the heavenly Jersualem).
The description of Sinai is drawn from Old Testament sources which the writer remembers. Compare the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem with that in the book of Revelation. The concept of the heavenly Jerusalem was common in late Judaism. Those who live there are God, angels, humans and Jesus.
See the contrast between the sprinkled blood of Abel, which cried out for revenge, and the blood of Jesus, which effected purification in preparation for entering the presence of God. The KJV use of "better" in verse 24 is preferred to the RSV's "more graciously." The writer does not contrast the efficacy of Abel's sacrifice and Christ's, although he might. Rather, the contrast is between Jesus and Abel.
In verses 25-29 we have the final warning which compares what happened on earth and its consequences, with the heavenly message and its even greater consequences. Who gives warning on earth - whether it is Moses or God - is not clear. Nor is it any clearer who gives warning in heaven, Jesus or God. The language suggests that God is meant in both cases, however. But the connection between verses 24, and verse 25 points to Jesus as "him who is speaking" in verse 25. In any case, it is God speaking through Moses and Jesus, rather than their own speaking.
The voice of heaven will shake not only earth but also heaven. (Haggai 2:6) When this occurs, all that is changeable will be removed. Only what cannot be shaken will remain. Note the positive note on which the exhortation ends: we have a Kingdom which cannot be shaken. We can now offer to God worship acceptable to God with reverence and awe.
Consider how skillfully the author combines both the awful majesty and the holiness of God. Not many writers have achieved the success found here, showing both God's approachability and his graciousness in Christ.
"For our God is a consuming fire," verse 29, may seem a mistaken understanding of the Gospel message of God's love. While the words carry the note of warning, the major emphasis is assurance. We who have by faith received the Kingdom of God which cannot be shaken, have assurance of peace with God, since God destroys all that is transient, so that what is unchanging may appear in its full glory.
Luke 13:22-30
The major theme of this passage is the End of the age. This passage might be called the account of the rejected seekers. It is composed of four parts: (1) the initial questions and answer, verses 22-24; (2) an appended prophetic allegory, verses 26-27; (3) a judgment oracle, verses 28f; and (4) a saying which concludes the episode, verse 30. We can find a number of parallel sayings in the Gospel of Matthew.
The major thrust of the allegory and oracle in verses 25-29 is the rejected seekers, and Jesus' comments on them. Consider that the setting is the messianic banquet at the consummation of the age. Jesus is the host, and is clearly meant to be seen as the Messiah. The seekers call him Lord. Note that the seekers ate and drank with Jesus once and even listened to his teaching and think they have a right to be there. But they are thrust out, and instead, "men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the Kingdom of God," verse 29. Thus the time of the joyful fulfillment of God's Kingdom is also a time of judgment. And in this judgment there will be surprising reversals: "Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last," verse 30. While the original prophecies of Jesus pointed only to the Jewish multitudes who did not follow him and to his opponents, it appears in verse 30 that the application is made to all his followers who do not seek to enter by the "narrow door."
The question asked of Jesus in verse 23, about the number to be saved, was one often asked. Jewish theologians were divided on this question. Notice that Jesus does not directly answer the question whether those saved will be few, but turns the questioner's attention from concern about others to concern about himself. Since many will seek to enter the Kingdom of God, this is reason for one to "strive" to enter by the narrow door.
Regarding the two ways, the narrow and the wide doors, Matthew 7:13f describes them further. Note this is not a spatial image regarding two doors in heaven. Rather, it is a contrast between this age and the age to come. The last judgment will be a division among people.
"When once the householder ..." in verse 25 refers to the End of the age. We have an interesting mix of both allegory and parable here.
In verse 27 the rejected are lumped with the enemies of the righteous.
The messianic banquet is anticipated in verse 29, when "men," referring to Gentiles, will come and sit at table in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus' Jewish listeners are mortified by their own exclusion and the inclusion of the Gentiles in the Kingdom. Many surprises will come at the judgment since the standards of the heavenly kingdom are so different from those of this world.
In summary, Jesus refuses to speculate about how many will be saved, for this is a matter best left to God alone in his infinite wisdom. The critical issue for all people, then and now, is this: the Kingdom of God is present and the door is open. It is a narrow door, and a person can only enter by thrusting oneself with determination through it. It will not remain open forever, so one may miss the opportunity to enter. All who enter the narrow door are members of God's family, but those who wait until the door is shut find themselves outside and strangers to him.
Theological Reflections
The Jeremiah 28 passage deals with true and false prophecy in the name of God, and Jeremiah's proven authentic word from God. The reading from Isaiah 66 has a great missionary thrust with its vision of survivors going to all the nations to declare God's glory and bringing people from all
nations as an offering to God. The new heaven and earth shall remain forever. In verse 24, the note of judgment on those who rebel against God should not be omitted. The Hebrews reading contrasts the revelation of God at Sinai with the revelation through Jesus Christ, and is an invitation to worship God with reverence and awe. In the Lucan passage Jesus deals with the End Time and the need to enter now by the narrow door to the Kingdom of God through a deliberate decision.
Homiletical Moves
Jeremiah 28:1-9
The True Test of Prophecy: Fulfillment!
1. Hananiah, a peace prophet, confronts Jeremiah in front of the priests and all the people in the Temple
2. Hananiah prophesies that within two years God will bring back the exiles and the vessels of the Temple back to Jerusalem from Babylon
3. Jeremiah points to the past prophets who prophesied war, famine, and pestilence, and says that the prophet's truth or falsehood will be determined by the actual outcome
4. In Jesus Christ God has spoken to us a word of judgment and grace on our lives
5. Let us turn in repentance from sin, to accept the grace of Jesus Christ who gives true peace
Isaiah 66:18-23 (L)
Isaiah 66:18-21 (RC)
They Shall Come and See My Glory, Says the Lord
1. God declares that he is coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall see his glory
2. God will send out missionaries from among the survivors to the nations, to declare his glory
3. The missionaries shall bring people from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, and God will take some for priests and Levites
4. The community of faith shall remain before God like the new heavens and the new earth, and all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord
5. But those who rebel against God shall be punished with the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched
6. Let us repent and turn to God revealed in Christ Jesus; and he will reveal his glory to us now and in the age to come.
Hebrews 12:18-29 (C)
Hebrews 12:18-24 (L)
Therefore Let Us Be Grateful and Worship God!
1. We have not come to Mount Sinai, which made Moses tremble with fear
2. Rather, we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and
a. to innumerable angels in festal gathering
b. to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven
c. to a judge who is God of all
d. to the spirits of just ones made perfect
e. to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
f. to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel
3. See that you do not refuse God who is speaking, whose voice shook the earth, and who has promised to shake earth and heaven again
4. God will remove that which is shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain
5. Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
6. Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 13:22-30
Strive to Enter By the Narrow Door!
1. Jesus replies to the question whether few or many will be saved by telling a parable/allegory
2. Jesus urges us to enter by the narrow door, since many will seek to enter and cannot
3. Jesus compares the Kingdom to a householder who has shut the door, and when those outside complain they ate and drank in his presence, and heard him teach, he will say, "I do not know where you come from, depart from me"
4. Jesus says people will come from east and west, north and south, and sit at table in the Kingdom of God
5. Jesus declares that some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last, indicating the surprises to come in the judgment
The preacher may want to draw from the other pericopes in building the sermon based on the Lucan reading. The note of judgment found in Jeremiah, and especially in the Isaiah 66 passage, and in Hebrews will enrich the vision of the coming judgment. The sermon should not be watered down by ignoring the note of judgment in an attempt to make the sermon palatable for the contemporary audience. The prophecy of Hananiah, announcing "peace" when there was no peace, speaks to the preacher and contemporary world who would falsely preach peace and good times for all, when God's judgment in surely coming.
Hymn for Proper 16: We Are Living, We Are Dwelling
Prayer
Gracious God, who has come to us in Jesus Christ as a God of judgment and of mercy, we praise and adore you. We pray that we may enter the narrow door to your Kingdom and sit at table with those who come from east, west, north and south. May we not delay, rebel or doubt and so find ourselves outside the door, knocking in vain to come in. Grant that we may be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and offer to you acceptable worship. Amen
The Jeremiah passage tells of the prophet's confrontation with the false prophet Hananiah in August, 594 B.C. The Isaiah reading foretells the return of Israel, and the fate of the wicked with the praise of God by his people. In the Hebrews 12:18-29 passage, the heavenly Jerusalem is described, a kingdom which cannot be shaken. Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 sounds a note of encouragement and interprets discipline by God as a sign of God's love which produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness. It was dealt with in (L) last week and will not be repeated here. Luke records Jesus' teaching about the End of the age when Messiah will come.
Commentary
Jeremiah 28:1-9 (C)
Our pericope is part of larger section of verses 1-17, telling of Jeremiah's confrontation with Hananiah. Verse 17 tells us Hananiah died in the same year this happened, in the seventh month, but the circumstances are not given. In the Septuagint Hananiah is called a "false prophet." The date was August, 594 B.C. The place is the Temple in Jerusalem, in the presence of the priests and all the people.
This story is an independent account, and we should read it as such, understanding it apart from what precedes and follows in chapters 27 and 29. To do otherwise will only expose contradictions between chapter 28 and the remainder of the tradition. In fact, Carroll in his commentary on Jeremiah treats this as a story rather than a historical account of a real event. Others, like Koch, regard it as an eye-witness account which is fully reliable.
The main thrust of this passage is the assertion of the truth of Jeremiah's prophetic word. This is done in an indirect way by focusing on Hananiah and letting God distinguish between the two:
"As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet." (v. 9)
Earlier in chapter 29, Jeremiah's message had been validated by princes and people. Now God puts his stamp of approval on Jeremiah's message in relation to the king of Babylon. Hananiah serves as a foil, and at the end of the account his dead body invalidates his message, vindicating God's word as spoken by Jeremiah.
Very little is told about Hananiah. He is in some ways the "shadow" or "mirror image" of Jeremiah. Their ideologies are quite opposite, but they share their claim to speak for Yahweh, Israel's God. Hananiah comes from outside Jerusalem, and he speaks to Jeremiah in the Temple, in front of the priests and all the people. Hananiah is pictured as a "peace" prophet, while Jeremiah is a prophet of war.
We are told only of Hananiah's message in verses 2-4, and his action in verses 10-11. He represented the anti-Babylonian element in Judea. In shaping this story, the redactors make Hananiah the foil for picturing Jeremiah as the true prophet. One, Hananiah, is portrayed as being self-assertive, wnile Jeremiah (in an uncharacteristic way) is a listener and humble servant of God. Elsewhere Jeremiah denounces the false prophets, who are silent or have words put into their mouths. Because of the peculiarities of chapter 28, we should treat it as a disjunctive story.
Jeremiah sides with tradition and against innovation. He speaks a word of judgment, over against a promise of salvation. Notice that verse 9 is a blocking move which is full of subtle nuances. While it appears to leave the issue open, it has actually closed it, since the weight of tradition is now against Hananiah. Hananiah is faced with the question of what to do. Wait two years? But he cannot, for this would expose him to ridicule and an empty career. But instead of keeping silent, he acts, taking the yoke-bars from Jeremiah's neck and breaking them. (v. 10) He did this while saying, "Thus saith Yahweh ..." The preacher should read the whole chapter in order better to interpret our pericope. Jeremiah gets iron yoke-bars, which cannot be broken, replacing the ones Hananiah broke. Then Hananiah dies, with no one to mourn him or bury him, and so the story ends. There will be no return of the temple furnishings, or of Jeconiah and the exiles to Jerusalem, as he had prophesied. Rather, God's word to Jeremiah is confirmed.
Isaiah 66:18-23 (L)
Isaiah 66:18-21 (RC)
In these closing verses of the book of Isaiah we have described the return of Israel and the fate of those who have rebelled against God. In verses 18, 19, and 21, God's glory among the nations is portrayed. Note that verse 18 is corrupt and some scholars suggest that the words "their thoughts and their deeds" should be transferred to verse 17. The Hebrew lacks "know" in verse 18, which makes the reading of verse 18:
But I am coming
to gather all nations and tongues;
and they come and see my glory.
Also, note that the words "but I am coming" relate to the words "he comes" in verse 15, where the writer says the Lord will "come in fire." The meaning is that God's coming to judge the world is far from being the final act. Rather, it is followed by something else, namely, a gathering which is unique in Israel's history. Elsewhere, "gathering" (when prompted by God) refers to the bringing back of dispersed Israelites. But here it includes all nations and tongues, which means that God's salvation is truly universal. The purpose of this gathering is that all people may come and see God's glory. (v. 18)
In verse 19 we read that God will set a sign among them. The Dead Sea Scroll reads "signs." But the sign or signs are not clearly stated. Nor is it stated among whom the sign(s) will be set up. Note that the glory of God is a dynamic, active reality, working destruction on some and salvation on others.
God says he will send survivors to the nations, to the coastlands afar off that have neither heard of him nor seen his glory, that they shall declare God's glory among all the nations. Consider that this is the first sure and certain mention of mission as we know and use the term today. Individuals are sent to proclaim God's glory among the nations. This corresponds to the mission of the apostles in the New Testament. It is significant that here, at the end of Isaiah and as the Old Testament is coming to an end, God's way is seen as leading from the narrow confines of Israel as God's chosen people out into the whole world. The Word of God's glory is borne by his messengers to peoples of the world. This parallels Isaiah 45:20-25, and is the thrust of the servant songs, which describe the Servant as one appointed as a light to the nations. The Servant will bring justice to all peoples. Those who are survivors from a catastrophe, who have experienced God as savior in their lives, go out to those who have not seen and heard.
Notice that verse 21 makes the point that the witnesses and messengers from the nations are as much a part of the chosen people as those whom they win over by their witnessing. Therefore, they are qualified for service in the holy place. But reflect on the paradox here: Gentiles who were not priests by descent are admitted to the innermost circles of priesthood! We cannot be certain whether "and some of them" refers to the Diaspora or to the nations in general. But the universal thrust is congenial with verses 20, 23.
Take notice that verse 22 promises the final, uninterrupted and complete continuance of the Jewish cultic community. "The new heaven and the new earth" and the community are tied together. The latter is to be as enduring as the former.
In verses 23-24 the author develops further aspects of this final, everlasting persistence, everlasting worship, and everlasting judgment. The same thrust is found in Zechariah 14:16ff.
Unfortunately for the church and hearers of the lectionary readings verse 24 is omitted by both Lutheran and Roman Catholic lectionaries. A biblical scholar no less than Walter Brueggemann called attention to such deliberate omissions by the shapers of the lectionary in a forum during his Sprunt Lectures at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia in 1987, and in a personal letter to me. To omit biblical references to judgment, punishment and hell from the lectionary readings is to give a distorted understanding of the biblical message.
According to Claus Westermann in his commentary, verse 24 provides the earliest idea of hell as the state of perdition. It doesn't set well with the contemporary emphasis on "possibility thinking" or "positive thinking" or with the contemporary American mindset. But the worm that does not die and the fire that shall not be quenched will be the punishment for those who rebelled against God. They will be an abhorence to all flesh.
The Masora directed that when this passage is read in the synagogue, verse 23 should be repeated after the reading of verse 24, and some manuscripts actually do this, so that the reading does not end with the awful oracle of doom, but with a promise. Mark has a number of references to Isaiah 66:24 in Mark 9:43-48. The idea of eternal destruction made a deep impression.
Consider that in this passage we have two different biblical traditions side by side: verses 18ff and 21, and verses 20, 22ff stand side by side. In the post-exilic period the thinking about the way in which God was going to act upon Israel and other nations took two different roads. Westermann agrees with the first, which stresses the great missionary move out to the nations. But we must remember at the same time that a theology which sets up one place of eternal annihilation for all God's enemies, and which restricts worship to one place, is foreign to the central core of the Old Testament. So we are left with a tension between different roads, and the preacher must deal with this in light of the New Testament's teaching.
Hebrews 12:18-29 (C)
Hebrews 12:18-24 (L)
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 (RC) (see previous Sunday text)
The theme of this pericope is the new accessibility of God's holiness. Note the contrast between God's giving the Law at Mount Sinai, with its fire, darkness, gloom, tempest, sound of trumpet, and voice, over against the tender graciousness of God's revelation in Christ. The sight was so terrifying that Moses trembled with fear. But now the reader has come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jersualem, says the author. God now invites the reader to come to the gathering of angels in festal celebration, to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.
How much more, the winter asks, should not the reality of the heavenly Jerusalem inspire obedience over against its earthly copy? And how much greater is the dread of rejecting the new city? The punch line is in verse 28: "Therefore let us be grateful ... and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe."
This passage has been carefully designed to contrast two dramatic reflections. The approach to Sinai was such that it was emotionally disintegrating, making Moses tremble with fear. While the approach to heaven might be more awesome, the author makes it inviting, although it is dramatically different from this life. Note the contrast of awe as fear (as Sinai) with awe in the sense of holy joy (in the heavenly Jersualem).
The description of Sinai is drawn from Old Testament sources which the writer remembers. Compare the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem with that in the book of Revelation. The concept of the heavenly Jerusalem was common in late Judaism. Those who live there are God, angels, humans and Jesus.
See the contrast between the sprinkled blood of Abel, which cried out for revenge, and the blood of Jesus, which effected purification in preparation for entering the presence of God. The KJV use of "better" in verse 24 is preferred to the RSV's "more graciously." The writer does not contrast the efficacy of Abel's sacrifice and Christ's, although he might. Rather, the contrast is between Jesus and Abel.
In verses 25-29 we have the final warning which compares what happened on earth and its consequences, with the heavenly message and its even greater consequences. Who gives warning on earth - whether it is Moses or God - is not clear. Nor is it any clearer who gives warning in heaven, Jesus or God. The language suggests that God is meant in both cases, however. But the connection between verses 24, and verse 25 points to Jesus as "him who is speaking" in verse 25. In any case, it is God speaking through Moses and Jesus, rather than their own speaking.
The voice of heaven will shake not only earth but also heaven. (Haggai 2:6) When this occurs, all that is changeable will be removed. Only what cannot be shaken will remain. Note the positive note on which the exhortation ends: we have a Kingdom which cannot be shaken. We can now offer to God worship acceptable to God with reverence and awe.
Consider how skillfully the author combines both the awful majesty and the holiness of God. Not many writers have achieved the success found here, showing both God's approachability and his graciousness in Christ.
"For our God is a consuming fire," verse 29, may seem a mistaken understanding of the Gospel message of God's love. While the words carry the note of warning, the major emphasis is assurance. We who have by faith received the Kingdom of God which cannot be shaken, have assurance of peace with God, since God destroys all that is transient, so that what is unchanging may appear in its full glory.
Luke 13:22-30
The major theme of this passage is the End of the age. This passage might be called the account of the rejected seekers. It is composed of four parts: (1) the initial questions and answer, verses 22-24; (2) an appended prophetic allegory, verses 26-27; (3) a judgment oracle, verses 28f; and (4) a saying which concludes the episode, verse 30. We can find a number of parallel sayings in the Gospel of Matthew.
The major thrust of the allegory and oracle in verses 25-29 is the rejected seekers, and Jesus' comments on them. Consider that the setting is the messianic banquet at the consummation of the age. Jesus is the host, and is clearly meant to be seen as the Messiah. The seekers call him Lord. Note that the seekers ate and drank with Jesus once and even listened to his teaching and think they have a right to be there. But they are thrust out, and instead, "men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the Kingdom of God," verse 29. Thus the time of the joyful fulfillment of God's Kingdom is also a time of judgment. And in this judgment there will be surprising reversals: "Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last," verse 30. While the original prophecies of Jesus pointed only to the Jewish multitudes who did not follow him and to his opponents, it appears in verse 30 that the application is made to all his followers who do not seek to enter by the "narrow door."
The question asked of Jesus in verse 23, about the number to be saved, was one often asked. Jewish theologians were divided on this question. Notice that Jesus does not directly answer the question whether those saved will be few, but turns the questioner's attention from concern about others to concern about himself. Since many will seek to enter the Kingdom of God, this is reason for one to "strive" to enter by the narrow door.
Regarding the two ways, the narrow and the wide doors, Matthew 7:13f describes them further. Note this is not a spatial image regarding two doors in heaven. Rather, it is a contrast between this age and the age to come. The last judgment will be a division among people.
"When once the householder ..." in verse 25 refers to the End of the age. We have an interesting mix of both allegory and parable here.
In verse 27 the rejected are lumped with the enemies of the righteous.
The messianic banquet is anticipated in verse 29, when "men," referring to Gentiles, will come and sit at table in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus' Jewish listeners are mortified by their own exclusion and the inclusion of the Gentiles in the Kingdom. Many surprises will come at the judgment since the standards of the heavenly kingdom are so different from those of this world.
In summary, Jesus refuses to speculate about how many will be saved, for this is a matter best left to God alone in his infinite wisdom. The critical issue for all people, then and now, is this: the Kingdom of God is present and the door is open. It is a narrow door, and a person can only enter by thrusting oneself with determination through it. It will not remain open forever, so one may miss the opportunity to enter. All who enter the narrow door are members of God's family, but those who wait until the door is shut find themselves outside and strangers to him.
Theological Reflections
The Jeremiah 28 passage deals with true and false prophecy in the name of God, and Jeremiah's proven authentic word from God. The reading from Isaiah 66 has a great missionary thrust with its vision of survivors going to all the nations to declare God's glory and bringing people from all
nations as an offering to God. The new heaven and earth shall remain forever. In verse 24, the note of judgment on those who rebel against God should not be omitted. The Hebrews reading contrasts the revelation of God at Sinai with the revelation through Jesus Christ, and is an invitation to worship God with reverence and awe. In the Lucan passage Jesus deals with the End Time and the need to enter now by the narrow door to the Kingdom of God through a deliberate decision.
Homiletical Moves
Jeremiah 28:1-9
The True Test of Prophecy: Fulfillment!
1. Hananiah, a peace prophet, confronts Jeremiah in front of the priests and all the people in the Temple
2. Hananiah prophesies that within two years God will bring back the exiles and the vessels of the Temple back to Jerusalem from Babylon
3. Jeremiah points to the past prophets who prophesied war, famine, and pestilence, and says that the prophet's truth or falsehood will be determined by the actual outcome
4. In Jesus Christ God has spoken to us a word of judgment and grace on our lives
5. Let us turn in repentance from sin, to accept the grace of Jesus Christ who gives true peace
Isaiah 66:18-23 (L)
Isaiah 66:18-21 (RC)
They Shall Come and See My Glory, Says the Lord
1. God declares that he is coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall see his glory
2. God will send out missionaries from among the survivors to the nations, to declare his glory
3. The missionaries shall bring people from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, and God will take some for priests and Levites
4. The community of faith shall remain before God like the new heavens and the new earth, and all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord
5. But those who rebel against God shall be punished with the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched
6. Let us repent and turn to God revealed in Christ Jesus; and he will reveal his glory to us now and in the age to come.
Hebrews 12:18-29 (C)
Hebrews 12:18-24 (L)
Therefore Let Us Be Grateful and Worship God!
1. We have not come to Mount Sinai, which made Moses tremble with fear
2. Rather, we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and
a. to innumerable angels in festal gathering
b. to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven
c. to a judge who is God of all
d. to the spirits of just ones made perfect
e. to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
f. to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel
3. See that you do not refuse God who is speaking, whose voice shook the earth, and who has promised to shake earth and heaven again
4. God will remove that which is shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain
5. Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
6. Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 13:22-30
Strive to Enter By the Narrow Door!
1. Jesus replies to the question whether few or many will be saved by telling a parable/allegory
2. Jesus urges us to enter by the narrow door, since many will seek to enter and cannot
3. Jesus compares the Kingdom to a householder who has shut the door, and when those outside complain they ate and drank in his presence, and heard him teach, he will say, "I do not know where you come from, depart from me"
4. Jesus says people will come from east and west, north and south, and sit at table in the Kingdom of God
5. Jesus declares that some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last, indicating the surprises to come in the judgment
The preacher may want to draw from the other pericopes in building the sermon based on the Lucan reading. The note of judgment found in Jeremiah, and especially in the Isaiah 66 passage, and in Hebrews will enrich the vision of the coming judgment. The sermon should not be watered down by ignoring the note of judgment in an attempt to make the sermon palatable for the contemporary audience. The prophecy of Hananiah, announcing "peace" when there was no peace, speaks to the preacher and contemporary world who would falsely preach peace and good times for all, when God's judgment in surely coming.
Hymn for Proper 16: We Are Living, We Are Dwelling
Prayer
Gracious God, who has come to us in Jesus Christ as a God of judgment and of mercy, we praise and adore you. We pray that we may enter the narrow door to your Kingdom and sit at table with those who come from east, west, north and south. May we not delay, rebel or doubt and so find ourselves outside the door, knocking in vain to come in. Grant that we may be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and offer to you acceptable worship. Amen
