Proper 4 | Ordinary Time 9 | Pentecost 2 (Cycle C)

Sunday between May 29 and June 4 inclusive (if after Trinity Sunday)

In each of the texts selected here for this occasion, there is some indication that the Lord (Adonai in the Older Testament texts and God the Father and Jesus as the Christ in the Newer Testament texts) is God for all people. This will, therefore, be a message that we shall want to share through our use of these texts.

Psalm 96
Psalm 96:1-9

According to this Community Hymn of Praise, the glory of the Lord God of Israel is to be proclaimed among all nations, to all people. Unlike the false gods and idols of other people, the Lord God of Israel is said to be the one who created and sustains the heavens and the earth. All honor and majesty are to be given to the Lord God, and abundant offerings are to be given to the Lord, the King of all.

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the temple was probably written or at least augmented considerably during the years between 970 and 540 BCE. We note particularly the theological motif of the Deuteronomic History of Israel in Its Land in 1 Kings 8:23b, “keeping your covenant and showing your steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,” and in 8:33-34 (not included in this selection), “When your people Israel are defeated by their enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and make supplication to you in this house, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.”

The writers of these traditions attempted to justify the innovative idea of a national worship center within the recently captured city of Jerusalem, where there had been no consecrating theophany. The place “that Adonai has chosen” was actually in the eyes of most of the rural Israelites not a holy place. It was merely a royal chapel at a site selected by Solomon and built by command of the new king as a focal point for Solomon’s empire. There was understandably much opposition to the closing out and abandoning of the traditional local holy places and to the requirement of centralized worship.

1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39

The purpose of this famous story about the contest between Elijah, the only remaining prophet of the Lord God of Israel, and the 450 prophets of Baal is obviously to show that only the Lord God of Israel has awesome, unlimited power to perform a marvelous, amazing act of nature. The 450 prophets of Baal are totally powerless even when the “deck is stacked” in their favor. The story is intended to maintain the faith of those who hear it, even though in their own experience they have seen no phenomenon such as this. The story and our affirmation of faith are intended to have the same result.

Galatians 1:1-12

The Apostle Paul makes the bold claim here that because he has been commissioned by God the Father and by the Lord Jesus Christ the good news that he proclaims must not be altered or changed in any way. He appeals to God to affirm him, to God and God’s Son as the only valid authority.

Unless there is an explanation for the people today about the problem between Paul and the Judaizing followers of Jesus, Paul’s unwavering condemnation of the teachings of the Judaizing Christians in Galatians 1:6-9 can be misunderstood and misused today by those who wish to reject all innovation in worship and in all other aspects of life and to guarantee the status quo in every situation.

Luke 7:1-10

Apparently a traditional story about a healing by Jesus at a distance from the patient was developed differently in Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10, and John 4:46b-54. The Lukan account is the most fully developed. Eric Franklin, Christ the Lord: A Study in the Purpose and Theology of Luke-Acts (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975, pp. 77-79, 178-179), finds in the principal Lukan additions to this account (vv. 3-5), in which the centurion is described as one who loves the Jewish people and built the synagogue in Capernaum, and in the description of Cornelius in Acts 10:2 as “a devout man and one who fears God with all his household, giving alms for all of the people, and prays to God through everything,” something that seems to come close to a self-portrait of the Lukan writer. In Franklin’s opinion, the Lukan writer was greatly influenced by the Jewish faith (we should more precisely say by the expression of the Jewish faith in the Septuagint) and was led to see in Jesus the fulfillment of the Jewish hopes and the climax of all of God’s saving actions.

In 7:3-5 and throughout the entire Luke 7:1-10 account, the emphasis is on the faith of the centurion, a faith that does not request a sign, or even a personal contact, but relies entirely on Jesus’ word. The elders of the Jews are merely of tertiary importance in this text. They are made to beseech Jesus in behalf of the Gentile benefactor who according to this account has his request granted, his slave healed, and his faith lavishly praised.

The Greek phrase en to Israel should be translated as “among my own people,” since this is the sense of the expression within the setting of the Jesus of history, and since this translation has the double advantage of reducing the anti-Jewish polemic and helping the Christian reader or hearer today to employ this text self-critically and become more personally involved.

This text, like many others in Luke, illustrates how the Lukan writer presents Jewish leaders as relatively friendly to Jesus only to find themselves humiliated in the process. For this, see Luke 14:1-24; 17:20-21, and most of all 11:37-54.

Our situation, like that of the Lukan writer, is one in which we relate to Jesus from a distance. The distance is even greater for us, since Jesus the Christ is now for us one with God the Father within the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. We relate to the Son of God by faith and we receive the grace of God, life, new life, and healing by faith. That healing comes to us in many different forms. It does not always come to us in the way that we would like for it to come. Neither did it always come in the manner in which people expected it to come within the biblical accounts. When we receive that healing, we are to thank, praise, and glorify God and Jesus our Savior.

That healing is not limited to Christians. Just as the non-Jewish Roman centurion was a beneficiary of that healing in this Luke 7:1-10 text, non-Christians can also benefit from that healing today. The text does not state that the centurion became a follower of Jesus, although perhaps that may be implied.

Sunday between June 5 and June 11 inclusive (if after Trinity Sunday)

The principal theme in these texts is that the Lord (Adonai in the Israelite Scriptures and Jesus as the Christ in the Newer Testament) renews life. There is a progression in the texts from lifting up those who are bowed down in Psalm 146 to healing those who are at the point of death in Psalm 30 and 1 Kings 17:17-24 to bringing back to life a young man who was being carried out of a city to be buried in Luke 7:11-17. The Galatians 1:11-24 reading may seem to stand outside this theme, unless we articulate “the gospel that Paul proclaimed” (Galatians 1:11) as the good news that God raised Jesus from the dead and will also raise us from the dead.

Psalm 146

It is wise to put one’s trust in the Lord God of Jacob, who created and sustains the universe and provides justice for the oppressed and food for those who are hungry, who lifts up those who are bowed down and opens the eyes of the blind. It is not wise to trust in the political leaders of this world, who are mortal and transient. Not they, but the Lord God maintains and renews life.

Psalm 30

This beautiful Individual Hymn of Praise glorifies the Lord God for bringing the nephesh (the life, the animating principle) of the psalmist back from sheol (the abode of the dead). In its original setting, this psalm acclaims Adonai for providing a resuscitation, not a resurrection. The restorations to life proclaimed in this psalm and in the Elijah and Elisha stories (1 Kings 17:8-16, [17-24] used here with this text and in 2 Kings 4:8-37) are manifestations of the power and of the love shown by Adonai. They are intended to encourage people to respond to Adonai with praise and thanksgiving.

1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24)

For the complete picture of this account, the reading should begin with 1 Kings 17:1 and continue to the conclusion of the chapter.

We should note that the power to renew life in the young man in this text comes from the Lord (Adonai). The power is not inherent in Elijah. Also, what Elijah prays for and receives is that the nephesh (the life, the animating principle of life) return to the young man. What is said to have left and then to have returned here is the same word (nephesh) used in Psalm 30. A person who has lost one’s nephesh shows no signs of life. A person is still a person without one’s nephesh, but without one’s nephesh a person can do nothing.

The primary purpose of 1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24) apparently is to demonstrate that the power of Adonai was active in Elijah. Elijah was obviously a man of God, divinely inspired and empowered.

Luke 7:11-17

This account is another excellent example of how the inspired Lukan writer used the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible to move beyond Mark’s account. In this instance, the event is Jesus’ raising the daughter of Jairus who had just died and returning her alive to her grateful parents.

There are differences, of course, between the stories about the power of Elijah and the power of Jesus perceived as the Christ. Within the stories about Jesus as the Christ there is no necessity for Jesus to pray to God for the power to restore life. Jesus as the Christ is represented as inherently having the power and authority of God to be able to restore life. Jesus as the Christ in the Newer Testament is presented as similar to Elijah and to Elisha, but vastly superior to them. For us as Christians, God acts in a unique way in and through Jesus perceived as the Christ.

Galatians 1:11-24

Within the heat of controversy with other early developing Christians over the lifestyle appropriate for non-Jewish background followers of Jesus, the Apostle Paul claimed that the gospel that he was proclaiming came to him through a revelation of Jesus the Christ. Paul’s concern was that the gospel from Jesus Christ and about Jesus Christ be accepted by as many people as possible. Paul wanted no lifestyle hindrances to get in the way of people accepting the grace and forgiveness of God, just as for us today no lifestyle hindrances should be permitted to get in the way of people accepting the grace and forgiveness of God. The good news that God has raised Jesus from the dead and will restore and renew life for all who will accept the grace of God through Jesus Christ is the climax of the series of texts selected for our use on this occasion. It should be the climax also of the good news that we proclaim.

Sunday between June 12 and June 18 inclusive (if after Trinity Sunday)

According to these texts, the greatest need of people and the greatest gift of God are the same — the grace of God. The writer of Psalm 5 asks for the help and grace of God and in faith expects to receive it. Psalm 32 emphasizes the importance of confessing to God every type of sin. As each type of sin is acknowledged, God gives God’s grace and the sinner is forgiven. The guilt that follows the sin is taken away. In the story about Naboth and his vineyard in 1 Kings 21, even though the grace of God is not expressed, there is great need for the gift of God’s grace for all involved: for Naboth who had been murdered, for King Ahab and for his wicked Queen Jezebel who had arranged for the murder of Naboth, and for Elijah the prophet, who had the onerous task of confronting the king. In the 2 Samuel readings for this occasion, through the skillful use of a parable the terrible injustice of David’s sin with Bathsheba was expressed to King David and David had declared his own death warrant to Nathan the prophet. King David desperately needed grace and forgiveness from God, and Nathan announced that grace. According to Paul in Galatians 2:15-21, the grace of God is experienced when Christ lives in us and in faith we respond. Finally, in Luke 7:36–8:3 the grace of God is extended to an openly sinful woman who expressed her love and affection for Jesus. All of these people were in need of the grace and forgiveness of God, and whenever they were repentant and receptive, God’s grace was extended to them. The guilt of their sins was taken from them, although the destructive results of their sins remained.

Psalm 5:1-8

The psalmist speaks as a person in trouble and distress, yet with the assurance that if the psalmist turns to the Lord God and bows down in humble adoration of God in the temple of God, the psalmist will be delivered from those who want to harm the psalmist. It would be helpful to include the concluding verses 11-12 in the reading so that the call of the psalmist to God in behalf of others who are in need of the grace and protection of God would be included.

Psalm 32

Within the beatitudes of Psalm 32:1-2 and again in verse 5 the three most important words for sin in biblical Hebrew are used. In the sequence of the use of these three words in 32:5 there is an increase in the seriousness of the type of sin from word to word. First, the psalmist acknowledged failure to please God in spite of the psalmist’s best efforts. Then the psalmist admitted that the psalmist had broken the rules that God had established. Finally, the psalmist confessed the most serious sin of all, the psalmist’s attempted insurrection against God.

As is typical in Israelite Individual Hymns of Praise, Psalm 32 is an attempt to teach all who will hear the wisdom of acknowledging one’s sins to the Lord. The greatest need of people and the greatest gift of God are brought together in God’s grace here as in many other texts in the Israelite Scriptures. For more about this, see Ronald M. Hals, Grace and Faith in the Old Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1980).

1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a

As we ponder this text, we may wonder whether perhaps Naboth should have taken the offer of the king to provide a better vineyard in exchange for Naboth’s vineyard that was adjacent to the king’s palace. We occasionally have somewhat similar issues of the so-called governmental “right of eminent domain.” There was no evidence in the story, however, that the property taken would be used for “the public good.” There is, of course, also the important factor of Naboth’s vineyard being Naboth’s ancestral inheritance.

We fully realize as we read this text that King Ahab should not have been so covetous of Naboth’s vineyard that he would mope in bed and would not eat. Most of all, we know that Queen Jezebel should not have arranged for the murder of Naboth just so that her husband would be happy and productive again. One could hardly make the case that her action was justified because of her love for her husband and her desire to make him happy. At any rate, the tragedy of the story would not have occurred had any one of the three, Naboth, Ahab, or Jezebel, responded differently. All were in need of God’s grace.

2 Samuel 11:26–12:10, 13-15

After the parable used by Nathan the prophet demonstrated to David the enormity of David’s sin with Bathsheba, David admitted that he had sinned also against the Lord. Although we might think that Nathan was too quick to announce the grace of God and that the Lord was overly lenient in sparing the life of David, we see that the first child of David and Bathsheba will die and that what David had thought that he was doing privately was to be known throughout Israel.

This story also indicates that the grace of God does not undo the damage that has been done when we have sinned. Uriah the Hittite was not brought back to life, and David’s reputation and respect was permanently sullied.

Galatians 2:15-21

The most important portion of this text is obviously 2:16 and 19-21 where the emphasis is on the grace of God experienced when God lives in us and in faith we respond to God. We see in these texts that faith is best described as our grateful response to the grace of God, both in the Hebrew Bible and in our Newer Testament.

Luke 7:36–8:3

In this text, as in most of the others appointed for this occasion, the emphasis is on the grace of God. In this Lukan composition, the grace of God is extended to a woman who has been openly and blatantly sinful, but expresses her love and affection for Jesus.

This text should be compared carefully with its parallel accounts in Mark 14:3-9, Matthew 26:6-13, and John 12:1-8. Although many commentators think that these accounts record two or three separate incidents (for example, I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978, pp. 304-314]), it seems much more probable in view of the Lukan writer’s stated purpose in Luke 1:1-4 and from a detailed comparison of these four texts that as John Drury in The Gospel of Luke (New York: Macmillan, 1973, pp. 87-88), suggests, the Lukan writer took a story from Mark, lifted it from the end of Jesus’ ministry to the middle, and changed and amplified the story so brilliantly that Luke’s redacted version is the one that most people remember. Comparison of texts such as these indicates how freely the writers of the Four Gospels adapted the stories about Jesus to suit their purposes in their particular situations, not unlike the ways in which we adapt and use biblical texts in our preaching situations today. (It reminds us also of how Richard A. Clarke in Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters [New York: Harper, 2008] explains that analysts of security data in our governmental agencies often modify their reports in order to be supportive of the policies and wishes of top level policy makers.)

The Lukan writer apparently wished to heighten the act of grace and accomplished this in part by making the woman depicted in Mark 14:3-9 into “a woman who was a sinner” in Luke 7:36-50. Conceivably she may simply have been among the non-religious am-ha-aretz (ordinary people of the land), but the Lukan playwright in Luke 7:39 depicted her as a courtesan.

The alternative to the suggestion that the writers of the Four Gospels freely adapted the materials that were available to them in written and oral sources is to conclude that various women, some of whom were engaged in “questionable service” occupations, showered their affection on the Jesus of history. Perhaps most of us would be more comfortable with the idea that the Lukan playwright heightened the act of grace by changing the occupation and identity of the woman of Mark’s account.

Only the Lukan writer staged the incident in the house of a Pharisee, setting up the Pharisee in order that the Pharisee might be knocked down and disparaged. This account, therefore, should be compared in this respect to Luke 11:37-41, where Luke even more thoroughly redacted Markan material and produced an account in which Jesus responded to a meal invitation extended by a Pharisee and then engaged his host in direct, abusive condemnation. In our Luke 7:36-50 text the Pharisee is treated less harshly, but nevertheless he is embarrassed in the presence of his friends. More important than anti-Jewish polemic in Luke 7:36-50, however, was the emphasis the Lukan writer placed on the forgiveness of sins, the woman’s love, and the role and identity of Jesus as the one who shared and demonstrated the amazing grace of God.

Sunday between June 19 and 25 inclusive (if after Trinity Sunday)

Perhaps the closest we can come to identifying a unifying theme within this series of texts is to see that in each of them there is either an expectation of a new revelation from God or a declaration of it. In each instance, the new revelation will be redemptive.

Psalm 42 and 43

These two psalms are linked together in this selection because they appear actually to be one psalm. The beautiful poetic expression of desire for a revelation and redemption from God with which Psalm 42 begins endears this psalm to each of us. We long for redemption from God just as a deer searches for flowing streams of fresh water to drink. We too seek to come to God and to be strengthened and refreshed as we as Christian people worship the Lord God.

Psalm 22:19-28

The psalmist expects a revelation of God’s saving grace and receives it. With this assurance, the psalmist calls upon the congregation and then all of the families of the nations to worship the Lord God. Even those who are in their graves will bow down to the Lord, and in the future the revelation of deliverance from God shall be proclaimed even to newly born babies.

1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a

When Elijah flees in despair from the threats of Queen Jezebel and asks God to take his life, God reveals God’s self to him at Mount Horeb. The revelation comes not in the mighty gusting wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the burning fire, but in the awesome silence that follows these powerful displays of force in nature. During the silence nothing will hinder or compete with the revelation of God. The great commission revealed to Elijah surprisingly is not included in this selection. That will be given in the continued reading assigned to the following weekend service.

Isaiah 65:1-9

Here God is said to have revealed God’s self even when the people of God had not asked for it. Even though the punishment of God has come upon the rebellious people, a remnant will be saved. How is this applicable also in our lives, especially within the Church?

Galatians 3:23-29

We continue to be amazed Paul wrote that the Torah was our babysitter until the time when faith in Jesus as the Messiah would be possible, particularly when we recognize that what he was referring to as the Torah was the most significant portion of the written Word of God, the Bible as Paul knew it! Although some of the later Pauline editors, redactors, and writers were what we today know as biblical literalists (the writer of 1 Timothy 2:11-15, for example), Paul himself was far from that. Paul went even farther in stating in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that the written Word (the Bible as he knew it) kills, but the Spirit of God gives life. In addition, he wrote in Romans 7:6 that we serve not under the old written Word (the Bible as Paul knew it) but under the new revelation of the Spirit of God.

Apparently Paul was much more radical in his views about Scripture and new revelation than we and most people within the Church today have realized. Paul proclaimed something that he recognized to be new, a revelation of Jesus as the Christ far more powerful than the Bible of that time. In that new revelation there were to be no distinctions between those who were of Jewish background as opposed to those who were not of Jewish background, between slaves and those who were not slaves, and between men and women. Through faith in Jesus Christ his hearers were all to be considered to be people of God, with no one to claim to be or to be acclaimed to be superior to any other person.

What are our responsibilities today in light of this? Certainly we should not claim a revelation of Christ more powerful than that written within the Newer Testament, although perhaps at times we must claim a revelation of Christ that is equal to something that is within the biblical account and stand in judgment over it just as it stands in judgment over us. We do this through interpretation, through sensitive translations, and through selective usage of texts, just as Christians have done throughout the history of the Church. If we think that we and others throughout the history of the Church have not done this and that we should not do this, we are deluding ourselves. Even the most rigid biblical literalists among us do some of this. It is through these means that the Word of God remains living, active, and dynamic, as the Spirit of God guides us and continues to reveal the will of God to us.

Luke 8:26-39

This text and its Synoptic parallels are exceedingly interesting in terms of the developing Christology of the early followers of Jesus and in terms of the theology of the cross. We note that Mark has the great Christological confession of faith occur in the area of the villages of Caesarea Philippi, perhaps one of the areas in which members of the Markan community were awaiting the parousia of Jesus during the first years of the Jewish revolt, in 66-67 CE. The Matthean redactors retained this geographical reference, but the Lukan writer dropped it. In most other respects, the Lukan writer followed the Markan account closely in this text, except for not using Jesus’ rebuke of Peter, Jesus’ labeling Peter as a representative of Satan.

We can now say that the Jesus of history was probably acclaimed as a Jewish Messiah by many of the Jews who followed and identified with him, because he was providing a message and an example of hope to his oppressed fellow Jewish people. It was as a Jewish Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) that he was crucified by the Romans, not as a Christian Messiah. He became the Christian Messiah only gradually as a new and separate Christian religion was developed. Perceived as the Risen Christ, he could not be the Christian Messiah until there was a Christian community of faith, and he will be the Christian Messiah as long as there will be a Christian community of faith.

As Christians, we are called to follow and to worship Jesus as the Christian Messiah. That means taking up our cross (giving hope to our fellow oppressed people of our time, just as the Jesus of history did during his time) and, if necessary, losing our life for his sake. Galatians 3:23-29 and Luke 8:26-39 are radical texts. Let us proclaim them as radicals today!

Sunday between June 26 and July 2 inclusive

The emphasis in these texts on trusting in the Lord (Adonai in Psalm 16 and in Psalm 77 and Jesus as the Christ in Luke 9:51-62) is appropriate for this occasion, near our annual celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in the USA. Also useful in this connection is the article by Hans Walter Wolff, “Swords into Plowshares–Misuse of a Word of Prophecy?” (Currents in Theology and Mission 12:3, June, 1985, pp. 133-147).

Psalm 16

It is likely that this psalm was selected for this occasion because of its emphasis on trust in Adonai, which may be compared to the emphasis in Luke 9:51-62 on trust in Jesus as the Christ. Just as the psalmist warns against the folly of choosing a god other than Adonai, so also the Lukan writer’s Jesus announces that following the Lukan Jesus in the proclamation of the kingdom of God takes precedence over all other responsibilities. The psalmist and the Lukan Jesus differ, however, in that the psalmist enjoys security and happiness within this life but the Lukan Jesus calls people to follow him in a very difficult itinerant ministry of proclamation of the kingdom of God in a very insecure setting of economic and political oppression, a proclamation that is correctly perceived by the Roman oppressors to be a political as well as religious alternative to Roman rule. The psalmist describes a religion that is individual, or at most national, within a henotheistic situation. The Lukan Jesus speaks about a religion that seeks universalistic application, but makes exclusivistic theological claims, and requires priority over all other responsibilities, even within one’s own family.

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

In deep despair the psalmist cries aloud to the Lord God in the night, to God who seems to have forgotten to be gracious to the suffering psalmist. Then the psalmist recalls the saving acts of God in redeeming the pre-Israelites from slavery in Egypt, leading and guiding them through the waters of the sea. By reflecting over the saving events of the past, the psalmist’s trust in the Lord God is restored.

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

First Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 is undoubtedly paired with Luke 9:51-62 in part at least because of the similarity and contrast between Elijah’s granting Elisha’s request to kiss his mother and his father good-bye and the Lukan Jesus’ rejection of the man in Luke 9:51-62 who wanted to say good-bye to his family. Only Luke among the Gospel accounts makes so radical a demand.

This 1 Kings text is a prime example within the Hebrew Bible of the call of the Israelite prophets to speak and act within the political realm, even within the realm of international politics, in the name of the Lord. Elijah is ordered and commissioned by the Lord God to anoint a new king, Hazael, as king in Aram (Syria), a foreign power, and Jehu as king over Israel, his own nation. Jehu will replace the dynasty of Omri and cleanse Israel of the worship of Baal.

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

This dramatic account of the ascension of Elijah into heaven within a whirlwind and in a chariot of fire pulled by horses burning with fire is vivid and spectacular, more impressive than the account in Deuteronomy 34 of the death and burial of Moses and the depiction by the Lukan playwright in Acts 1:6-11 of Jesus being take up into heaven by a cloud. It gave to Elijah an aura of deathlessness, of a person who might somehow return, a person of interest both to Jews and to Christians. Even today during the Seder Jews set a place for Elijah and have a child go to the door to welcome the prophet to a place at their table.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Here, as in other Galatians texts and in 2 Corinthians 3:6 and Romans 7:6 (as indicated more fully in the comments on Galatians 3:23-29 for the previous Sunday) Paul contrasts the Torah — the Bible as Paul knew it — with the new life in the Spirit of God and of Jesus perceived as the Christ that Paul claimed and proclaimed. Following the Septuagint, in which the Hebrew word Torah was expressed with the Greek word Nomos, which in turn has often been translated into English as “Law,” many of us have often assumed that Jews have been and are characteristically preoccupied with legalism, while we in the Church stress our freedom through the grace of God. As a result, we neither recognize how radical Paul was in his criticism of the Bible as he knew it, nor do we permit ourselves to be as open to the Spirit of God and of Christ in our times as Paul was in his. If we would dare to do either one or both of these, our homilies and sermons would become much more interesting to us, as well as to the people who are with us. Almost always, however, we prefer to remain “priests” rather than to become “prophets” of the Lord.

Luke 9:51-62

Study of the other Synoptic texts that are closely related to Luke 9:51-62 indicates how freely the inspired Lukan writer composed this account about Jesus heading toward Jerusalem from materials within Mark, “Q” materials and/or an early draft of Matthew, and the Septuagint. The result is a thoroughly theological account. With this text, the Lukan writer has the Lukan Jesus begin his theological journey to Jerusalem. The Lukan writer composed some theological statements about the Samaritans (only in vv. 52-56). Luke expanded upon the “Q” or Matthean Jesus’ harsh and un-Jewish demand that a disciple follow him immediately and “leave the dead (here intended to be the Jews who do not accept Jesus as the Christian Messiah) to bury their own dead.”

Here, as elsewhere, the Lukan writer was willing to present Jesus as inhumane and un-Jewish in order to express what the Lukan writer wanted to express theologically. Can we communicate the urgency of our task next Sunday and express ourselves theologically through a Jesus who is more historical than the Jesus of this portion of Luke’s Gospel, a Jesus who takes his message of hope to the city of Jerusalem, and through us to our own city, town, or rural area? We can if we will be open to the Spirit of God and of Christ as the Apostle Paul was.