Saturday, March 24, 2007
From AscensionNYC
Saturday in the Fourth Week of Lent
Psalm 7:6-11
Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7:37-52
The readings today give much to think about. The plea in the Psalm is for God to rise up against the writer's enemies. Jeremiah had been banished to Anathoth by Solomon and is here pleading with God to wreck vengeance on his enemies. Both are asking God to, in effect, do their dirty work, they both feel ill used and abused and are asking an all-powerful God to make their enemies suffer. Do you pray to God to punish those whom you feel have harmed you? Many people do at some point in their lives. Is this a valid plea? Is the God you worship, one who delivers harm?
Whereas in John, Jesus is waiting for God's own time, as God is supporting his time schedule by distracting the Jews sent out to bring him to those who condemn him, the Jewish Elders. The key here is the Jewish Elders' condemnation of Jesus, saying he could not be the savior as he is from Galilee, not Bethlehem, and not of David's line. Basically they are blind to the facts, and are not interested in those facts or the truth. After all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is of David's line: the two arguments the Jewish elders use against him are false. Is that because they see Jesus as a threat to their power? Their minds are closed, they do not want to know more about Jesus. He is a threat to their authority. Are we practicing the same kind of blindness when we look with disfavor on those different from ourselves? Do we see those different people as dangerous to our prestige or power?
Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7:37-52
The readings today give much to think about. The plea in the Psalm is for God to rise up against the writer's enemies. Jeremiah had been banished to Anathoth by Solomon and is here pleading with God to wreck vengeance on his enemies. Both are asking God to, in effect, do their dirty work, they both feel ill used and abused and are asking an all-powerful God to make their enemies suffer. Do you pray to God to punish those whom you feel have harmed you? Many people do at some point in their lives. Is this a valid plea? Is the God you worship, one who delivers harm?
Whereas in John, Jesus is waiting for God's own time, as God is supporting his time schedule by distracting the Jews sent out to bring him to those who condemn him, the Jewish Elders. The key here is the Jewish Elders' condemnation of Jesus, saying he could not be the savior as he is from Galilee, not Bethlehem, and not of David's line. Basically they are blind to the facts, and are not interested in those facts or the truth. After all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is of David's line: the two arguments the Jewish elders use against him are false. Is that because they see Jesus as a threat to their power? Their minds are closed, they do not want to know more about Jesus. He is a threat to their authority. Are we practicing the same kind of blindness when we look with disfavor on those different from ourselves? Do we see those different people as dangerous to our prestige or power?
Frank Mackey
