Holy Textures

Welcome to Holy Textures

Holy Textures is my attempt to provide a spot for my musings on the various Biblical texts that come our way through the Revised Common Lectionary. My goal is to provide timely, short, easy to use and thought-provoking background commentary for your sermon or bible study preparation.

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God and Evil: The Power of Love

"Love does not coerce or CAUSE a response – it desires, lures, and attracts a response, but it does not compel. I therefore do not believe that God CAUSES anything. Everything that happens, happens out of the potentials of the present and restraints of the past. The lure of God’s love is one of the potentials that is always present in every moment, but it is not the only one. And it may not be the one that is accepted to guide the choices made."

John 9:1-7
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

See also a parallel question in Luke 13:1-5
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

1 John 4:7-12, 16b-21
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

This question that opens the passage we read this morning from the Gospel according to John raises a question we still ask today:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Or, to put the question more specifically in the context of our faith:

Why does a good God cause – or allow – bad things to happen to good people?

Today, we live in a scientific and medical age. If a baby were born blind today, we would go to a doctor or scientist, not a priest, for an explanation; and expect to receive an answer about genetics or foetal development or hormones or … anything except sin.

Luke 19:28-40

"what the authors of the Bible take for granted and fail to mention is that while Jesus is parading in on a colt through one of the back gates, on the other side of the city Pilate is parading in on a war horse accompanied by a squadron or two of battle hardened Roman soldiers."

Year C, Season of Lent
Sixth Sunday in Lent
Palm Sunday Lesson

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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This post refers only to the text for Palm Sunday - Jesus enters Jerusalem.

Click Luke 22:14 -- 23:56 for commentary on the Passion text. 

The comments below are drawn from my earlier notes on the parallel text found at Mark 11:1-1.

On this day in the life of Jesus, it is the beginning of the week in which Passover will be celebrated in Jerusalem.

Passover is still celebrated by Jews to this day.

Celebrated in synagogues, and most particularly in homes, where their salvation from slavery in Egypt is remembered and re-told: The hardship of our oppression. The calling of Moses to lead us to freedom and to a promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The repeated agreement - and then reneging - of the Pharaoh, until the tenth and final and most deadly of the plagues - the angel of death that killed all first born males - except for the homes where we had used the blood of a lamb to mark our door posts - those homes were passed over. The hurried preparations to be ready to flee - no time for leavened bread. The flight from Egypt pursued by the Egyptian soldiers. The miraculous parting of the Red Sea to allow us to pass through, but drowning the pursuing soldiers. The hardship of the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. The giving of the 10 Commandments - now that we are free, how shall live? What does the Lord require of us?

John 12:1-8

"In this passage, John has Mary portray the shocking intimacy of loyalty, trust, and bonding with Jesus that over-rides cultural norms; and contrasts that with the disloyalty and dishonesty of Judas."

Year C, Season of Lent
Fifth Sunday in Lent

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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In the Gospel of John, this lesson is the last event before Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time on the day we now call Palm Sunday.

Bethany is a small community within walking distance of Jerusalem. It is the home town of Lazarus, whom Jesus has raised from the dead, John 11:17-44. This was the final straw for the Judean authorities, for as John reports them saying:

What are we to do? ... If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.
John 11:47-48

 And as John then comments:

So from that day on they planned to put (Jesus) to death.
John 11:53

Jesus then "now longer walked about openly among the (Judeans), but went from (Bethany) to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness." (John 11:54) But as the Passover Festival once again draws near, so Jesus - for the third time - also draws near Jerusalem. This time for the final sign; the final revelation of God's glory.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

"It is this last act of squandering the property so that foreigners come to own it that transforms the story from one of merely individual reckless behaviour to a story that individual reckless behaviour endangers the whole community."

Year C, Season of Lent
Fourth Sunday in Lent

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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When preparing to preach on this text, it is crucial to note that Verses 1 and 2 are not just an opening aside. In a few short words they lay out an issue that all communities struggle with:

• What are our standards?
• How do we respond to those who break our standards?

It is potentially OK that tax collectors and sinners were coming to listen to Jesus, if that meant they would repent of their ways, make the appropriate acts of reconciliation, and promise to live according to the accepted standards of the community.

But those in charge of policing the community's standards grumble, because Jesus, "welcomes sinners and eats with them!"

Malina (page 288, see footnote below) comments:

To "welcome" sinners implies showing hospitality, playing host to them at a meal. To invite a person to a meal was an honor that implied acceptance, trust, peace.

Jesus' behaviour is a significant disruption of community standards: he is welcoming those who have been cast out; and honouring those who have been shamed.

Luke 13:1-9

"In other words - what Jesus is meaning to say:
   In this life, undeserved bad things will happen to good people; and,
   in the life to come, deserved bad things will happen to bad people
   who don't repent now."

Year C, Season of Lent
Third Sunday in Lent

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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This text comes at the end of a long section of teachings and parables that began way back in Luke 12:1, "Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they began to trample on one another, he began to speak ..."

Unfortunately for us poor preachers, the authors of the Lectionary have once again given us a passage with two distinct and unrelated messages. (Don't be misled by the "Then" that begins Luke 3:6 - it is a simple marker of time, not of logical connection. The parable in Luke 3:6-9 is not meant to clarify or be a further teaching about Luke 3:1-5.) So we are faced with the daunting task of preparing two mini-sermons or of mostly ignoring the one-half of the reading that one-half of the congregation were wanting us to say more about! Good luck with that dilemma everyone.

Luke 13:31-35

"This text presents us with a snapshot of the context in which the events of Holy Week will unfold.
It also presents us with a snapshot of the context in which God's love is still at work. Are we not Jerusalem?"

Year C, Season of Lent
Second Sunday in Lent

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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Luke introduces us to this Herod back in Luke 9:7-9. At that point, Jesus had sent out the twelve to practice their ministry. This had further spread Jesus' reputation - right up to the King's ears. As Luke puts it:

(Herod) was perplexed, because it was said by some that John (the Baptist) has been raised from the dead. ... Herod said, "I beheaded John; but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And Herod tried to see Jesus.

Chapter 9 of Luke then continues with the feeding of 5,000 men plus women and children; the declaration by Peter that the disciples say he, Jesus, is the Messiah; Jesus saying they are now headed to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will undergo great suffering, be killed, and on the third day be raised; and the story of the Transfiguration, Luke 9:28-36; etc. The following chapters continue to heighten the tension between Jesus and the religious authorities.

But now - surprisingly - it is these same opponents, the Pharisees, who now warn Jesus that apparently Herod has heard enough about Jesus that he wants to kill him. How come they do this?

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

"This season of Lent is meant as a time when we give special intention to our relationship with God."

Year A, B, C, Season of Lent
Ash Wednesday

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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Lent: The Restraint That frees

From their earliest days, followers of Jesus have set aside 40 days before Easter Sunday as a special time called Lent.

This season of Lent is meant as a time when we give special intention to our relationship with God. We restrain ourselves from our usual round of daily activities in order to make space and time for being with God. How is it with my soul these days? During Lent we plan to spend some time renewing and re-orienting our life to be more in line with God’s desires for ourselves – which I can trust will be for my good, and for the good of the world.

The fact that followers of Jesus created this special season of Lent is a confession that we are not the first to have trouble maintaining a healthy relationship with God. Like us, from the earliest times, followers of Jesus got busy, got distracted, got forgetful and fearful and neglectful, and let their relationship with God go onto the backburner. Sound familiar? Fortunately, they got organized and created Lent so that we wouldn’t have to do all the hard work of figuring out what to do from scratch. What are the most helpful things to do to re-new my relationship with God? Over many centuries these three things have been tried and found true:

• Almsgiving,
• Prayer, and
• Fasting.

Luke 4:1-13

"if Jesus were to turn stones into bread, instead of confirming his status as God's Son, it would confirm the validity of the testing; the correctness of asking, 'IF you are...;' the appropriateness of raising the niggling possibility of, 'Maybe I'm not?'"

Year C, Season of Lent
First Sunday in Lent

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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As you may know from reading other posts, I am no fan of the way the Lectionary chops up the integrity of each Gospel as though what comes before and after each section has no bearing on what is read today.

But in this case, I'll concede that the story of the testing of Jesus in the desert at the outset of his ministry is a good first "book-end" for the second testing that will close his ministry - his brutal execution.

As is the case here, Jesus will then be tested 3 times about his identity:

• Luke 23:35 - "let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!"
• Luke 23:37 - "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
• Luke 23:39 - "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!

Well, as a matter of fact, back here in today's lesson from Chapter 4, it is only moments ago, that Luke has provided us with the response to these three challenges to Jesus' identity:

• Luke 3:21-22 - "and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Luke 5:1-11

"We should also remember that this is the last time that Simon, James, and John will fish in the old way. Jesus is about to ask them to re-imagine what it means for them to be fishers - and to re-imagine who 'fish' might be. So the moral of this story is NOT, 'Let's keep doing what we have always done before and trust that one day God will fill our nets.'"

Year C, Season of Epiphany
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
Sunday Between February 4 to February 10 Inclusive

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We sometimes think that one of the first things Jesus did was call the disciples. But as we read in Luke 4:14 Jesus begins to teach in the synagogues of Galilee before returning to Nazareth and the confrontation that happens which we have read about the previous two weeks: Luke 4:14-21 and Luke 4:21-30.

Following this event, the Lectionary skips over the rest of Chapter 4 in which Jesus travels to Capernaum where once again he teaches on the Sabbath, amazes everyone, and drives out a demon. (Luke 4:31-37) He then goes to Simon's house and heals his mother. (Luke 4:32-39) Crowds then come for healing. (Luke 4:40-41) And when they try to make him stay, Jesus says, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also." And then Luke concludes, "So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea." (Luke 4:42-44)

So unless Luke has once again demonstrated his unfamiliarity with the geography of Israel, Jesus has left Galilee in the north and gone to Judea in the south.

So the opening of Chapter 5 is a bit of leap in both space and time: "Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret ..." (Luke 5:1) In the previous verse, Luke 4:44, Jesus was in Judea, and now we come upon him happening to stand beside a lake back in Galilee. (And the lake here called Gennesaret is more commonly called Lake Galilee.)

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)

"Jesus' response to the news that the father begged the disciples to cure his son but they could not is an insult felt all the more sharply because it is given in public."

Year C, Season of Epiphany
Transfiguration Sunday
Last Sunday After Epiphany
Sunday Before Ash Wednesday

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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This passage requires reading the First Testament passages about the prophet Elijah, 2 Kings 2:1-12: The Message or The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). 

"About 8 days after" could be a foreshadowing of a later 8th day - what we now call Easter Sunday. On the 7th day, Saturday, the Sabbath, God rested; on a Sunday, the next day, the 8th day, Jesus was raised from death to new life.

Jesus selects Peter, James, and John to accompany him. He leads them up a high mountain. Although unnamed and unstated, a "high mountain" is a "thin place," a place that is close to the spiritual realm, a place for sacred encounters.

Elijah and Moses represent the Prophets and the Law. Their talking with Jesus would signify the high spiritual status of Jesus.