Bible Readings 2023

Notes on Bible Readings 2023
by Noel Adsett
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Notes on Readings for Sunday, September 17, 2023 Pentecost 16
Exodus 14: 19-31
In these verses we read about Israel’s deliverance in The Crossing of the Red Sea.
The Israelites were camped beside a body of water without any means of escape. The tyrant Pharaoh assembled a mighty army of chariots and soldiers so Israel was on the verge of military defeat. The story is about another battle however, as it sets out to prove the Lord’s promise in verses 13 and 14 when Moses tells the people, “The Lord will fight for you.”
Note the parts played by the presence of the angel of God, the shining pillar of cloud, natural phenomenon (the storm, the strong east wind, the mud), and Moses who stretched out his hand over the sea.
The story was told to show the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptian system of domination and violence. The Israelites were not its only victims because “the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea”. The people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord.
Psalm 114
The events of the Exodus are recalled in the first few verses of this psalm which is a hymn in praise of God’s great work in creating the nation of Israel.
114 When the people of Israel left Egypt,
    when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,
2 Judah became the Lord's holy people,
    Israel became his own possession.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away;
    the Jordan River stopped flowing.
4 The mountains skipped like goats;
    the hills jumped around like lambs.
Romans 14:1-12
Paul is writing about relationships among people who find themselves on opposing sides of two issues – whether it is appropriate or not to eat certain foods (dietary rules) and whether certain days deserve greater recognition and attention than others (festivals). Paul says that what matters most are not these practices of piety but rather the relationship of God with believers. As pilgrim people, we are called by the grace of God not to judge but to worship and to serve.
Matthew 18: 21-35
Jesus used a parable to answer Peter’s question. The main point of the parable is quite clear. God calls on us to forgive others. If we harbour unforgiveness and hatred in our hearts towards others, it demonstrates we have not truly repented of our own wrongdoing and we shouldn’t expect forgiveness either.
  Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, September 10, 2023 Pentecost 15
Exodus 12: 1-14
The first Passover is instituted. Passover in the Old Testament is at the heart of the Exodus experience.
The blood of the lamb or young goat made the difference. It was smeared on the two doorposts and the doorway lintel. It was a sign for all the Israelites, but more importantly it was a sign for Yahweh who saw the blood and passed over each Israelite house.
Psalm 149
This psalm is a hymn to accompany a festival dance. According to verses 6 to 9, it was probably a war-like dance. The Israelite people have already experienced God’s salvation so they praise Yahweh with “a new song” for the new thing God has done in bringing them back from exile.
Romans 13: 8-14
This passage describes the Christian obligation to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. To do this is to fulfil the law of Moses because love itself never hurts anyone. Verses 11 to 14 refer to the imminence of the second coming of Christ. The time has come for believers to cast off any works of darkness, including drunkenness, immorality and jealousy.
Matthew 18: 15-20
Jesus offers his disciples spiritual freedom and power for restoring broken or injured relationships. Don't brood over an offence – speak directly and privately. If we truly want to settle a difference with someone, we need to do it face to face.
The subject matter of this passage could not be more fitting for Christian communities in every age, place, and situation. One of the things that plagues most Christian communities (and other communities as well) is the inability to handle confrontation, disagreement and our mutual accountability when it comes to wrong doing. We simply don’t know how to live together, fight together, and stay together. This is because all of us — not just our brother or sister — are human beings who err at times.
Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, September 3, 2023 Pentecost 14
Exodus 3: 1-15
Out in the wilderness, Moses stumbles upon “the mountain of God” known as Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai. In the ancient world, mountaintops were the traditional dwelling places for the divine. There at the mountain, Moses encounters an unquenchable burning bush. Fire is a common biblical symbol of God’s presence. This ever-burning shrub out in the wilderness signals God’s merciful accommodation. God comes down from the mountain of God to meet Moses in the bush. At the same time, the inextinguishable flame is a sign of God’s awesome and powerful holiness, a fiery holiness that is both dangerous and attractive, frightening and comforting, untamed but reassuring.
God instructs Moses to remove the sandals from his feet. The gesture is an ancient practice when entering a holy place of divine presence. It is a gesture that honours the holiness of this ground, this mountain and this God. Removing shoes as a show of reverence is a practice still in use in Islam and other religions.
Removing his sandals has another significance. In Exodus 2, Moses had declared he was an alien in a foreign land. Moses was not fully “at home” in any human community. Taking off one’s sandals is a gesture in many traditional cultures that is associated with entering not only a worship space but also a home. Thus, here at the foot of the mountain of God, Moses the “alien” has at last found a true “home”. Moses finds his true home not with humans but with God, the God of his ancestors - “the God of Abraham…of Isaac...of Jacob”.
In verses 7 to 10, God calls Moses to go back to Pharaoh, lead the Israelites out of their miserable slavery in Egypt and travel to the promised land of Canaan. As in some other call stories in the Bible, Moses resists the call and raises a number of objections to which God responds. God’s presence is promised in verse 12 and in answer to the question, “What is this God’s name?” God responds with the words “I am who I am.” Some translators prefer, “I will be who I will be.” The identity and character of Israel’s God is developed in later chapters of Exodus.
Romans 12: 9-21
Paul describes the marks of a Christian. We all know that we should love each other, but Paul's instruction is that our love must be genuine or sincere. In other words, Christians are not called to fake an attitude of love for each other, but to find ways to express God's love meaningfully, as an extension of God's love for us and our love for God.
Paul then points out that Christians are called to learn to hate what is evil, especially anything that brings harm to the innocent.
Finally, Paul commands us to hold fast to, or cling to, what is good. It can sometimes be hard to know what is truly good. We must learn to see the world through God's perspective, to deeply invest our time and energy in securing and keeping what is truly "good."
Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, August 13, 2023 Pentecost 11
Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Joseph is sold into slavery. Genesis 37 is a sad commentary on Jacob's dysfunctional family, in which ten sons plot to kill their half-brother, eventually sell him, and then lie to their father. However, Genesis 37 is also a commentary on God's grace and sovereign will.
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b
This psalm tells the story of God’s great deeds on behalf of God’s people. It was composed for use at one of the major festivals and consists of a recital of the basic events that created the nation of Israel.
The first six verses are a hymn-like introduction summoning the congregation to praise and thanksgiving. Verses 16 to 22 refer to the story of Joseph. Verse 45 contains the ritual shout, “Hallelujah” Praise the Lord!
Romans 10: 5-15
Paul is contrasting the law and the gospel and he uses the Old Testament for support. The early Christians often applied what was said about God in the Old Testament, to Jesus. In verse 5, Paul quotes Leviticus 18, verse 5. The old covenant included faith but it emphasised obedience. Because no one could do everything the law required, it could never be a means of righteousness. The new covenant, however, is based on Christ, so it succeeds whereas the old covenant could not.
In verses 6 to 8, Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 30: 4-14 to point out that the message about righteousness through faith is near you — it is not hard to find. The law required obedience, but the gospel requires acceptance.
In verse 11, Paul uses Isaiah 28, verse 16 which says that God will lay a cornerstone in Zion for a sure foundation, and people who have faith in this cornerstone will not be found short.
Paul repeats one of his favourite themes in verses 12 and 13 when he says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. This time he is quoting from Joel 2, verse 32. In Joel, the Lord was Yahweh, but Paul uses the verse for Christ, showing that he accepted Jesus as God.
Paul knows that salvation comes by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord. In a series of questions he asks how this can be proclaimed when Paul’s own people are rejecting the message. Verse 15 quotes from verse 7 in Isaiah 52: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’.”
Matthew 14: 22-33
Jesus walks on water. Peace is found in the presence of Jesus, even in the middle of a storm. Peter's walk on the water teaches us that in the middle of storms we can have peace if we keep our eyes on Jesus. The storms of life give us good reason to be afraid. But Jesus is bigger than even the scariest of storms.
Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, August 6, 2023 Pentecost 10
Genesis 32: 22-31
This story of Jacob wrestling with the angel is hard to understand. It lacks clarity in detail and in the way it is told. As a result, the story has been interpreted in many ways.
There is the mysterious incarnation of God into human form. The text describes Jacob's encounter as wrestling or struggling "with God and with men." What does this mean?
There is the act of wrestling which simultaneously connotes both intimacy and struggle. Jacob asks the man he has been struggling with for a blessing which was ultimately given.
There is the theme of identity connected to one’s name. Jacob is given a new name by God. Israel probably means he struggles with God. Peniel means face of God. The river’s name, Jabbok plays on the name Jacob, and is related to the word “wrestle”.
Verse 24 emphasises Jacob’s solitude, and it is while Jacob is alone, in the night, at the ford of the Jabbok that a yet unidentified man wrestles with him. Perhaps Jacob thought his wrestling partner was Esau, though this mysterious man could also symbolize others with whom Jacob had wrestled in his life, including his father Isaac, or his father-in-law, Laban. There is very little detail given to any specifics about the wrestling match except for its length; it lasts until the dawn is about to break.
Psalm 17: 1-7, 15
The psalmist wants God to act, to provide deliverance, protection, and vindication from the wicked ones who surround the psalmist’s life.
The psalmist pleas for attention in the first two verses. He declares his faithfulness to the ways of YHWH in verses 3 to 5 and verses 6 and 7 are a plea for YHWH to act.
Verse 15 is an expression of confidence “when I awake”.
Romans 9: 1-5
Paul was referring to Israel’s unbelief. He was an Israelite himself, profoundly upset that the nation of Israel rejected Christ, saying, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.”
The clear argument of Paul is that righteousness can only come one way, through faith and through the Spirit of Jesus.
Matthew 14: 13-21
In the story of the feeding of the five thousand, we note three contexts to help us identify the significance of Jesus’ actions involving abundant food.
First is the recognition that the world of the first-century Roman Empire was marked by significant inequalities concerning access to food. Many people knew food scarcity and struggled on a daily and seasonal basis for adequate food and nutrition. The empire was very hierarchical in its social structure with a small group of ruling elites who enjoyed abundant variety and good quality of food. Most however lived at or below subsistence level. Food access reflected the elite’s access to power that controlled resources. The lack of food was one of the ways many people experienced the injustice of this disparity of power. It is also one of the reasons we see so many sick people in the gospels. Diseases of deprivation (inadequate nutrition) and diseases of contagion (inadequate immunity) were rife.
Second, the biblical tradition explicitly identifies God’s will that hungry people be fed. In Exodus, God provides food for the wilderness generation. Ezekiel condemns Israel’s leaders or “shepherds” for failing to feed the sheep/people. The prophet Isaiah declares God’s will that people “share your bread with the hungry”.
Matthew writes about Jesus endorsing the merciful practice of almsgiving that redistributes resources to those in need. He defends the practice of procuring food as a way of honouring the Sabbath.
Third, traditions concerned with the establishment of God’s empire in all its fullness depict this coming age in terms of abundant food and feasting for all. Ezekiel envisages an age when “the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil … when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them … I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land … ” This age of secure and nutritional food supply comes when God breaks the self-satisfying rule of imperial powers.
Isaiah anticipates an age when “on this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear”.
Jesus’ action here in Matthew 14:13-21 highlights and confronts this injustice of the Roman world with an action that enacts God’s will to feed hungry people and that anticipates the coming age in which God will supply abundant food. There is much hunger in the world today.
Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, July 30, 2023 Pentecost 9
Genesis 29: 15-28
This is a love story. Jacob marries his beloved Rachel and unexpectedly her elder sister Leah as well.
Jacob became the victim of cheating and deception just as he had acted towards his own brother Esau.
And what about Leah? She was the first born in her family, the pawn in her father’s schemes, unloved by her husband who only married her because he was deceived.
And what about Uncle Laban? He had appeared gracious and friendly. He was also a shrewd opportunist.
The story is part of a series about the 12 sons of Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel.
Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b
This psalm tells the story of God’s great deeds on behalf of God’s people. It was composed for use at one of the major festivals and consists of a recital of the basic events that created the nation of Israel.
The first six verses are a hymn-like introduction summoning the congregation to praise and thanksgiving. Verses 7 to 11 refer to God’s faithfulness to his covenant made with Abraham.
Verse 45 contains the ritual shout, “Hallelujah” Praise the Lord!
Romans 8: 26-39
This reading includes some of the most familiar and comforting words we have from the apostle Paul.
Verses 26 to 30 tell of human weakness being sustained by the Spirit’s intercession and by the knowledge of God’s loving purpose which is set down in verses 29 and 30. To be “conformed to the image of his Son” is to share the resurrection life of Christ, to be glorified.
The words in verses 31 to 39 point to our confidence in God. All the actions of God together – past, present and future - on our behalf testify to a fierce, compassionate love from which nothing in all creation can separate us.
Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52
Here are six parables telling what the kingdom of God is like – the mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure in a field, a pearl of great price, the dragnet and the householder.
Verse 52 mentions “every scribe”. A scribe was an expert in Mosaic law. Having become a disciple of Jesus, he would be able to preserve past insights and enlarge them. As disciples of the kingdom, teachers of the law would play pivotal roles. They had a keen understanding of the law and the prophets. They could help people understand God’s relationship to Israel and all the incredible things God had done to protect and guide God’s people. But they would also see that law in the way that God intended, pointed people toward reconciliation in Jesus Christ.
Noel Adsett

Notes on Readings for Sunday, July 23, 2023 Pentecost 8
Genesis 28: 10—19a
In this story, God appears to Jacob on the way, as he escapes from his brother Esau's hatred. Jacob, always a “schemer” and “usurper” (meanings of this Hebrew name), has stolen the birthright and the blessing belonging to Esau as Isaac's firstborn.
Psalm 139: 1-12, 23-24
The psalm addresses God, or, in Jewish tradition, YHWH, and the speaker calls out and establishes a salutation and an understanding of what they know God to be. The psalmist goes on to marvel at the omnipresence of God even in the most secret of places, and to praise God for God’s vast knowledge of the future.
God is omnipresent, meaning God is present everywhere. Because of this, you can never escape from God’s Spirit. This is good news to those who know and love God, because no matter what we do or where we go, we can never be far from God’s guiding and comforting presence.
Sheol in verse 8 is the place of the dead.
Romans 8: 12-25
The Spirit does not make slaves of us, but children of God.
Abba in verse 15 is the Aramaic word meaning “Father” which Jesus used in his own prayers and which passed into the prayer life of the early church. The fact that the Spirit prompts this ecstatic prayer proves our adoption. Note the use of family words in verses 12 to 17.
The hope of fulfilment is described in verses 18 to 25. The Christian life involves sufferings, especially in Paul’s missionary work, but the apostle rejoices in the sure hope of glory.
Verse 20 contains the phrase, “the one who subjected it” meaning God.
Paul often uses the words our bodies as in verse 23, meaning our ‘selves’.
Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43
The parable about weeds in the wheat says that God allows good and evil to exist
together until the close of human history.
Noel Adsett Weeds in a wheat field

Notes on Readings for Sunday, July 16, 2023 Pentecost 7
The Lectionary Gospel Reading this week is Matthew’s Parable of the Sower.
Noel has prepared a longer commentary instead of providing notes on all the readings.
The sermon will be based on Romans 8: 1-11.
The other readings are Genesis 25: 19-34 and Psalm 119: 105-112
The Parable of the Sower of Seed
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Chapter 13 in Matthew contains seven parables – stories describing situations in everyday life. Parables were a common teaching method in the days of Jesus. They helped the hearers understand what the teacher was saying. Jesus used these stories to convey a spiritual meaning. They illustrated how God’s empire was at work in the world. They encouraged people to continue to live on the basis of God’s empire despite various difficulties.
Beginning at verse 3, the word ‘parable’ occurs twelve times in the chapter. The word derives from a Greek word meaning ‘to throw alongside’. Thus, there is the notion of comparison whereby one entity is thrown alongside another to better understand its meaning. In most cases they begin, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like …..’
The first parable is the well-known parable of the sower. It takes place ‘beside the sea’ of Galilee where Jesus called the first disciples. He addresses the crowds with a parable then offers the disciples an interpretation in verses 18 to 23. The story tells of a peasant farmer who sows seeds which fall into four different types of ground with quite different consequences.
In verse 4 the seed that falls on a path is eaten by birds.
In verses 5 and 6 seed that falls among rocks sprouts quickly but, lacking depth of soil, dries up in the sun.
In verse 7 seed that falls among thorns is choked by them.
In verse 8 the seeds that fall into good soil produce an abundant crop.
The parable ends with an appeal – ‘let anyone with ears, listen!’ To have ears is an image that points above literal meaning to discerning the significance of Jesus’ teaching. Here the parable stops. The listeners are left to wonder what it means.
Jesus does give a confidential explanation to his disciples in verses 10 to 17 about why he speaks in parables.
Note that though Jesus names his story The parable of the sower in verse 18, the explanation doesn’t focus on the sower, not even identifying who the sower is. By identifying the seed as ‘the word of the kingdom’, Jesus offers a clear hint that the sower is himself. There are references in chapters 4 and 9 in Matthew’s gospel to ‘proclaiming the good news of the kingdom’ as the work of Jesus.
The explanation focuses on the fate of the seed in different types of ground. This is interesting because each type represents a response to Jesus’ ministry.
The seed on the path represents those who hear but do not understand the good news about the kingdom. They don’t discern in the words and actions of Jesus the presence of God’s empire or kingdom. Jesus says their lack of understanding reflects their dull hearts and at the same time, shows the work of the devil. The evil one ‘snatches away’ the word of Jesus after it was sown in the human heart. A person’s heart is the very centre of their commitments and way of life.
The seed that falls on the rocky ground sprouts quickly but dies in the sun. This is an example of a person who receives Jesus’ preaching about the kingdom but does not continue as a disciple. ‘Trouble and persecution’ cause the person to stumble. This person does not understand that God’s empire threatens and conflicts with dominant cultural values. That person cannot resist, so soon ‘falls away’.
The seed that is choked by thorns represents the person who hears Jesus’ proclamation but ‘the cares of the world and lure of wealth choke the word’ and it comes to nothing. The cares of the world include an anxiety over daily life expressed when a person tries to live without reference to God. The lure of wealth has a similar hold over the human heart when material gain is the only goal and definition of human success. The word about God’s rule is choked when worldly commitments are followed.
After these three negative responses to Jesus’ preaching, a positive response is given in the seed sown in good soil, representing those who hear and understand the word. Their hearts, the centre of their being, embrace the good news. They endure the difficulties and persecutions of life. They are not defined by worldly cares and wealth. They join a community formed by and committed to God’s empire. Their lives are fruitful as signified by an abundant crop.
References
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, Oxford University Press, New York, 1994
Commentary on Matthew 13, Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament, Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa, Oklahoma
The World According to Jesus, Lorraine Parkinson, Spectrum Publications, Melbourne, 2011
Noel Adsett

Sunday, July 9, 2023 Pentecost 6
Genesis 24: 34-38; 42-49; 58-67
Though the 24th chapter is the longest in the Book of Genesis, it’s worth reading all of it as it relates many details regarding the quest of finding a wife for Isaac. The opening verses tell of Abraham’s care for Isaac’s marriage. We learn of the journey of Abraham’s servant to Mesopotamia and his meeting with Rebekah. In verses 29 to 53, Rebekah and her relatives consent to her marriage. The remaining verses tell of the happy marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.
While the account of Isaac finding a wife is an ordinary love story, it also has a religious flavour as the theme of God’s blessing and guidance is introduced as a central part of the narrative. One such example is in verse 48 when the servant looks at ordinary events with eyes of faith, when he professes that God has led him by the right way to accomplish Abraham’s charge to him.
Note the sentences in verse 67: Isaac married Rebekah, taking her to his mother’s old tent, thereby instating her as the new matriarch of the clan. Rebekah comforted Isaac, nicely linking Isaac’s mother, Sarah after her death, to his marriage. Most significantly, Isaac is said to love Rebekah, describing a lasting relationship between a man and a woman.
Psalm 45: 10-17
Psalm 45 is an ode for a royal wedding. In the first verse the author is identified as a “ready scribe” – a professional writer. He addresses the king in verses 2 to 9 and the queen in verses 10 to 13. She is instructed to forget her own ancestry and be loyal to her husband. The wedding procession is described and in the last two verses the poet makes promises to the king.
Romans 7: 15-25a
Paul doesn’t understand his own actions. In verses 15 to 20, Paul gives a first-hand account of the battle between his new nature and his sinful self.
The problem is put another way in verses 21 to 24: At one level a person is able to recognise and rejoice in the goodness of God’s law but at another level the person sees a great war going on in their life. Paul cries out, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Paul answers in verse 25, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Matthew 11: 16-19; 25-30
This reading follows the reply by Jesus to the disciples of John the Baptist who had become doubtful as no one seemed to be listening. They asked Jesus if he was the Messiah after all. Jesus pointed to the many signs around them of God’s kingdom.
After John’s disciples left, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John the Baptist in words of high praise. He said the trouble with the generation was that they found reason to take offence at both John and Jesus and to evade the call of both. “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds,” Jesus says. Jesus’ own deeds as described in verse 5 give evidence that he embodies and reveals the wisdom of God, that he is “the one who is to come,” the one who ushers in God’s kingdom.
Matthew records Jesus’ prayer in verse 25, thanking God his father that he had “hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and revealed them to infants.” The “wise and intelligent” may refer to any who reject Jesus and his message, but perhaps especially to the religious leaders, whom Jesus often rebukes for their self-importance and hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees pride themselves on being learned in the law yet fail to understand the basics of justice, mercy, and faith. They repeatedly reject Jesus and conspire against him, thus conspiring against the very purposes of God.
The “infants,” on the other hand, are not regarded as wise or important. They are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the persecuted, all whom Jesus calls blessed - the sick and the lame, the lepers and demon-possessed, the tax collectors and sinners who come to Jesus for healing of body and spirit. It is God’s gracious will to act in ways that confound human wisdom. These “infants” saw what the “wise” cannot — that Jesus was sent by God and revealed the nature of God.
Jesus’ prayer then turned to an invitation: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest”. The weary are the common people who are burdened by the law and its practices. Jesus further invites the weary: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. The yoke was a familiar symbol of burden bearing, oppression, and subjugation. Yokes were laid on the necks and shoulders of oxen and also on prisoners of war and slaves.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, July 2, 2023 Pentecost 5, Communion
Genesis 22: 1-14
This is part of a longer story about Abraham’s progeny, obedience, doubt and his faith in God. In these fourteen verses, God is asking Abraham to demonstrate his faith by trusting God with his hopes, his future, his deepest longings and his only son whom he loves. The first verse says it was a test – indicating that God had no intention of going through with it. After the profound ‘test’, Abraham knows that life with God is a gift and God’s blessing is freely bestowed. In verse 13, Abraham looked up. God will provide generously, bountifully and wondrously.
Psalm 13
This psalm of David is a lament – a prayer for deliverance. The psalmist complains about his troubles and pain in verses 1 and 2, asking four times, “How long?” The next two verses are a prayer for help. An expression of trust follows in verse 5 and the psalm concludes with the vow, “I will sing to the Lord”.
The psalm is a commentary on the grace and love of God, offering help in times of trouble.
Romans 6: 12-23
In the first eleven verses of Chapter 6, read last week, Paul was teaching that salvation is entirely a gracious and undeserved gift of God. He is continuing the same theme in today’s reading. Paul is not concerned with issues of sin and guilt but advocates for freedom from the power of sin by making a conscious effort not to sin. He is not concerned with growth to perfection but with an awareness of God’s saving act of justification through Jesus Christ. Paul also says that these gifts of grace and salvation call believers to live in obedience as a verification of the work of Jesus.
In these verses, Paul is drawing an analogy from slavery. Sinners are sin’s slaves but if they become God’s slaves, how can they any longer obey their former master?
“Sanctification” in verse 19 is the result of righteousness as in verse 22 and the ongoing process of living this out in consecration to God and holiness.
Paul says in verse 23 that the “gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus”. He means that when we work for God with faith, we get more than wages. We cannot measure it or understand it. We can only call it the gift of grace.
Matthew 10: 40-42
These words at the end of Chapter 10 conclude the second major teaching of Jesus after the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is finishing his instructions to his twelve disciples after sending them out to teach and preach and heal.
Jesus says in verse 42, “and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Children are sometimes called “little ones” but Matthew is referring to the twelve disciples especially those who are young in faith or particularly vulnerable. Those who welcome and care for the needs of “little ones” welcome and care for Jesus himself.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, June 25, 2023 Pentecost 4
Genesis 21: 8-21
Although Isaac was designated to continue Abraham’s line, Ishmael too was promised a great future.
Verse 17 mentions the angel of God. God heard the voice of the boy, a play on the name Ishmael, meaning ‘God hears’.
By God's grace and intervention, Hagar and Ishmael would survive, even thrive and flourish.
What is striking about Isaac and Ishmael is that God makes the same promise to them both.
Psalm 86: 1-10, 16-17
This psalm is a lament – a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies.
The first seven verses are a cry for help.
In verses 8 to 10, God is praised for God’s power. “You alone are God.”
Are we reminded of the story of Hagar and Ishmael in verse 16?
The writer of Psalm 86 remains confident that God hears and is able to save him. He is sure that even though his situation is dire, his God is bigger and desires to show mercy.
Romans 6: 1b-11
This reading is about dying and rising in Christ. Paul insisted that salvation is entirely a gracious and undeserved gift of God. This view may seem to have meant he was encouraging sin. Paul vigorously rejects this charge. When Christians are baptised they are united with Christ. They share in Christ’s death and in the newness of life (verse 4) which his resurrection has made possible for us. This death is a death to sin and the new life is life to God.
Matthew 10: 24-39
These words are a continuation of the major speech made by Jesus to the twelve disciples, begun earlier in the chapter.
“Do not fear” is the dominant, recurrent message in this reading. First Jesus offers a warning that whatever fate awaits teachers or masters also awaits their disciples or slaves. “So have no fear of them.” (verse 26).
The claim that whatever is covered up will be uncovered and secrets made known arises from the disclosive power of the gospel in which the disciples participate by means of their mission. Their simplicity, vulnerability and dependence on God demonstrate the reality of God’s presence and character in the face of the world’s claims to possess power. Even though doing so will bring suffering, the gospel must now be proclaimed “in the light and from the housetops”.
Jesus expresses reassurance regarding the fear of death in verses 28 to 31. The threat of violence and death are real concerns for the disciples, but no longer the determining force in their lives, for the one who has ultimate power over our whole being exercises that power with mercy and love.
The sayings in verses 32 to 39 again encourage the disciples to remain firm in their commitment to Jesus and their mission, even when that mission generates inevitable conflicts, even within their families.
The saying in verse 34 is crucial. Although Jesus has called his disciples to be peacemakers, his mission does not bring peace, but a sword, so long as the powers resist God’s rule and will. The very act of peacemaking, as Jesus’ ministry demonstrates, generates violence. This is because healing, restoration and the conquest of death threaten the foundations of all human assertions of power in defiance of God.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, June 18, 2023
Genesis 18: 1-15
This story of Abraham and Sarah and their three visitors has been termed the Old Testament version of the Christmas story.
Mamre is located on the plains of Hebron, west of the Dead Sea. The narrator says that the Lord is among the visitors. They are also referred to as angels and as the three men. When they appeared at the noontime siesta, Abraham did not recognise them as divine beings.
Hospitality was highly valued in that culture. Verses 2 to 8 include a fine description of oriental courtesy and hospitality.
In verses 9 to 15, the narrator stresses the incredibility of God’s promise. Sarah laughs at the absurd disproportion between the divine promise and the human possibilities. Verse 14 contains the key question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Psalm 116: 1-2; 12-19
Psalm 116 is a psalm of thanksgiving for healing.
The first two verses are addressing the congregation.
In verses 12 to 19, the psalmist describes the fulfilment of his vows.
Verse 13 mentions “the cup of salvation”. Pouring of a liquid as an offering is sometimes referred to as a libation.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones” (verse 15) means that such a death is rarely allowed to happen.
Romans 5: 1-8
For Paul, hope means absolute certainty about the future because it is grounded in God’s faithfulness to keep God’s promises. Paul had referred to hope in the previous chapter in connection with the story of Abraham’s faith: “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4: 20 and 21)
Paul is developing this theme in the verses of this reading. He explains that Abraham’s faith in God was credited to him as righteousness. When we rely utterly on God’s grace through Jesus Christ, and not upon ourselves, we have peace with God and other blessings. Our hope of sharing the glory of God means that we can confidently expect this though we had fallen short because of sinfulness.
Matthew 9: 35 - 10: 8
The first two verses in this passage focus on the ministry of Jesus of teaching, preaching and healing. The next two verses tell about the disciples in general. The disciples are then named in Chapter 10 and urgently sent out with instructions to proclaim the good news, to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. Jesus inducted his disciples into the same vocation in which he had been engaged.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, June 11, 2023
Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9
Abram and Sarai trusted absolutely in God’s promises. They undertook the long journey requested by the LORD. The promise that God gave them was that they would be parents to a large nation even though they had passed the age of childbearing. Isaac was born and they acknowledged God’s presence by building an altar at Bethel.
Psalm 33:1-12
This joyful song was probably sung on an occasion when a national deliverance had happened. It was sung by a company of people to praise God for God’s unfailing love.
Epistle: Romans 4: 13-25
To Abraham God made a very great and wonderful promise. He promised that Abraham would become a great nation, and that in him all families of the earth would be blessed. That promise came to Abraham because of the faith that he showed towards God. The promise, as Paul saw it, was dependent on two things - the free grace of God and the perfect faith of Abraham.
Paul saw two mutually exclusive ways of trying to get into a right relationship with God. On the one hand there was dependence on human effort; on the other, dependence on divine grace. On the one hand there was the constant losing battle to obey an impossible law; on the other, there was the faith which simply takes God at God’s word.
The gift of grace is always something which is unearned and undeserved, not what we can do for God, but what God has done for us.
The promises given to Abraham when he was an old man seemed, on the face of it, beyond all hope of fulfilment. Yet Abraham trusted God and it was this trust, that put Abraham into a right relationship with God. Therefore, if Abraham's willingness to take God at God’s word brought him into a right relationship with God, so it will be with us. It is not works of the law, it is this trusting faith which establishes the relationship between God and ourselves.
That daring becomes possible to us and to our church only when we accept
the truth of God’s promises.
Gospel:
In Matthew 9:9-13 we see Jesus sitting eating with tax-gatherers and sinners. The Pharisees demanded to know why he ate with such people. Jesus was in effect accused of being an immoral character because he kept company with immoral characters. Here we see the beginning of the campaign against Jesus.
To the orthodox Scribes and Pharisees this meal was a shocking event. Broadly speaking, in Palestine people were divided into two sections. There were the orthodox who rigidly kept the Law in every detail; and there were those who did not keep its petty regulations. It was forbidden to the orthodox to associate with people from the second group. By being with people like this, Jesus was doing something which the pious people of his day would never have done.
Jesus was saying, ‘It is only those who know how much they need me who can accept my invitation.'
Matthew 9:18-26
Matthew tells this story much more briefly than the other gospel writers do. If we want further details of it we must read it in Mark 5:21-43 and in Luke 8:40-56. There we discover that the ruler's name was Jairus, and that he was the ruler of the synagogue.
The ruler of the synagogue was a very important person. He was elected. It was not a teaching or preaching position; it was his duty to see to the care of the synagogue.
It is clear that such a man would come to Jesus only as a last resort, he turned to Jesus in desperation. Jesus bore no grudge; here was a man who needed him, and Jesus' one desire was to help.
So Jesus went with the ruler of the synagogue to his house,
Jesus came into that excited and hysterical atmosphere. Authoritatively he sent them all outside. Quietly he told them that the maid was not dead but only asleep, and they laughed at him. The mourners were so immersed in their grief that they even resented hope.
Coma was not an uncommon part of an illness. Burial in the east follows death very quickly, because the climate makes it necessary. It may well be that here we have an example, not so much of divine healing as of divine diagnosis; that Jesus saved this girl being buried alive.
One thing is certain, Jesus, that day in Capernaum rescued a Jewish maid from the grasp of death.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, June 4, 2023
Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
In the beginning … Our very long reading this week is the familiar story of creation.
Psalm: Psalm 8—a psalm about Divine majesty and human dignity.
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 13:1-13
In the last chapter of this letter Paul finishes with four things.
1. He finishes with a warning. He is coming again to Corinth and this time there will be no more loose talk and reckless statements. He knew that there comes a time when trouble must be faced.
2. He finishes with a wish. It is his wish that the Corinthians should do the right thing. If they do, he will never need to exert his authority, and that will be a deep and real joy. Paul never wanted to show authority for the sake of showing it. Everything he did was to build up and not to destroy. Discipline must always be aimed to lift people up and not to knock them down.
3. He finishes with hope. He has three hopes for the Corinthians.
            . He hopes that they will go onwards to perfection. There can be no standing still in the Christian life.
            . He hopes that they will listen to the advice he has given them. It takes strength to listen to hard advice.
            . He hopes that they will live in agreement and in peace. No congregation can worship the God of peace in the spirit of bitterness. People must love each     other before their love for God has any reality.
4.     Finally, he finishes with a blessing. After the severity, and the struggle, there comes the serenity of the benediction. One of the best ways of making peace with our enemies is to pray for them, for no one can hate a person and pray for that person at the same time. And so we leave the troubled story of Paul                and the Church of Corinth with the benediction ringing in our ears. The way has been hard, but the last word is peace.
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
As we come to the end of Matthew’s gospel we hear the last words of Jesus to his disciples; and in this last meeting with them he did three things.
1. He assured his disciples of his power. Surely nothing was outside the power of one who had died and conquered death. Now they were the servants of a Master whose authority upon earth and in heaven was beyond all question.
2. He gave them a commission. He sent them out to make the whole world his disciples. Some scholars suggest that the instruction to baptise might not have been the actual words of Jesus. But the fact remains that the commission from Jesus is to win all people for himself.
3. He promised them a presence. It must have been a staggering thing for eleven humble Galileans to be sent forth to the conquest of the world. Even as they heard it, their hearts must have failed them. But, no sooner was the command given, than the promise was made. They were sent out - as we are - on the greatest task in history, but with them there was the greatest presence in the world.

Sunday, May 28, 2023
Acts of the Apostles 2: 1-21
The believers are filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and they start to praise God in various languages.
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks as described in this passage.
The description in Acts about Pentecost also uses the ancient imagery of wind and fire. The Holy Spirit is the promised paraclete advocate who stands alongside and who speaks on another’s behalf. We read that the Spirit enabled speech everyone could understand, regardless of their first language. We can make of this account that together they had a significant religious experience as if it was a wind, the symbol of divine energy, blowing through the house and as if tongues of fire, symbols of divinely inspired utterance, came upon each of them. So powerful was this experience that they felt that each could hear each other speaking in their own native language and could understand each other. Peter stood up and tried to make sense of it for them by referring to the prophecy of the prophet Joel. He said that the disciples were not drunk – it was only 9 o’clock in the morning. In any case being drunk would not make it easier but rather more difficult to speak in a language that one has never learned. It is suggested that the literal truth is not the point.

Pentecost
Edgardo De Guzman
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
The world and all its creatures depend on God for provision and breath – which leads the Psalmist to commit to praise God.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
The letter of Paul to the Corinthians gives a unique picture of the early church. Corinth was a city very different from Athens. It was a busy port with harbours facing east and west. It was cosmopolitan, famed for its culture and commerce, notorious for its immorality. Paul arrived in the spring of the year 50CE. Paul appears to have begun preaching about Jesus in the synagogue with renewed enthusiasm. Paul’s letter stresses unity in diversity. Jews or gentiles, slaves or free, Paul says to the church in Corinth that we are all united by one spirit. No one can acknowledge Jesus’ lordship without God’s Spirit, and God’s Spirit, given to all of God’s people, gives different gifts to each person for the good of all.
John 20:19-23
This reading from the fourth gospel tells of the appearance of Jesus to the disciples in the Upper Room. He commissions them, breathing on them and giving them his Spirit, and instructing them that they are sent as he was sent. Jesus gives to the disciples the promised gift of the paraclete. John uses the term several times. This has been interpreted as the Holy Spirit. The word probably meant the advocate or helper and consoler, defending the disciples in their times of trial. The paraclete is the spirit of truth who will impart truth and impress it on the conscience of people.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, May 21, 2023
Acts 1: 6-14
These verses tell of the ascension of Jesus. Christian creeds fixed The Ascension into Christian tradition. The detail of this narrative is to be found only in The Acts though Luke says at the end of his gospel that Jesus “withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven”. In 2 Kings 2: 11, Elijah “ascended in a whirlwind into heaven”. These stories accentuate the elevated status of their subjects.
The Ascension marks the conclusion of the ministry of Jesus and the foundation of the church. The departure of Jesus inaugurates the beginning of the church.
These verses also focus on the response of the disciples. Note the assurances they were given by Jesus in verse 8 and by the “two men in white robes” in verse 11. The disciples who are named returned to Jerusalem to prepare for the mission ahead of them.
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
This is a liturgy for a festival celebration in the temple. The first 3 verses seek God’s power in battle. Verses 4 to 6 give praise to God as helper of the helpless. Verses 7 to 10 list ways God cared for God’s people in past times. Printed after verses 7 and 32, Selah is a liturgical direction, possibly indicating there should be an instrumental interlude at this point.
The psalm concludes with a hymn of praise to the God of heaven.
1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11
Last week we noted the theme in this letter – the living hope that belongs to the good news of Christ’s resurrection even in the midst of persecution and suffering. The word ‘suffering’ is mentioned twelve times in this short letter. While it is clear that the readers are experiencing difficult circumstances, the writer wants to remind them that they are not alone in their suffering (chapter 5, verse 9).
After affirming and encouraging the community in their beliefs, the writer then gives them ethical directives for how they should behave. Note the mention of humility in verse 6, discipline in verse 8 and resistance in verse 9.
John 17: 1-11
This lectionary reading is placed on the last Sunday in the season of Easter. According to John’s gospel, however, this prayer of Jesus concerning glory occurs at the end of the last supper. It is sometimes known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer.
John’s gospel assumes that people were created by God for relationship with God. The prayer says in verse 3 that eternal life means knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent.
In the first five verses Jesus prays for himself. Back in John 2, verse 4 Jesus told his mother his hour had not yet come. Now the hour of Jesus’ perfect obedience has come, securing eternal life for all people through knowledge – personal acquaintance with God and Jesus Christ. Jesus has finished his work.
In the remaining verses Jesus prays for his disciples who are to be left in the world after his ascension to glory. He prays that they may be one as he and his Father in heaven are one.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, May 14, 2023
In 2010, I stood where Paul gave his speech introducing Christianity to the Athenians. The Areopagus is a bare marble hill across from the Acropolis in Athens.
The Areopagus sermon is the fullest and most dramatic speech of Paul’s missionary career.
Paul begins kindly from the side of his listeners by noting that in every way they were very religious. In verses 22 and 23 he also gives evidence of the ignorance of pagan worship.
Next Paul states the object of true worship is the one Creator God in verses 24 and 25.
Paul describes the proper relationship between humanity and God in verses 26 to 28, even quoting from Greek literature.
In verse 29 Paul makes the point that idols of gold, silver and stone are objects of false worship. The concluding verses 30 and 31 declare that the time of ignorance is now over.
Psalm 66: 8-20
This psalm is a liturgy of praise and thanksgiving. Verses 8 to 12 conclude a hymn of praise for God’s blessing and care. In verses 13 to 20 an individual presents a thanksgiving sacrifice in fulfilment of a vow. The verses 16 to 19 describe the psalmist’s experience.
Selah is a liturgical direction; it may indicate that there should be an instrumental interlude at this point.
1 Peter 3: 13-22
The author is encouraging his readers as they experience suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ. He urges them to be patient in persecution, to be ready to defend their hope as Christians, but to do so with gentleness and reverence.
Verses 18 to 22 refer to the example of Christ. Put to death in the flesh means he really died. Made alive in the spirit means he rose to new life.
John 14: 15-21
This passage is a continuation of last week’s reading. Jesus is delivering his farewell discourse, preparing his disciples for his departure and for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
Jesus reiterates his favourite theme – love. The word "love" appears 57 times in the Gospel of John. He also promises the Holy Spirit (Advocate). Finally, Jesus emphasises the intimate unity of Jesus, God, the Spirit and the believer. Noel Adsett

Sunday, May 7, 2023
The Acts of the Apostles 7: 55-60
This story of Stephen’s martyrdom follows directly after he charges the Council in Jerusalem with opposing the Holy Spirit, murdering the prophets and breaking Torah. Stephen’s accusations made them angry.
Luke tells the story of Stephen’s death in these sentences. Verses 55 and 56 relate Stephen’s vision twice. Verses 57 and 58a describe the people’s enraged reaction. In the second part of verse 58 and verse 59, Saul of Tarsus is introduced for the first time, even as Stephen is being stoned. In the last verse Stephen advocates on behalf of those who are killing him before he dies or as Luke says, “falls asleep”.
There are references in Deuteronomy 13 and 17 to stoning. God’s people were instructed not to listen to anyone enticing them to follow other gods. Such a person was to be taken out and stoned. Luke seems to be suggesting that this is what happened to Stephen. Rather than hearing his words to the Council as prophetic, his audience hears him as enticing them to false worship.
Of interest in this story of Stephen’s stoning is Luke’s parallel between Stephen and Jesus – three times. The first is the echoing of Jesus’s words at his own trial in verses 55 and 56. The second is when Stephen was driven out of the city after a sermon that was disliked, as Jesus was (Luke 4:29 and Acts 7:58). And in verse 59, Stephen cries out, “Do not hold this sin against them”, as Jesus did on the cross (Luke 23: 34).
Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16
The last words that Jesus spoke from the cross, according to Luke, were taken from this psalm, particularly from the fifth verse. “Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46). The last words of Stephen before he died as a martyr were also from this psalm, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59).
Note also the way the word “hand” is used in this psalm. In the words prayed by Jesus from the cross, the psalmist addresses God, “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (verse 5). Later on, the psalmist again addresses God, entrusting his life to the Lord, “My times are in your hand” (verse 15). In other verses, the psalmist refers to the hands of the enemy and holding the Lord’s people safe.
1 Peter 2: 2-10
In this passage, the author of 1 Peter is using several quotations from the Old Testament to help readers understand who Christ Jesus is and what a Christian community should be.
Verse 3, “You have tasted that the Lord is good,” is an allusion to Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”
Verse 6, referring to a cornerstone, can be compared with Isaiah 28, verse 16.
Verse 7 is about the stone that the builders rejected - a quotation from Psalm 118, verse 22.
Isaiah 8, verses 14 and 15, tell of “a rock one stumbles over – a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem”, a quotation in the eighth verse of this passage.
“Proclaim the mighty acts,” in verse 9 alludes to the recurring Old Testament theme of remembering what God has done for Israel - most notably in the exodus and Psalms 77, 78 and 105 - by which God made Israel God’s chosen people.
Finally, verse 10 is a quotation of Hosea 2:23 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Of the nine verses that make up this reading, six of them are either alluding to or directly quoting scripture. All of this textual dependence serves a particular purpose, defining the Christian community.
John 14: 1-14
This text is frequently read at funerals, and for good reason. It contains promises that are profoundly comforting in the face of the death of a loved one.
The setting is the last supper when Jesus talks with his disciples. The thirteenth chapter of John tells about the washing of the disciples’ feet and the meaning of this act of love. Jesus has told his disciples that he will be with them only a little while longer. They are troubled. Jesus responds to the anxiety of his disciples by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (verse 1). Jesus calls them back to this fundamental relationship of trust and assures them that he is not abandoning them. The whole statement is a promise, a word of comfort to the disciples of Jesus.
The text, however, is not only about life after death. Verses 13 and 14 are about life here and now as Jesus entrusts his mission to his disciples.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, April 30, 2023
John 10: 1-10
We are familiar with the description of Jesus as the good shepherd. The metaphor of sheep and shepherd would have been understood by people who knew pastoral work. They kept their flocks in communal pens and separated them out by calling them with their own distinctive voices. The gatekeeper in verse 3 was apparently someone paid by a number of shepherds to guard their sheep in one fold. The gate and the shepherd protected the sheep from those who would harm the sheep – thieves and wolves.
In the time of Jesus, those who would harm the sheep would have referred to persecuting Romans, hostile Pharisees and rich landlords.
“All who came before me” in verse 8 refers to those who claimed to be the Messiah. Jesus offers not only security but “life in abundance” – life, beyond measure.
Defining an abundant life is worth thinking about. In response to Jesus’ offer of love, grace and compassion, we can live a life of purpose and meaning. We can be a part of a community with these views to enrich our lives.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, April 23, 2023, Notes on Lectionary Readings
The Acts of the Apostles 2: 14a, 36-41
This reading recalls Peter’s sermon (verse 14), part of which we read last week. Now Peter’s remarks which include an accusation, bring about a sudden realisation. “This Jesus whom you crucified – God has made him both Lord and Christ.” Jesus the Messiah. We learn of the powerful impact of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s sermon had on the crowd. Whatever part each person in the crowd had played in the death of Jesus, after hearing Peter’s speech they were pierced to the heart. They were challenged to repent and to be baptised.
Psalm 116: 1-4, 12-19
This is a psalm of thanksgiving for healing. Like Psalm 16 last week, it speaks of the experience of a person who has been delivered from death. The response is one of unreserved thanksgiving. It cannot be kept secret. He must bear witness before the congregation and join with the faith community in offering thanksgiving.
1 Peter 1: 17-23
Peter is addressing exiled believers who face the pressure to conform to the attitudes, customs and behaviours that they knew before becoming Christian. God has given them new birth into a new family but they must familiarise themselves with the values and lifestyle of their new reality as Christians.
The reference to God as Father in verse 17 reminds us of “Our Father …” in the Lord’s Prayer where Jesus invites disciples into his relationship with God. God’s children are to “live in reverent fear” of their benevolent Father who is also an impartial judge. We fear to disappoint those we love. This should be so with our love for God.
In verses 18 and 19, the letter’s author is presuming Christ’s blood has redemptive power to liberate Christians from their pasts, making it possible for them to live a radically transformed existence.
Luke 24: 13-35
This story is known as ‘The Walk to Emmaus’. It occurs straight after the Easter narrative in the Gospel of Luke and it takes place later in the day on Easter Sunday. The story is found only in Luke.
The first part of the story (verses 13 to 27) shows that the two men had no idea who Jesus was when he approached them. They are aware, however, of recent events in Jerusalem. They knew he was “a prophet mighty in word and deed”. They also knew the essential Easter story. Yet they didn’t pick up on his identity when he interpreted “Moses and all the prophets” concerning himself in verse 27.
In the second part of the story (verses 28 to 35), the identity and significance of the stranger become known to the travellers on the road. They are gathered at the table and their guest “took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” (verse 30). The words are almost identical to those in Luke’s chapter 22 verse 19 at the Last Supper.
It is interesting to note the Eucharistic symbolism here. In the early church, worshippers met for interpretation of scriptures, proclamation and sacrament.
It is the same today. The Christian faith is born and nurtured where people share in worship through word, gesture, music and symbols such as water, bread and wine. Noel Adsett

Sunday, April 16, 2023, Notes on Lectionary Readings
The Acts of the Apostles 2: 14a, 22-32
The first part of the book of Acts contains reports of several speeches. In the second chapter, verses 22 to 32 are part of a sermon by Peter.
He summarises the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in verses 22 to 24. He then interprets Jesus’ resurrection as the fulfilment of Psalm 16 (one of the readings for today – see below), a psalm of David. Peter argues that since David had died – his tomb was in Jerusalem – David must be referring to someone other than himself. This person must be the Messiah. Verse 32 restates Jesus’ resurrection as God’s act and asserts the apostles’ standing as witnesses of it.
Psalm 16
In his speech on the day of Pentecost, Peter the apostle quoted this psalm in support of his claim that God had raised Jesus from the dead in accordance with the scripture. But this psalm can stand on its own as it has done for centuries. It is a song of trust in God’s power to save.
The first verse is a prayer for deliverance from trouble.
In verses 2 to 8 the psalmist makes a plea to God based on past devotion to God and to the community of the faithful.
Verses 9 to 11 show complete confidence that God will not permit a devoted worshipper to perish.
Note that Peter quoted verses 8 to 11 in his speech, as mentioned in the note on Acts (above).
‘Sheol’ and ‘the Pit’ in verse 10 are references to the place of the dead.
1 Peter 1: 3-9
Peter is writing to exiles who had experienced a change in their lives so radical that it could be called a ‘new birth’. Peter is encouraging them in their predicament and offers them ‘living hope’. It is offered because it is based on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and promises life that does not end with physical death.
The letter acknowledges the readers’ love for the Lord whom they have never seen. Today’s gospel reading includes the blessing pronounced by Jesus in John 20:29 (see below) which suggests that the blessing on those who have not seen him is greater than those who have seen.
John 20: 19-31
These stories tell of two appearances of Jesus to the disciples. They happened ‘on that day’ (the first day of the week) and a week later. The disciples were gathered behind locked doors. Thomas was not the only one needing reassurance that Jesus had in fact conquered death. For the first disciples, there was fear, doubt, pain and confusion before they began to understand and enjoy what was taking place.
John’s gospel includes many incidents and sayings not found in the other gospels and omits much material found in the other three. John himself says there is much he might have included but didn’t. Verses 30 and 31 clearly explain John’s purpose: to elicit and build faith in his readers (including the readers of today) who have not seen Jesus nor been given the kind of proof offered to Thomas. John was convinced he had found pardon, peace and purpose in and through the life of Jesus. He wanted to share the good news with his readers and confirm believers in their faith. John wrote the gospel with this end in view.
Noel Adsett

Sunday, April 9, 2023, Easter Day, Notes on Lectionary Readings
Jeremiah 31: 1-6
Jeremiah Chapters 30-33 form the Book of Consolation containing God’s promise to bring his people back to Jerusalem. This reading affirms God’s steadfast love for his people, forgiving their guilt that caused the exile. Mourning has turned to joy. The wilderness of the exile has been replaced with hopeful images: rebuilding, planting vineyards, and singing and dancing with tambourines.
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
Last week we repeated the words, ‘His steadfast love endures forever’ from Psalm 118. These verses in the same psalm remind us again of God’s victory. The Lord and his goodness have become the song that is carried in the heart. The psalmist’s joyful proclamation, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ is echoed in the story of Jesus’ passion and resurrection.
Colossians 3: 1-4
In his letter to the Colossians Paul was addressing ways of thinking and living that ran counter to ways of life that were based on the good news of Jesus Christ. These four verses at the beginning of the third chapter explain a central part of Paul’s overall argument for those in the community of faith – the starting point and ending point of existence is Christ.
Paul says in verses 1 and 2, ‘Seek the things that are above’ and ‘Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth’.
The lordship of Christ is intimately connected to Paul’s reminder that we have been buried and raised with Christ. If we are raised with Christ, then we have died to the old life and all of its ways. We should, therefore, spend no time seeking after things that are under the lordship of the rulers of this earth whether they be human rulers or kingdoms that seek to rule our lives.
John 20: 1-18
Each of the gospels has its unique way of describing the events of Easter. John’s version is longer than the others and contains more detail. In these eighteen verses we find three people (Peter, Mary Magdalene and the other disciple, presumably John) each responding in a different way to the evidence at the tomb. In her book, The World According to Jesus, Lorraine Parkinson points out that the resurrection stories in the gospels were designed to carry a message of hope for the people who were trying to follow Jesus and his ways. They were tending to look for Jesus among the dead. They looked backwards to a time when he was still with them as bereaved people have always done. The gospel writers however had received a clear message from God and they wanted to pass it on to their readers. Jesus’ vision for the world would live on. None of these stories requires belief in a resuscitated corpse. The resurrection stories are written to remind readers of the gospels that they are still called to follow Jesus. In this part of John’s resurrection story, Peter saw the evidence of resurrection but was not sure if he should believe in it. John saw and believed. Mary went and announced, “I have seen the Lord.”
Noel Adsett

Sunday April 2, Communion Sunday
Notes on Lectionary Readings
Matthew 21: 1-11
This reading is titled ‘Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem’. Rev Matthew C. McCraw of Florida, USA comments on three parts to the story: preparations (verses 1 to 3), fulfilling prophecy (verses 4 and 5) and the procession (verses 6 to 11). Jesus prepared for his entry to Jerusalem from Bethphage along a slope from the Mount of Olives. He gives two disciples clear instructions about where to find the donkeys and how to obtain them. Jesus rode on a donkey, not a majestic horse. It was common for kings and their families to ride donkeys rather than horses. In ancient Israel riding on a horse represented riding into war, while riding on a donkey represented a peaceful time. Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace.
The prophecy in Zechariah 9: 9 said ‘Daughter of Zion’ which referred to Jerusalem, the location of Mount Zion. The prophecy also said that Jerusalem’s king is coming on a donkey’s foal. The Messiah is coming in gentleness and peace. Jesus is fulfilling prophecy.
It is of interest to identify those who made up the crowds who were following Jesus in the procession. Jesus is coming into Jerusalem in Passover week so many Jewish people would be there to celebrate. Some of these would have been from the Galilee region where Jesus was well known. Perhaps they were the ones who shouted ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. Hosanna means save, Saviour, Rescuer. They called him Son of David because they believe he is the Messiah. Others not from Galilee wondered what was happening.
On Palm Sunday Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey as the Prince of Peace. He was soon to accomplish the greatest act of love and display the greatest act of power the world has ever seen.
Isaiah 50: 4-9a
These verses are called a Servant Song – the third in Isaiah written almost six hundred years before the events of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem which is the Gospel reading for this week in Lent. It is almost as if Isaiah - one of Israel’s greatest prophets, was standing in Jerusalem watching what happened to Jesus and describing it in Isaiah’s wonderful poetic language.
Isaiah was writing at the time of the Babylonian exile to a nation (Israel) that had been conquered, its Temple destroyed and its people sent away. They were suffering mightily from this oppression and were waiting for a saviour to come and rescue them. In verses 4 to 6, Isaiah was teaching that the Servant conscientiously brings God’s comfort to the weary Israelites who treat him despicably. In verses 7 to 9, the Servant is expressing unshakable confidence that God will vindicate him. He said, ‘The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near.’
Isaiah’s words were originally addressed to the exiled Israelites. They would have been read by the people under Roman domination and the suffering Jesus himself. They stand today for those who suffer and our own suffering, here and now.
Psalm 118: 1-2; 19-29
This is known as a ‘Hallelujah!’ psalm – a Jewish liturgy used in connection with the great festivals, such as the Passover. Psalm 118 is a thanksgiving for deliverance in battle. The first two verses summon the worshippers to thanksgiving. In verses 19 to 29, the speaker might be a king who has come to the temple to offer thanks for a victory. He asks for entry into the temple in verse 19, and verse 20 is the response from within. He answers in verse 21 that God had borne witness to his character by delivering him while others had rejected him. Verses 22, 23, 25 are quoted in Matthew 21 and in other parts of the New Testament. The suppliant is admitted with a blessing in verses 26 and 27. (The second sentence in verse 27 is probably a liturgical direction.) He makes his act of thanksgiving in verse 28. The psalm ends as it began with a hymn of praise.
Philippians 2: 5-11
Paul introduces the Christ hymn by saying, ‘Let the same mind be in you or among you that was in Christ Jesus’. Paul sees the life of the community being formed by the mind of Christ – by a spirit of humility and loving service to one another rather than competition and grasping for power and control.
Noel Adsett

Sunday March 26
Ezekiel 37: 1-14
The ‘valley of dry bones’ is a well known and loved vision of the prophet Ezekiel. God reveals the bones to the prophet as the people of Israel in exile and commands the prophet to carry another prophecy in order to revitalise these human figures, to resurrect them and to bring them to the Land of Israel.
A number of other meanings are attached to the symbolic vision of the resurrection of dry bones. The story becomes more interesting when the reader learns something about its historical context, literary background and theological symbolism.
Ezekiel himself explains the vision in verse 14: ‘I will put my spirit with you and you shall live.’ God’s spirit (breath) is the key. With God’s spirit anything is possible. Without it, existence is just flesh and blood. But with God’s spirit, there is life.
Psalm 130
A Song of Ascent, this psalm is a prayer for deliverance from personal trouble (a lament). In the first two verses the psalmist cries for help. In verses 3-6, the psalmist eagerly awaits God’s help because it is God’s nature to be merciful. Verses 7 and 8 say that Israel should take the same attitude in its national difficulties.
Romans 8: 6-11
To live according to the flesh is to be dominated by selfish passions; to live according to the Spirit is to belong to the new community of faith where God dwells as the Spirit.
The central theme of Romans 8 is the Spirit. Believers have received the Spirit and, as God's children and joint-heirs with Christ, are to live by the Spirit and not by the corrupted impulses of the flesh.
Paul is saying that if the Spirit of Life is in us and we are in the Spirit, we will be brought to life from the inside out.
Note the interchangeable use of the Spirit in verses 9 and 10 - the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ and the interrelation with Christ.
To set the mind on the Spirit (verse 6) is to freely accept and intentionally nurture the life-giving gift of relationship with the Living God.
John 11: 1-45
The story of Lazarus is unique to the Gospel of John. It is the gospel reading for the last Sunday in Lent, the Sunday immediately preceding Passion/Palm Sunday. In the Synoptic gospels the cleansing of the Temple is the impetus for the plot to kill Jesus. In John the temple scene is moved to the beginning of the gospel, immediately following the wedding at Cana and it is the raising of Lazarus to life that incites the plot to arrest and kill Jesus. This is explained in the remaining verses of Chapter 11.
The raising of Lazarus is the last of the ‘signs’ in the Gospel of John. The actual raising of Lazarus is narrated in only two verses (43 and 44). Before verses 43 and 44, many more verses were written to describe details of the scene in Bethany and the conversations that took place. Previously in the Gospel, Jesus performed signs which were typically followed by dialogue and discourse by Jesus that interpreted each sign (John 5:1-47; John 9:1 - John 10:21). But in the Lazarus story, Jesus comments on the sign before actually raising Lazarus from the dead. Perhaps we should consider that what precedes the miracle is just as important as the miracle itself.
An example of this is the conversation between Jesus and Martha in verses 21 to 27. When Jesus says to her, ‘Your brother will rise again,’ she hears only the promise of a future resurrection, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’ (verse 24). Jesus seems to correct this misunderstanding, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’
In verses 41 and 42, Jesus emphasises hearing. Jesus thanks God for hearing him. By hearing Jesus calling his name, Lazarus recognises the voice of the shepherd and the dead man comes out, because only the shepherd can lead his sheep out.
Noel Adsett

Sunday March 19
1 Samuel 16: 1-13
This fascinating story tells of God choosing David as king over Israel. David was anointed by Samuel who finds him among the sons of Jesse. The statement in verse seven is often highlighted - that humans “look on the outward appearance but the LORD looks on the heart.”
Many other observations can be made about these verses. Some commentators point to Samuel himself, once a youth to whom divine favour had unexpectedly passed, forsaking the family of his own mentor Eli. Samuel’s story, like David’s and like many adults, was characterised by early promise that became more ambiguous as his life events unfolded. It is also interesting to note Samuel’s feelings. In spite of Samuel’s grief and failings, the prophet remains open to God’s word and to new possibilities.
Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is an expression of confidence in God’s protection, a song of trust. In the first four verses the LORD is compared to a shepherd. “The Lord is My Shepherd” is the name commonly used to refer to Psalm 23. In verses 5 and 6, the LORD is compared to a gracious host. The dominant themes in the six verses of eternal rest, peace and comfort make the psalm suitable for reading at funerals. The poem provides hope and encouragement to people in grief.
Ephesians 5: 8-14
The writer contrasts two ways of living – what belongs to the darkness or to the light. Darkness and light are incompatible: we have crossed from one realm to the other and as children of light must now separate ourselves from, and stand against, darkness, reflecting the realignment of our allegiances in Christ. Verse 10 says, “Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord,” reminding us of the ongoing discernment of behaviour which is pleasing to Christ.
John 9: 1-41
In this vividly dramatic story “the man who had formerly been blind” (verse 13), is contrasted with various people. They have all missed the point that in Jesus of Nazareth, God’s promise of restoration and recreation is entering the world. The various people were the disciples, the neighbours, the Pharisees and the parents, all of whom could not see. This story is about an encounter leading to new sight leading to faith. The newly-sighted man looked for the first time into the eyes of the one who had gifted him with light and said, “I believe.”
A note on verse 41: Proud refusal by the Pharisees to admit spiritual blindness demonstrates their “sin”.
Noel Adsett

Sunday March 12
Exodus 17: 1 - 7
This story about the provision of water is one of the wilderness narratives. They are all accounts of happenings while Israel journeyed from Egypt to Sinai. The people blame the leadership of Moses, sometimes Aaron, for their troubles. God hears the grievances of God’s people and responds to them by providing resources that directly address their needs. In this story the rock is struck at Horeb where the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh according to the Book of Deuteronomy, reminding us that the God who commands is also the one who daily provides for our most basic needs.
Psalm 95
This psalm is a liturgy of God’s kingship. It opens with a hymn (verses 1 – 7a) and closes with an oracle delivered by a priest or temple prophet, warning the congregation against disobeying God’s laws (verses 7b – 11). They are not to follow in the footsteps of the Hebrew generation which, despite having been liberated from Egypt, sustained by the manna from heaven and being present at the giving of the law at Mt Horeb, are renowned more for their grumbling than for their joyful noise. “They shall not enter my rest.” Only the two faithful ones (Joshua and Caleb) would live to enter the Promised Land.
Massah and Meribah, named in the Exodus story, became memorials of Israel’s faithfulness.
Romans 5: 1 – 11
The first five verses tell us that when we rely utterly upon God’s grace and not at all upon ourselves, we have peace (reconciliation) with God and other blessings. Suffering, endurance, character, hope occur in the Exodus story. Now Paul explains these concepts in the light of the gospel. He claims we have been justified and reconciled by Christ’s blood (death). In verse 6, Paul points out that while we were still weak, Christ has died for the ungodly, the unrighteous. This reading has depth and power, well worth our thoughts in the season of Lent.
John 4: 5 – 42
We are familiar with the facts that relationships between Jews and Samaritans were tense and engaging in a lengthy conversation with a woman was risky. These facts illustrate the desire of Jesus to break down barriers. The story of the woman at the well also sets the stage for the later Spirit-empowered mission of the church. It anticipates the new humanity Jesus will establish in which traditional gender, racial and class barriers will be abolished.
The verses about the sending of the disciples, sowing and reaping (verses 34 to 38) are a help in understanding the church as a missionary community. Wages are the reward of gathering believers. Jesus sows. The disciples reap. The harvest comes from the labour of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Christian mission is participatory. In verse 39 we learn that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony. Her own missionary life had begun.
Noel Adsett

Sunday March 5
Genesis 12: 1 – 4a
The first eleven chapters of Genesis tell of a broken, divided humanity as a whole (Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, the tower of Babel). Now God calls on Abram and Sarai (later Abraham and Sarah) to play a decisive role in God’s historical purpose. First of all, God promises Abram a “land that I will show you.” Secondly, God promises to make of Abram’s offspring a great nation with the implication of a long line of descendants. Thirdly, God promises to “bless” Abram.
Blessing involves fertility, life, success, well-being and a good name.
In response to these promises and this command to “Go..,” Abram responds in obedience: “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him.”
Psalm 121
This is one of the fifteen Psalms of Ascent which were sung by travellers to Jerusalem for the three great feasts (Passover, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Booths). They are travel songs, songs for the road, songs for the journey of life. They all name God as “the LORD” meaning the Hebrew word “Yahweh” which is God’s covenant name. This name speaks of God’s covenant relationship with God’s people and God’s faithfulness to them. The psalmist in Psalm 121 refers in verse 1 to the hills seen by the travellers on their journey, and asks “From whence comes my help?” The hills might be high places where the baals, the local fertility gods were worshipped but the answers that follow in the other verses speak, in simple language, of a calm and comforting assurance of an unshaken trust.
Romans 4: 1 – 5, 13 – 17
Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome was addressed to a number of congregations in the city. Each was different but they were all aware of the influence of the law, whether in Jewish culture or Roman society. They were all used to believing they had to earn their way by following prescribed laws. They thought of Abraham in this way – a man honoured and praised by God for his works. Paul wanted people to look not to the works of the law, but to faith.
Paul saw in Abraham a father, but not a father in the law but rather a father in the faith. It was crucial for Paul that he recast Abraham and challenge Christians to see, in Abraham, a model of a faithful servant of God.
Romans 4: 1 – 5, 13 – 17 (cont)
Abraham was the father of many nations; but Abraham was righteous in the eyes of God, not because he had followed the law nor because he had earned that righteousness. No Abraham, Paul observes, was made right with God through God’s gracious gift and because Abraham believed God. We are justified by grace through faith.
John 3: 1 – 17
Nicodemus is a learned man, a Pharisee, “a ruler of the Jews”. Jesus refers to him as “the teacher of Israel”. In this passage, Nicodemus is representing the religious leaders. He thinks he understands who Jesus is and who God is but Jesus calls his understanding into question. The reasoning in the conversation is interesting to read. In verse 3 Jesus is pointing out that no one can see God’s reign without being born again. While Nicodemus reacts literally Jesus means he must allow God to change his whole way of being in the world. Jesus challenges Nicodemus to move from theory to practice, from knowledge to faith, from curiosity to commitment.
Verses 16 and 17 are well known. The Greek word translated as “save” or “saved” in John 3:17 is sozo, which means save in the sense of rescue, heal, and make whole.
Jesus invites us to receive life as God’s gift. Those who trust Jesus, staking their lives on divine love, will be reborn. By God’s mercy they will be not merely forgiven, but made whole, remade in God’s image as participants in God’s new creation.
Noel Adsett

Sunday February 26
Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3: 1-7
It is suggested these verses be read slowly to give time for thought and meaning. They cause us to ask many questions. The humans didn’t die when they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Was the serpent right? What was the meaning of the Lord God’s command to the man called Adam? Why was the serpent described as crafty? What is the Truth?
Scripture continually challenges our presumptions about the Creator and creation. It can be difficult to bring fresh eyes to texts that are so familiar, and that have been interpreted in other ways over the centuries. Within the story-world of Genesis 2-3, the relationship of both God and the serpent to the ‘truth’ is ambiguous. The Bible is like that. It is not a collection of facts. It is a collection of stories, poems, songs, prayers and remembrances. It invites us to dwell over its details, revel in its beauty, and reflect on its difficult questions.
Psalm 32
David reflects on the blessing of divine forgiveness. The psalm begins with David expressing the relief which comes with being forgiven of sin. This can only come when a person confesses to God and accepts that their actions were wrong. Confession before God leads to relief. In verses 5 to 7, David encourages others to do the same. Those who trust in God's knowledge can be assured of God’s loving care and counsel. The psalm concludes with an encouragement for praise. Compared to those who stubbornly refuse to admit their sin, humble and godly people have every reason to rejoice in God. Receiving forgiveness of sin not only results in an immediate restoration of our relationship with God, but it also gives reasons for us to celebrate.
Romans 5: 12-19
It is helpful to read the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter of Romans first because Paul explains in some detail the benefits of being justified by faith in Christ. Paul shows that the only way to escape the effects of the fall of the human race into sin is through the free gift of God’s grace that offers justification to all who will receive it. Practically, this gives even greater assurance and hope to believers. Verses 12 to 19 reinforce these assurances. Paul contrasts our old identity in Adam with our new identity in Christ.
Identification, either with Adam or with Christ, is the key to understanding 5:12-19. Paul is saying that either you’re under condemnation because you are in Adam or you’re justified because you are in Jesus Christ. Paul is also showing that God’s gracious gift of righteousness in Christ is far greater than the devastation of sin that resulted from Adam’s disobedience.
Matthew 4: 1-11
The wilderness tests of the Temptation account can be seen as tests of preparation for the choices Jesus makes in his earthly ministry. As a result of the temptations, Jesus was stronger and more prepared for his ministry because he had rejected three false ways of doing his task: providing only for people's material needs. Readers of Matthew’s Gospel have an opportunity to see how the wilderness experience is replayed in Jesus’ encounters with people who are sick, hungry or in need; with people who use their connections to power (including, perhaps, the lawyers, Pharisees and Sadducees who test him in various ways; e.g., Matt 16:1; 19:3; 22:18, 35) to ascertain his loyalty; with persons who too easily worry about the world’s assessment of greatness rather than God’s (including some of his own disciples; e.g., Matt 18:1-5).
Noel Adsett

Sunday February 19
Exodus 24:12–18
Moses and his assistant Joshua are invited to go up on the mountain. Moses’ encounter with the Lord on Mount Sinai is described. We read of a mountain covered in cloud and of the appearance of the glory of the Lord like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. The setting of this story is spectacular.
This story shaped the traditions of transfiguration recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The reading is set down for Transfiguration Sunday at the end of the season of Epiphany.
Psalm 99
What does it mean that God is holy? When you read this psalm you are faced with the clear evidences of what that holiness means. In the face of this holiness, we can do nothing but exalt the Lord our God.
2 Peter 1: 16-21
We are invited to trust, and indeed that is the promise, that the power and the authority ultimately rests in God. The Spirit continues to move among us. In the Spirit’s presence, the glorified Jesus on the mountain is made present among us. The gift of prophecy for the faithful interpreting of the scriptures is continually given. The appeal of faithful witness is granted a hearing within faithful Christian communities who bear fruit in hopeful endurance and godly affection and love.
Matthew 17: 1-9 Transfiguration of Our Lord
In the scene for this story there is again a high mountain. The disciples Peter, James and John watch while the face of Jesus shone like the sun, his clothes becoming dazzling white. He is transformed and shines with heavenly glory – The Transfiguration. In verse 4, we read of Peter’s reaction. He says it is good to be here and promises to build three tents – one for Jesus, one for Elijah and one for Moses. Jesus does not respond but suddenly a bright cloud appeared and a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Matthew records a voice from heaven with a similar announcement in his account of the baptism of Jesus in Chapter 3, verse 17, but this time, adds, “Listen to him.”
It is interesting to compare Matthew’s account of The Transfiguration with those in Mark and Luke. Peter calls Jesus “Lord” in Matthew, a title used in Matthew to indicate faith. While Luke and Mark suggest the disciples said, “Let us build three tents,” Matthew says “I will make three dwellings here”. Both Mark and Luke remark that Peter did not know what he was saying.
In verse 6 we read of the fear felt by the three disciples on hearing the command to “Listen to him”. Then follows the assurance Jesus gave them in verse 7 – an assurance Jesus gave again and again. Jesus continues to remind us of his transforming presence while he still calls for our concern for the poor, justice for the oppressed and love for everyone. Listen to him.
Noel Adsett

Sunday February 12
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
The setting is the plains of Moab, as the Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. The book states that Moses is the speaker, but the laws given are updated versions of those in earlier books. Times have changed since Sinai: the people were semi-nomads then; now they are farmers and shepherds. It is a time of religious revival, of new commitment to God.
Verse 6 puts the Law in a new light: God will ‘circumcise your heart’ – he will work changes within the people so love becomes the driving force. They will keep the
Law because they love God.
Our reading summarises Chapters 27-28 which tell of the ways in which the Israelites will be blessed if they keep this expanded and updated covenant; and the consequences of failing to keep many of the laws, i.e. being excluded from the community.
Then it offers a choice: keep the laws in love and obedience, or suffer the consequences of following other paths.
Matthew 5:21-37
Jesus has made clear that his mission is not to do away with (‘abolish) the Old Testament;
rather he fleshes out its meaning fully (to ‘fulfil’). He speaks particularly about Mosaic law; it will remain in force until he comes again at the end of the era (v. 18). In v. 19, he seems to soften his tone: whether or not one keeps and teaches every one of the 613 laws, one will be admitted to the Kingdom. The scribes and Pharisees kept all the laws scrupulously.
Here he explains how their adherence to the Law is insufficient.
Each of Jesus’ expansions of the Law begins with ‘[You have heard that] it was said’ (vv. 21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43). He then quotes a law.
‘Ancient times’ refers to the days of Moses. The Ten Commandments forbade the act of murder (v. 21). Jesus extends this law to include propensities to kill: nursing anger, calling someone good for nothing (as the Greek says) or a ‘fool’ (v. 22). Vv. 23-24 say that reconciliation takes priority even over worship, to a Jew the most sacred act. Vv. 25-26 may be a parable: the Kingdom of God is at hand; seek reconciliation ‘quickly’ lest God, the judge, finds against you. Jesus offers forgiveness.
Noel Adsett

Sunday February 5, Communion Sunday
Isaiah 58: 1-9a
Written after the Exile, this passage speaks of fasting, but its implications are wider: it encompasses the whole of the people’s attitude towards God. Through the prophet, God issues a legal summons to ‘my people’ for ‘their rebellion’, for ‘their sins’. They go to the Temple daily and ‘delight’ (in a sense) to know God’s ways – but their ‘righteousness’ (keeping the Law and seeking godly judgments) is purely ritual, external.
Why, they ask, are you ignoring us, God? He begins to explain ‘you serve your own interest’ (delight yourselves, not me) and (as slave masters did in Egypt) ‘oppress all your workers’: there is a gulf between the rich and the poor. Because your lives outside the Temple are inconsistent with your worship ,God will not hear your pleas. You kid yourselves if you think an insincere show of fasting is ‘acceptable’. God demands a proper relationship with others, one free from ‘injustice’ and servitude (‘yoke’), one in which the rich ‘share’ with the ‘hungry’, forming one community, giving to the less fortunate. When you do this. God will hear you restore you to well-being, and protect you (both before and behind). He will be present with you.
Matthew 5:13-20
Last week in verses 3 to 11 we heard Jesus describe the qualities and rewards of the ‘blessed’. Now Jesus uses ‘homely’ metaphors to teach essential lessons about being disciples. ‘Salt’ does not really lose its taste, but in Judaism it can become ritually unclean and need to be ‘thrown out’. (It was used to season incense and offerings to God.) Jesus may also be thinking of the salt deposits around the Dead Sea: when heavily rained upon, they still look like salt but no longer are. A follower who loses his faith is useless, and will be discarded.
Jesus calls on disciples to be examples to others – of God’s ability to change lives. In so being, they will spread and make known God’s power (‘glory’). The life of disciples must be visible and attractive: as a ‘city’ is. In verses 17-20 watch for what is inadequate for admission to the Kingdom. Jesus preaches a religion that goes beyond the Law: one of the heart, of love and compassion. One of the ways he fulfils the Law is by looking at its intent and not just the words used to express it.
Noel Adsett

Sunday January 29
Micah 6:1-8
Micah lived and worked during the eighth century BCE (as did Amos, Hosea and Isaiah). Micah’s activity was during the reigns of three kings of Judah (Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah) placing him somewhere between 737 and 686 BCE.
Great change and challenge are associated with this period. Early in the period the Assyrian Empire rose to new strength and conquered or threatened the smaller states in the ancient Near East, especially those rich in resources near the Great Sea (or the Mediterranean Sea as we now know it). During Ahaz’s reign the Assyrians conquered the Arameans* and the kingdom of Israel and made Judah a vassal state. Micah would have seen both an external threat to his people and a period of independence and prosperity.
Micah was a fearless champion of the oppressed and under-privileged, who attacked the socio-economic injustice of his day.
One writer has observed that Micah takes the 613 laws of the Torah and summarises them into just three commands: act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
*Arameans now are a Christian minority residing in either Israel or Palestine.
Matthew 5:1-12
Here is beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, the first of five major blocks of sayings of Jesus in Matthew. The others are in chapters 10; 13; 18; and 24-25.
The Sermon on the Mount plays an important role as the first detailed presentation about Jesus. It also portrays the scene in ways which echo Moses on Mt Sinai.
For Matthew, Jesus is the one who will judge all people. That is how John announced him in Matthew. Jesus is declaring what he will be looking for as judge. He will not be looking for those who are 'saved' or Christian or who can recount spiritual experiences and call him, 'Lord'. He will be looking for the acts of compassion and the attitudes and behaviours listed in the beatitudes.
Noel Adsett

Sunday January 22
Isaiah 9:1-4
This brief editorial note looks ahead to a time when the darkness of Assyrian destruction will end and a new era of peace and hope will dawn. The reading is a revelation that in the midst of the chaos and suffering of warfare there is hope in the promise of a different type of king who rules with hope rather than fear.
Matthew 4:12-23
Jesus has been baptised by John the Baptist, identified with the human race and initiated into his public ministry. He has been tried by fire in the wilderness and passed every test. Now it was the time to begin the task – establishing God’s kingdom on this planet, a ministry that we are called to continue. He looks for people to be his helpers.
Noel Adsett

A NON-TRADITIONAL BLESSING
May God bless you with discontent
with easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that
you will live from deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that
you will work for justice, equality, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and to change
their pain to joy.
May God bless you with the foolishness
to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do
the things which others tell you cannot be done.
Sister Ruth Fox OSB
(order of Saint Benedict)

Sunday January 15
Isaiah 49:1-7
This is the second Servant Song. The servant speaks to Israelites scattered around the Mediterranean (‘coastlands’); he identifies himself as chosen before he was born (like Jeremiah, Paul and John the Baptist) and even named (like Jesus). Further, God made him an effective instrument in proclaiming his message (“sharp sword”).
Perhaps God hid him for protection or in preparation for his mission. Verse 3 may tell us who the servant is: ‘Israel’, the community of the faithful, led by the prophet. They will show God’s power to others (‘glorified’). But the servant retorts: despite all our/my efforts, no one listens! Surely I minister on God’s behalf and God will ‘reward’ me for it (even if people don’t). The servant’s ‘strength’ is from God; he is to turn ‘Jacob’ (Israel) back to God.
God (not the prophet) will gather ‘Israel’ to him. But his mission is to all peoples, not only wayward Israelites and the faithful. God continues to speak to the servant, ‘one deeply despised’ (v 7), hated by many and ‘the slave of rulers’: God’s fidelity is his surety that all, even rulers, will hold him in awe.
John 1:29-42
John the Baptist has denied that he is any of the figures expected by Jews to inaugurate a new era: he is neither the Messiah, Elijah, nor a prophet like Moses; rather he prepares people for the coming of the Lord. He has also told some religious authorities that one is already among them who is far more worthy than he.
‘The next day’ John proclaims Jesus as ‘Lamb of God’. He is probably thinking of the fourth Servant Song: there the servant is ‘like a lamb that is led to the slaughter’. John recognises that Jesus outranks him and ‘was’ (existed) before him. In verses 31-3? he recalls his experience of Jesus’ baptism, and justifies what he has proclaimed. He says: I didn’t recognise him as Messiah (‘know him’), but I now realise that I baptised with water in order that Jesus might be shown to Jews. The coming of the Spirit showed me that Jesus is the one chosen by God. I am convinced that he is, and I have told others. (Later on, on the lips of Martha, ‘Son of God’ and ‘Messiah’ are synonymous.)
Two of John’s disciples begin to follow Jesus. First, they are curious about Jesus when John tells them who he is. They follow him, recognising that he is an authority. Jesus invites them to ‘Come and see’, to investigate what he teaches. The two begin to understand the way of life Jesus offers and expects. We are told that one of the two is ‘Andrew’; the other is unnamed. Andrew tells ‘Simon’ the good news and introduces him to Jesus. (The Greek word translated ‘Anointed’ is Christos.) Jesus prophesies that Simon will be nicknamed ‘Cephas’ , the Aramaic word for rock. Petros, the Greek word for ‘Peter’, also means rock.
Noel Adsett

Sunday January 8. Communion Sunday
Isaiah 42:1-9
This is one of four Servant Songs, poems about God’s special agent who will fulfil his purpose for the faithful community; though innocent, he will suffer for his people. People of other nations choose their gods, but God will select his ‘servant’. his ‘chosen’; he has anointed this person (or Israel) with his ‘spirit’.
When the agent comes, he will be unobtrusive and quiet, gentle, respectful of others, and patient. He will ‘bring forth justice’, i.e. take legal decisions ratifying and executing God’s will. He will not fail nor be discouraged (‘crushed’) until he has achieved God’s purposes; he will win over people to God’s ways (‘teaching’). He will continue to do what God did in the past: he, the creator, is the source of life for his people (as he was in Adam); he will give his ‘spirit’ to those who follow him who are to bring enlightenment to others (‘as ... a light to the nations’), to set them free. God’s name is Yahweh (‘the LORD’); he alone is God. Having seen his integrity in his acts in the past, his people can be sure that the ‘new things’ he announces will indeed happen. He will bring his integrity to all.
Matthew 3:13-17
John the Baptist has appeared, calling people to repentance, to turning back to God’s ways, to the way of life to which Israel committed herself at Sinai. He tells of the nearness of God’s kingdom, the time of complete fulfilment of God’s promises to people. A new era, in which God rules, is almost here! John seeks to dissuade Jesus from seeking baptism but (in words that we do not fully understand) Jesus insists: for the present, being baptised by you is to perfectly fulfil the Father’s will. In being baptised, Jesus joins the community now walking in God’s ways. His baptism shows his continuity with God’s will seen in the Old Testament. The ‘voice’ (v. 17) says three things:
Jesus really is God’s ‘Son’,
he is chosen for ministry to God’s people,
God approves his coming for baptism and his joining with his people in
preparing for the coming crisis.
Noel Adsett

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