Proper 11 -- Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians
2: 11-22; Mark 6: 30–34, 53-56
A
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given
at St. John’s Church, in Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania, on Sunday, July 19, 2015.
“EXPOSITION
ON TODAY’S LECTIONARY”
(Texts:
Jeremiah 23: 1–6, Ephesians 2: 11-22 & Mark 6: 30–34, 53-56)
Introductory
Remarks on Today’s Homily
An actual homily won’t be delivered
today (unless this experiment, which is being called “Stump the Priest”, goes
poorly, and no one in the congregation has comments or questions to pose
concerning the lectionary for this morning, in which case I’ll make some
comments which will be based on what is shown below). Instead, we’re trying something new: We’ve provided the parish with the three
readings which are appointed for this morning, distributing them a couple of
weeks ago, in order that those who’ve received them will have a chance to read
them in depth, and to develop questions concerning one or more of the readings,
or to share insights and comments on them.
A Comment about
the Design of the Lectionary
Generally speaking, the Old
Testament lesson shares something in common with the gospel which is appointed
for the day. In today’s cycle of
readings, the lesson from Jeremiah deals with the “bad shepherds” of Judah,
while the gospel reading from Mark records Jesus’ concern for God’s people, who
are like “sheep without a shepherd”. So
the leaders of God’s people, that is, the “shepherds” are the connecting link
of the Old Testament lesson and the gospel reading.
The epistle (letter) reading
generally tracks in a separate way, and generally makes its way through most
(or all) of a complete letter from the New Testament.
Sometimes the Psalm shares something
in common with the Old Testament and the gospel readings. One of the choices for today’s lectionary is
Psalm 23, which begins with the words “The Lord is my shepherd.”
On occasion, the Collect for the Day
is well matched to one or more of the appointed readings. That isn’t so much the case with today’s
collect.
Jeremiah 23: 1 –
6
The setting of
Jeremiah
Jeremiah lived during an extremely
troubled time. He was living in
Jerusalem before and during the conquest of the Southern Kingdom of Judah at the
time when the city was overrun by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Called into his prophetic ministry in about
the year 627 BC, his ministry spanned about 40 years. He was from a priestly family. Many scholars call Jeremiah the “weeping
prophet” because of the very sad nature of his life and the situations he
addressed during his ministry. Jeremiah
spoke against the ruling class, the false prophets (who assured everyone that
“all is well”), and the priests of the temple, warning them that their
ignorance of the political, military and religious situation they were faced
with would result in catastrophe.
Jeremiah survived the conquest of Jerusalem and was among those who made
their way to Egypt following the fall of the city.
Today’s reading
In the previous chapter, Jeremiah
has warned about the fate of Judah’s king, Zedekiah, who, Jeremiah says, will
be carried off into a foreign land by Nebuchadnezzer of Babylon. Then, beginning with today’s reading, he says
that, despite the misdeeds of Zedekiah and the leaders of God’s people, God
Himself will bring those who have been driven out of the land back to it. This prophecy was fulfilled in 538 BC, when
King Cyrus of Persia (who had conquered the Babylonians) allowed the first
returnees to make their way back to Jerusalem.
The phrase “The Lord is our Righteousness” is a play on the meaning of
Zedekiah’s name….in today’s passage, Jeremiah predicts that God will lead His
people rightly and with their best interests at heart, in contrast to the
actions of the king and their false leaders.
Ephesians 2: 11
– 22
The Setting of
Ephesians
Ephesus was a major port city in
Asia Minor, and the location of a pagan temple of the goddess Artemis. The city’s ruins are still quite impressive
to be seen today (in western Turkey).
Most letters in the Bible, along with most of the writings of the
prophets, deal with specific situations.
In Ephesians, St. Paul reminds the readers (and hearers, for Paul’s
letters were read aloud to the churches to whom he wrote) of his letter that
Jesus Christ possesses sole authority over all things, not only in this world,
but in the world which is to come, so that those who have come to faith in
Christ will be encouraged to remember that allegiance to Christ stems from
Christ’s own choosing of them before the world ever came to be. Accordingly, allegiance to Christ surpasses
all other allegiances in terms of its truth and its importance. Paul’s aim seems to be to strengthen the
Ephesians’ resolve to be faithful to Christ in the midst of an overwhelming
pagan culture.
Today’s reading
Ephesus was much like most major
cities and communities of the Roman Empire, in that it had a significant
population of Jews living in it, living alongside Gentiles. Since the early Church originally preached
the Good News of Jesus Christ only to Jews, it was natural that some Jews would
come to faith in Christ as a result.
However, in the Book of Acts (11: 20ff) we read that this Good News was
beginning to be preached to Gentiles, as well.
Eventually, both Paul and Barnabas reported on the successes of their
preaching among the Gentiles to the Church, which set off a major dispute among
the believers. The dispute centered
around the need for converts to become faithful Jews in every respect,
following the requirements of the Law of Moses (the Torah): Did non-Jewish converts need to adhere to all
the requirements of the Law, or not? A
council was called to deal with the matter, which met in Jerusalem in 49
AD. Their deliberations and the
decisions they reached can be found in Acts, chapter 15. But the decision of the council, that Gentile
Christians need not become faithful practitioners of Torah, did not entirely
settle the matter. St. Paul is forced to
write a letter to the Galatian Christians some years after the Council of Jerusalem,
attempting to quell the unrest that a group of unknown persons (who are called
“Judaizers”) were attempting to do in convincing Gentile believers that they
had to follow the requirements of Torah.
So Paul addresses the mixed
congregation of the early Church in Ephesus, reminding them that, in Christ,
they had all become one in the Lord. Old
distinctions and the former ways of regarding each other had been supplanted
and surpassed by a new reality, for all of them had become one in Christ. Note especially that Paul uses the words
“circumcision” and “uncircumcision”, terms which were prominent points of
discussion at the Council of Jerusalem, to refer to Jews and to Gentiles.
Mark 6: 30 – 34,
53 – 56
The setting of
Mark
Scholars generally agree that Mark’s
gospel account was the first written account of the life, teachings, suffering,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mark’s account may date from about the year 65 AD, in which case it may
have been written not long after the first organized persecution of Christians took
place under the Emperor Nero in 64 AD.
The early Church historian, Eusebius (260 – 340 AD), records the
testimony of Bishop Papias (who was Bishop of Hierapolis, c. 120 AD), who tells
us that Mark’s source of information was St. Peter himself. Papius tells us that Mark recorded Peter’s
recollections of the Lord, “though not in order”, of the events as they
unfolded in the Lord’s ministry. Mark’s
account is the briefest by a good measure.
Mark’s writing style is filled with action verbs, and makes frequent use
of the words “amazed” and “immediately”.
Today’s reading
Today’s lectionary parcels up
chapter six of Mark’s account. It omits
Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (verses 35 – 43, and His walking on the water of
the Sea of Galilee (verses 44 – 52). (A parenthetical remark is in order
here: Sometimes, portions of a passage
of Scripture are omitted because the omitted portions tend to be
offensive. So whenever verses are omitted,
it is important to look at those omitted verses to see if they pertain to the
lectionary reading overall. If they do,
it’s important to re-insert them into the reading for the service, as the
Prayer Book allows us to do….the meaning of today’s gospel reading isn’t
materially affected by the omission of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 and His
walking on the water.) Despite the
omission of these two events, the resulting gospel reading continues to retain
unity of meaning. That meaning has to do
with Jesus’ compassion for the people of His day. He notes that they are like “sheep without a
shepherd”. In the Lord’s day, the
leadership of God’s people was manifestly corrupt. Not unlike the false shepherds of Jeremiah’s
day, these false leaders (the puppet king Herod, the temple priests, and the
Pharisees) tended to look after their own interests, putting the people’s
welfare aside. Life 2,000 years ago was
hard, it was short (for most people), and daily assaults by sickness,
debilitating taxation, brutal Roman rule, and strict-but-lifeless adherence to
the slightest and smallest details of the Law all added up to create a heavy
burden for the people.
Into such a situation God sends His
Son, bringing genuine concern for the daily lives of the people, conquering
illness, feeding those who are hungry, and offering them the true righteousness
of the Lord. In this last understanding,
Jesus fits the description that the prophet Jeremiah had foretold. So then, by comparing the passage from
Jeremiah with Jesus’ actions in our gospel reading this morning, we can see
that the adage, “The New (Testament) is in the Old (Testament) concealed, the
Old (Testament) is in the New (Testament) revealed.”
