The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Overview and Connections
Today we hear an Old Testament story of a people hearing God’s law as for the first time. In the Gospel, Jesus reads a passage familiar to his audience, but then makes a startling new declaration about it.
Each Sunday we come to church and listen to the same stories over and over again. The scripture readings rotate every three years. But each and every Mass tells the story of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. Annie Dillard, in her book Teaching A Stone To Talk, said of church services, “It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us to where we can never return.” I suspect more often it is we who are sleeping. Yes, we listen to the same story over and over again, but how long since we have really, really heard it?
As you read this week’s scriptures, try to come at them with a “beginner’s mind,” to hear them as though for the first time.
Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
The book overview contains a condensed outline of the book. Basically, Nehemiah, part of the Babylonian exile, returns to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and institute political and religious reforms.
Today’s reading from chp 8 shows the people gathering to hear the Torah read. To recap some basic history to this point: the walls of Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 587 BC and all the people were deported. About 50 years later, the people began to return home. It was likely that most of the people returning were born in captivity or had been too young to remember the homeland when they left. Nehemiah doesn’t return for 80-140 years after that. Although the temple was reconstructed early on, temple worship was much less of a priority than rebuilding the decimated land. Corporate memory of Temple worship was dim at best. Hearing the Torah – the laws and the instructions for worship – would have been like hearing something almost new. Perhaps their ancestors had gifted them stories. But the details and experience had been lost.
In v1, the people gather at the Water Gate, which was east of Jerusalem and directly opposite the temple. This is significant because the Torah specifies a worship rooted in the Temple, but it’s been decades since that form of worship was regularly practiced. They’re trying to make sense of what it means to be Jewish in this new landscape.
The author thought it important in v2 to make sure we know that this assembly is inclusive of the entire nation – even women and children. And then the teacher Ezra begins to read aloud the Torah. Most people were not literate and, even if they were, they would not have sat down to read something like this individually, as only a few copies would have existed. Reading aloud was the standard way of learning. It was read from daybreak to midday, which is at least six or seven hours. Remember that the next time you get tired standing for that interminable Palm Sunday reading.
This passage references the Book of the Law in v2. There are four views on what “the law” might refer to:
- A collection of legal documents
- A collection of priestly writings
- The laws from what we know as the book of Deuteronomy
- The Torah (Pentatuech) as a whole
The latter is the most favored by scholars these days. The author either didn’t think it important to document what was read, or perhaps assumed that it would be passed down and the memory of it kept alive.
V4 locates Ezra standing on a platform. Rabbinic tradition holds that this platform is the Temple Mount, where today stands the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Jewish Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall. In v5, Ezra opens the scroll and holds it up so everyone can see. The people stand when they see this. Part of the purpose of this narrative is to instruct people in right behavior. These are people who have largely lost their knowledge of what it means to be a religious Jew. This is part of the instruction: when you hear the Torah being read, you stand. Just as we stand for the Gospel reading.
Ezra had to read clearly (v8) because the book was in Hebrew, a language largely lost in exile. The spoken language is now Aramaic. Most likely, Ezra would have read a portion in the original Hebrew, then translated that same portion into Aramaic. He was at once teaching them the language of their worship but also teaching them what the words meant.
V9 clarifies Nehemiah’s role as the governor and Ezra as priest. We also see in this verse that the people’s response to hearing the Torah read is to weep. Why? Perhaps they felt remorse over having not observed the law for so long. Or maybe they also felt the burden of wondering how they could ever observe such a demanding law. The teacher instructs the people to cheer up and go party, an interesting response!
Again, It’s significant that this reading takes place outside the Temple walls and has no accompanying sacrifice. It’s at this point in Jewish life that the synagogue will begin to take on more importance, and that’s why we find Jesus in the synagogue – rather than the temple – in the gospel today. Both Ezra and Jesus read from the Hebrew scriptures with startling and unexpected results.
Think about one of your favorite gospel stories and then try to imagine hearing it for the very first time. How might the story make you feel if you were unfamiliar with it?
1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27
One of the themes that runs throughout the Corinthian letters is freedom and the correct use of Christian freedom. For Paul, true Christian freedom is always directed outward – to and for others, never on ourselves and the satisfaction of our own desires. But all the community seemed to have heard was one word: freedom. And they decided to interpret that as freedom to do whatever they wanted.
Paul tries to correct that by reminding them of their interconnectedness: what you do affects me and what I do affects you.
There was a dualism at work in the Corinthian community: they seemed to be saying that anything is fine for the body because it’s only the spirit that matters. The body is a passing thing. Paul says no – both body and soul are important; two parts are required for the whole. We might imagine a Corinthian declaring “The body has its needs. There is no difference between the need for food and the sexual appetite. The way we satisfy those urges has no moral implications. Besides, my body belongs to me. I am the only judge of its needs and of what can hurt it, because this varies from person to person. And even if my lifestyle harms me, this is my business. I don’t owe an account to anyone.” It’s all too easy to imagine anyone today saying this as well.
To counter this, Paul draws on the image of the body. This was a frequent metaphor in Greek philosophy, but Paul does some interesting new things with it. He looks at both the body as a whole, and also at the individual parts of the body. One might wonder: where did Paul get the ideas for this?
One of the major temples in Corinth was to the god Asklepios. Generally, this temple was where people sought healing, but its location in the city would likely have also drawn other visitors, perhaps seeking a moment’s respite from the noise and bustle of the city. When someone was cured at the temple (or perhaps to effect their cure), they would leave as an offering a terra cotta representation of the afflicted body part that was healed. It’s very possible that Paul would have stopped to gaze on an array of body parts such as these findings from the sanctuary of Asklepios in the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth:
One might imagine Paul walking the streets of the city and encountering this array of disassociated body parts. We could further imagine him stopping to ponder the display, and then taking that mental image home with him, where the Spirit could speak to him through it. This is how God often speaks to us: through the ordinary and everyday images and events of our lives. God can even use “pagan” things to speak to us!
In v13 Paul says, “we are all given to drink of one spirit.” Here he gives the Spirit properties of a liquid. Biblical imagery often gives wind, water, and fire these same properties. He says that our baptism brings us into a body without distinction. The Message translates this as, “The old labels are no longer useful.”
Paul saw what the body is not in v14: the body is not an organic whole, but rather is made up of many parts. But, in v21, he also says it’s not a disunited array of jumbled parts; each part needs the whole in order to function.
In v22, Paul reminds the Corinthians, who prized the flashy gift of tongues, that, very often, the modest and hidden is prized above all. The principle of solidarity in Catholic Social Teaching tells us that if one of the least suffers, we all suffer. Perhaps the value in our suffering is not to just “give it up to Christ,” but to ask ourselves – who else is suffering and how might my suffering bring me into solidarity with them?
V27 is a key verse. Some scholars view Paul’s body imagery here as a metaphor or simile: this is what Christ’s body is like, what the church is like. But this verse implies an ontological reality: we are Christ’s body. Paul will develop this in his letter to the Romans, telling us that Christ is the head of the body and that we as the parts are subject to the head.
Paul lists some of the gifts in v28. The first three gifts are numbered, indicating their importance. They represent the church’s ministry of the word. Apostles were those “sent out” on mission, to spread the gospel. Prophets were there to remind the people when they did not live up to the demands of the gospel. And teachers taught them what those demands were. So the most highly prized gifts are all centered on the gospel. This passage does not emphasize any sort of institutional development or leadership roles.
V31 presents an interesting question: can we truly strive for particular gifts? This word is usually translated as jealous and it is the Greek word zéloó, which shares a root with the English word zeal. A better translation might be, “zealously seek eagerly the greatest spiritual gifts.” Paul is shifting here to tell us that the greatest gift is love, and that is the gift that we should seek with zeal.
How do you fit into the body of Christ? What gifts do you have and how has God created opportunities for you to use them? As you ponder this question, don’t by any means limit yourself to church involvement! How have you used your innate giftedness in your family life, professional life, friendships, hobbies, etc?
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
We’ve heard from Luke during the Advent and Christmas seasons, but today brings us fully into this gospel for the season of Ordinary Time. So the reading begins in the first chapter with introductory material before it shifts into the launch of Jesus’ ministry.
Luke begins his gospel by acknowledging that others have attempted to write the story of Jesus, but, in Luke’s eyes, most must have failed! He defines his genre here as a narrative, as opposed to the other ancient approach of compiling anecdotes and stringing them together with no connections. Luke wants us to know that he is telling us a story and that the connections between the parts are important.
He uses a technical term in v2 to say that the material he draws on has been handed down. Paul talks about the revelation he was given and how he has handed it down. This will eventually come to mean the idea of apostolic succession – securely handing down the authentic teaching from one generation to another.
Luke knows what he wants to do and in v3 he tells us that other people before him had investigated the whole story of Jesus. But he’s taking a fresh look. He also says that his account is orderly. It’s important to keep in mind throughout this gospel that he is not speaking of a linear, factually correct timeline. Rather, he is talking about making clear connections that lead to certainty (v4). This might suggest that others had compiled narratives that didn’t make the connections to accurately show who Jesus was and the significance of what he did.
Theophilus (friend of God) was a common name among Greek-speaking diaspora Jews, living outside the Jewish homeland. But it could also be symbolic of all who love and seek God. Some say this was Luke’s patron.
Luke is writing an orderly account that will make connections with the purpose of certainty or assurance of faith. This is not an apologetic approach to defend against heresy, but one to assure his readers of God’s plan and their place in it.
V4 uses the word received, the Greek word katécheó from which we get the word catechesis and catechism. This word was particularly associated in the early church with teaching those seeking baptism, the instruction of catechumens.
As you read Luke’s Gospel and the second volume of Acts, one question you can ask throughout: what does this story tell me about the certainty of the teachings I have received? How does it strengthen my faith? Because everything in Luke/Acts is oriented towards strengthening our faith in a faithful God.
We now flip over to chp 4. This picks up after Jesus’ baptism and testing in the desert. In 4:14, we see Jesus coming home after that transformative spiritual experience, filled with the power of the spirit. And everyone is talking about him.
The setting is the synagogue (v15). Throughout the book of Luke/Acts, the synagogue will be a primary place where Jesus dialogs with Jews and often the exchange is heated. This also reflects the underlying state of Luke’s community as they struggle to understand their identity as Jews who are also Christian, and the increasing hostility of those in the synagogue.
He goes to the synagogue in his hometown and he’s handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Reading the text in the synagogue implied explaining it or teaching about it. The whole region has heard of him, so they’ve invited this local boy to impress them with his knowledge. So he gets up to read, and they give him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
There is a completely preserved scroll of Isaiah from the Qumran community that is 24 feet long – it’s a long book on a long scroll. It’s highly questionable whether a backwater town like Nazareth would have been able to afford such a thing. Surely they would have had the scrolls of the Torah. It’s possible that this Isaiah scroll was just bits and pieces of Isaiah. But we don’t really know.
Vv 18-19 are all characteristics of Jesus’ mission that Luke will highlight. The interesting thing is what he quotes from Isaiah and the order in which he quotes it: Isaiah 61:1a,b,d, 58:6d, 61:2a. He leaves out 61:1c “to heal the broken-hearted” and also 61:2b-3a which references a day of vindication.
Luke is very much concerned with the poor, and in v18 there is the mention of liberty and the oppressed being freed. This is the same word in the Greek, and it deals with financial bondage. In that world, the main crime punished by imprisonment was debt. Everything else was dealt with more directly. So those in prison are those in debt. This same word is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament to translate the word jubilee, as in the Year of Jubilee. That is an event which the Torah prescribed to happen every 50 years when all slaves would be set free, all debts forgiven, and all land reverted back to its original owner. There is no evidence that the Jewish people ever seriously practiced this particular command.
Luke is a highly structured writer who knows and follows the strict rules of rhetoric. He, like many of the other Biblical writers, especially Paul, is fond of rhetorical patterns. In vv 18-19 we see a pattern of A-B-C-B’-A’:
A glad tidings to the poor
B liberty to the captives
C SIGHT TO THE BLIND
B’ freedom to the oppressed
A’ year of God’s favor (Jubilee forgiveness of debts)
Note that sight to the blind is central here. We might also call it insight or understanding. We can also look back to 1:4 – certainty of faith, understanding what you believe. It’s also a summary of Jesus’ ministry: healing what binds us, freedom from what holds us back, and coming to understand who God is.
V20 shows a congregation spellbound. Everyone is watching him, intently listening to what he’s going to say about what he’s just read. Everyone in the synagogue would have known that the bits he’s quoted all evoke messianic references. So what is Jesus going to say about the Messiah – that time when God will return and liberate his people and rule over them in an earthly kingdom at the end of time? What inside track does he have? They really want to know.
Jesus simply says: today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Whoa! They did not see that coming! He’s just made an open Messianic claim. Not only that, but he says today the scripture is fulfilled – today the Messiah is here. It’s not his coming ministry that will fulfill this. It’s also not his coming passion that will fulfill it. It’s the incarnation. The very fact that Jesus is incarnate has launched the time of Jubilee! The Messianic age is here. We are in it too, although it is a process, and we daily live that tension of the now-but-not-yet.
Can you imagine what Jesus felt as he held that scroll and looked at all those expectant eyes? Ask God to bring you into that moment and perhaps give you a glimpse of the different emotions Jesus was experiencing.
The Messianic age brings JOY. Remember the reading last week from John, where Mary says, they have no wine. But what she really meant was they have no JOY. In what ways has God already healed you, removed what held you bound? In what ways have you already experienced freedom and come to know who God is? Ponder that and ask for the grace to feel deeply the JOY that goes along with that.
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger