The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Overview and Connections
Today’s readings issue a call to wholehearted commitment, but they also remind us that such a call comes with a price. And yet, the call is given to each and every one of us.
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
1 Kings 17-19 tell the story of Elijah and are worth reading in order to gain a sense of the context of today’s passage. At the beginning of chp 17, we see Elijah, having defeated the prophets of Baal, running for his life, afraid of the woman Jezebel who has vowed to kill Elijah. He runs into the desert and prays for death. God tends first to Elijah’s physical need for rest and nourishment, and then sends him on a journey to Mount Horeb. It is in the cave at Horeb that Elijah hears God not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in the sound of sheer silence.
In v13, God asks Elijah, “Why are you here?” God sent Elijah to this place, so why this question? Perhaps it’s because in v11 God told him “Go out and stand on the mountain before God” but Elijah remained huddled in the cave. Or perhaps God is referring to Elijah’s call as prophet – why are you here sulking rather than living out your call? Elijah responds in v14 by emphasizing all that he has done for God. God’s response to that is to tell Elijah to get up and get back to work! But remember – before all this, God had miraculously tended to Elijah’s physical needs.
God gives Elijah three tasks: to anoint Hazael as king, to anoint Jehu as king, and to appoint Elisha as his own successor. God also reminds Elijah in v18 that, even though he feels utterly alone, there are 7,000 people like him. He’s in good company. God has responded to Elijah’s complaints point by point:
- 19:4 he prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life;”
- God names a successor
- “the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword.”
- Got responds with the swords of two new kings
- “I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.”
- God holds up at least 7000 who are faithful like Elijah
In fact, Elijah himself will do only one of the tasks God gave him: he will appoint Elisha as his successor. It will fall to Elisha to later anoint the two kings.
In v19, Elijah finds Elisha plowing the field with 12 pairs of oxen. This was a lot of animals! It means either his family was very rich or he was part of a large community that pooled their resources. I love that Elisha’s call came right in the midst of his ordinary, daily activity. He was farming, just as his ancestors had done.
Elijah throws his cloak over Elisha, a symbolic action that would have been understood by everyone as a transfer of power and authority.
Elisha in v20 acknowledges his call but wants to do things properly. Kinship ties and responsibilities were preeminent in ancient cultures. To say goodbye was not an emotional farewell affair. It was more a formal relinquishing of family and responsibilities. He wanted to do right by his family and he wanted to do it the right way. He asks Elijah for time to wrap up his affairs. Elijah gives him leave to do so, but tells him: don’t forget what I just did; don’t forget the greater calling.
Also, don’t judge Elisha too harshly. He hears the call and realizes that it is going to require everything of him. He wants just a moment to leave to his old life. Perhaps this is a good model to follow. When God calls us into something new, we often want to run headlong into it, without counting the cost. This can often leave us feeling trapped and overwhelmed when the price of discipleship is eventually demanded. And it can be exacerbated by holding on to the old life “just in case.”
After Elisha carefully considers the cost, he commits 100% to the cause in v21. As evidence of that, he completely destroys everything related to his former way of life. Perhaps it’s not only symbolic – perhaps he didn’t want to leave anything behind that might tempt him to return.
I suspect few of us will ever have such a dramatic and symbolic call experience. And yet, God has called each and every one of us to some form of kingdom service. What has that looked like for you? It’s important to remember the sense of call and draw strength from it for the hard times ahead.
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Paul’s letter to Galatia speaks of freedom. Over and over, he says, because you are free, be free! We are free and yet we know we are not. There are so many things that bind us and hold us enslaved. The Christian journey is largely about letting God truly set us free. It’s the work of a lifetime.
V1 sums up the whole book: for freedom Christ has freed you. Freedom is both the means and the end. Christ has “set us free,” a verb in the aorist tense: a single past action now complete. We are free!
I think the lectionary leaves out vv2-12 because they simply expand on what v1 has so eloquently already said.
In v13, Paul takes up the idea of how we might use our freedom. Paul says don’t use this freedom to do whatever you want! Use it to serve others. Not as an opportunity for “the flesh,” which is the Greek word sarx. This is the tendency to live an existence exclusively and completely centered on self. Some translations render this “self-indulgence,” which helps clarify that this is not about the body per se, but rather our innate selfishness and self-centeredness.
In v14, Paul, like Jesus before him, quotes Leviticus 19:18. To fulfill implies that obedience completely satisfies what is required. There is a difference between doing the works of the law and fulfilling the law. The law is kept through service to others.
V15 is picture of a deeply divided community that is tearing itself apart through selfishness and self-centeredness. Paul proposes an antidote in v16: to live (literally to walk) in the Spirit, to conduct your life according to this principle or guiding force. We see a duality at work here – the spirit and the flesh. Some read this as a duality of the spiritual realm and the physical realm. That’s not what Paul is getting at here. Rather, he’s contrasting a life controlled and driven by the Spirit against a life controlled and driven by that part of us influenced by sin. We might could say “the flesh” is humanity turned in and upon itself. Either way we’re in the body – it’s a matter of what controls us.
Paul continues that thinking in v17. Being controlled by “the flesh” and being controlled by the Spirit are two totally different ways of operating – they are also mutually exclusive; you can’t do both. Paul develops this thought further in Romans 7.
The passage closes with v18 which says it yet again: you can only be controlled by one thing; choose the Spirit so you become free from the law. “The law” are those things that a good Jew would do to maintain the covenant relationship. To live in the Spirit is opposed to that: to live in the Spirit is to live in the new covenant.
Think about some of your recent actions. What controlled those actions? How might you structure your life as to be more and more controlled by the Spirit?
Luke 9:51-62
These verses mark the beginning of a major section in Luke, commonly called “the travel narrative” which ends in 19:47. Back in 4:16, Jesus started his Galilean ministry in his own hometown of Nazareth. In that story, he reads from the scroll of Isaiah and says, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (4:21) They were amazed and spoke highly of him, and he then highlights how the Jewish people have rejected the prophets over and over again. That makes them angry and in v28 they are so mad they try to kill him. That rejection begins his Galilean ministry.
The travel narrative section will begin, once again, with rejection. Throughout this narrative, Jesus gets closer and closer to Jerusalem and his ultimate destiny. There is a note of urgency that begins in this passage that will follow us through to Jerusalem. Jesus wants us to realize that there are choices to be made, and we do not have forever to make them.
You might imagine, as you read in this section, the point of view of someone walking along with a purpose. Jesus’ speech is sometimes almost staccato, and the parables are short. Jesus doesn’t have time to stop and fuss. He’s on a mission.
Jesus will speak in this passage of attachments. It’s not so much about what we are called to give up but, rather, what we are attached to.
Luke begins v51 by saying that “the days for his being taken up” were fulfilled. Luke is foreshadowing a number of things: Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In all of these, Jesus was “taken up.” Jesus now knows that his destiny awaits him and so, as in the suffering servant song in Isaiah 50:4-7, he sets his face like flint towards Jerusalem. There’s an intensity of purpose that begins here and runs throughout this narrative.
In v52, he sends messengers to Samaria to ensure hospitality would be available. The Samaritans were half Jewish. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, some of them intermarried with the original inhabitants. And in a lot of cases, the worship of the local gods was combined with the worship of YHWH. This happened particularly in the area of Samaria, which is in the northernmost region of the Promised Land, where this combined worship became very formalized. The Samaritans had a form of worship of YHWH, but they rejected the Jerusalem Temple as the center of worship.
In John 4, Jesus has a long conversation with a Samaritan woman, and she speaks about this – how Jews worship only in Jerusalem but Samaritans considered it acceptable to worship on Mount Gerizim. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, this was the first mountain they worshipped on, and the Samaritans considered it holy. So, the Samaritans reject Jesus because he is headed for Jerusalem in a seeming rejection of their own holy place.
The disciples’ response to this rejection was an offer of retaliation. 2 Kings 1 is a story that parallels this. James and John want to defend Jesus’ honor, because the Samaritans have rejected Jesus, and that shames not only the teacher but his followers. I find it a bit humorous to look back at 9:37, the story about how the disciples can’t cast out a demon; Jesus has to step in and do it. But here they offer to call down fire from heaven.
That earns them a rebuke in v55. Luke doesn’t dwell on it because, in general, he is favorable to the disciples and their human frailty.
V57 begins to look at some of the “would-be” followers of Jesus. These are people who say they want to follow and be disciples, but ultimately they give excuses why they can’t. Jesus will respond to each person with a proverb and his responses are meant to be jarring.
Imagine if you were walking along the street and came upon a large crowd. You might be tempted to follow along and see what’s up, see what it’s all about. Jesus doesn’t turn them away, but he doesn’t necessarily encourage them either. He seeks intentional followers. And he’s not going to sugar coat things in order to entice people. He lays it out at the start. He wants us to know what we’re getting into.
In v58, the first obstacle to this life of discipleship, this journey that we’re making, is that we might become homeless. We might not have a place of belonging. Or we might not have any belongings. We might be rejected. We might have to give up an awful lot in order to be a disciple.
Vv59-60 seem to present a very callous Jesus. This is because most of us have a mental image of this disciple in his mourning clothes on his way to his father’s funeral. But that’s probably not the case. More likely, this man’s father was alive and well. What he’s saying is that he wants to wait and follow Jesus until after his father dies. Then he’ll come be a disciple. Jesus says – you can’t wait for the opportune time. Because there’s always something. “Let the dead bury their dead” – Jesus is saying let those who are spiritually dead, those who choose not to follow – let them take on tasks like burying the physically dead.
Vv61-62 present a visual that is completely lost on us. The kind of plow that is pictured here required one hand to guide the plow and the other hand to guide the ox. It was something that required much effort and concentration. Jesus says if you’re going to do this, then do it. Give 100% to it. No multitasking. No trying to be part of the kingdom and part of the world. You can’t do both.
What have you given up in order to follow Christ?
What things have you used to put off following Christ?
In what ways are you trying to be both part of the world and part of the kingdom?
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger