The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
More information can be found here.
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16A
The books of Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings form one continuous work of history. These books take us from entering the promised land through the Babylonian exile. They were written in the early 600s BC when the Jewish people had been in exile for several decades.
The genre of these books is what we would call “historical,” but the idea of “historical” texts capturing things “as they really happened” is a fairly recent idea from 19th-century academia. Prior to that, histories were, by and large, didactic: meant to teach the listener something. These books use narratives about the past to illustrate various issues of significance to the present audience. You see this throughout the Old Testament, and in particular, you see it whenever the Exodus is spoken about. The Exodus wasn’t some disembodied historical event; rather, it was a key occurrence in the life of a nation that served as the basis for the observance of a central set of laws and norms. The past story was recounted in order to shed light on how to live out the faith in the present.
These books are a theological history written by a people trying to grapple with some big questions: how did God’s chosen, special people come to be in exile? Can God still be relied on? Is the covenant still in effect even though there’s no longer a temple? These books tell the stories of the past in order to make sense of these questions in the present.
2 Kings chapters 2-8 are all about Elisha, the successor prophet to the great Elijah. There are ten legends or different stories about him: he raises the dead, he multiplies bread, he cures a leper, and he does all sorts of miracles. This calls to mind all the things Jesus did as well.
Elisha was active in the late 800s BC, and today’s story is set in the village of Shunem, which is in the northern kingdom near the Sea of Galilee.
Verse 8 tells us that an unnamed woman seeks out Elisha and invites him to a meal. She must have laid a good enough spread that this becomes a habit for the prophet whenever he’s in the area.
The woman recognizes Elisha’s holiness, and she convinces her husband to build Elisha his own little guest room so that he can stay longer than just for a meal. The room is in the best part of the house—the roof—where any cool breeze could be caught.
Verses 12-13 suggest that Elisha does not speak the woman’s language and has to communicate through his servant. Elisha wants to do something to repay the woman’s hospitality to him. She replies in verse 13 that she is “living among my own people.” She’s confident that her tribe, her clan, will provide everything she needs. It would be shameful to ask outside the tribe for help. But in that society, one never did a favor without expecting something in return. Elisha is trying to figure out what the woman wants in return, but she isn’t very helpful!
Elisha’s servant has to point out the obvious to him: the woman’s husband is old, and she has no son. Implicit in this is the understanding that she will be thrown on the mercy of her clan once her husband dies. Although she sounds confident in her community, her future is very uncertain.
Elisha then makes her the promise in verse 16: “This time next year you will be cradling a baby son.” Her response is “Don’t kid me! This is too important a matter.”
I always scratch my head as to why the lectionary leaves out the ending of the story: the woman does indeed conceive a son, and that child grows up healthy, in contrast to what was probably the majority fate of children in that age, which was to die before the age of five.
Several points from this story. First, it is the woman who presses Elisha to dine; we never hear a word from the husband. And the reward for the service is directed as a benefit primarily to the woman.
Another point is in verse 10: how many men would tell a story about a great prophet and insert details like what furniture was included in the room? I’m not disparaging you men as ones who overlook details, but it is striking. There are some passages in the Old Testament, especially in these historical books, that scholars think might have been written by women, because of the subject matter and details they include. This is perhaps one of them. Verse 10 is almost like a hostess’ checklist.
A final point is what relates to the gospel reading: taking care of a prophet and the reward for doing so. This woman provides food and lodging for Elisha, and in return, she receives the reward of a son.
We might also say that this story demonstrates how one woman prepared a place for God’s word to dwell in her house, and no detail escaped her attention. In what ways do you prepare your physical, mental, and spiritual life to make room for God’s Word to dwell with you? What small details are important?
Romans 6:3-4, 8-11
Today’s reading comes from a section that covers 5:12-7:25. The point in this section is that our new Christian life brings a threefold liberation:
- Freedom from sin and death 5:12-21
- Freedom from self through union with Christ 6:1-23
- Freedom from the law chp 7
These readings in Ordinary Time right after Easter often touch on the theme of baptism. This is yet again an illustration of how the liturgical seasons blend in with each other. The Easter Vigil is the normative time for adult baptisms, and this passage is used in the Vigil liturgy. The Easter season is one of fleshing out what that baptism means in the life of the church, a time during which we also typically renew our baptismal promises each Sunday.
Paul’s main point in this passage and this chapter is that baptism brings new life, but it is a life that must be shaped accordingly. We have to be transformed. If you’ve died to sin, you can’t continue to live in it.
He also stresses that what happened to us in baptism cannot be made to unhappen, however frequently we stumble and fall. The reality of our baptism is always there. It’s an indelible mark.
Verses 1-2 start off this section, where Paul picks up a question that he will revisit frequently: if grace abounds where sin makes such grace necessary, should we continue in sin so that grace may abound even more? Paul will come back to this question a number of times in this passage. It’s as though one of the prevailing attitudes of his audience is that they don’t have to worry about the moral character of their lives. In previous chapters, Paul has been talking a lot about God’s grace. But he feels compelled to remind us that grace does not mean freedom to sin.
In verse 3, Paul tells us we don’t merely symbolically identify with Christ’s death and resurrection. Rather, through baptism, we are sacramentally brought into that reality. The rest of this passage is basically stressing that point over and over again. This is our reality.
Verses 5-6 stress the union with Christ. Paul says we were “crucified with him.” This English phrase is a single Greek word, and it’s the same word used in the gospels to refer to the two thieves “crucified with” Christ. Paul also uses this word in Galatians 2:2, “I have been crucified with Christ.” This is the real answer to 6:1 – we can’t keep sinning because that causes us to be enslaved to sin, but we have been liberated from that enslavement by being crucified with Christ.
Verses 8-10 tell us that being “crucified with” Christ means being a part of the entire Paschal mystery: we died and are also raised. In what ways have you been crucified with Christ?
Matthew 10:37-42
Today finishes up chapter 10, which is the missionary discourse. In this chapter, Jesus is sending out the disciples on a mission, and he gives them a lot of instructions and warnings.
Today, he’s going to talk about both the demands and rewards of discipleship.
Interestingly, we never hear about the end of this mission in Matthew’s version of things. This could suggest that the mission is open-ended and continuing. In that way, this material is still speaking to us today: we are the disciples, on that mission still, by virtue of our baptism.
Verses 34-35 are not in the lectionary but are important. This chapter is about being on mission, just as Jesus was on mission. Three times in these verses, he says, “I have come to…” He was very clear about his mission: what he was doing and what he was not doing. How clear are we about our own mission and the way we are to live that out?
Verse 37 talks about being worthy of Christ. This Greek word comes from the root “to weigh.” This evokes the image of a scale that must be kept in balance. We might call it God’s balance-scale of truth. There are many things that will throw this scale off balance. In this passage, Jesus calls attention to one thing in particular: letting those around us determine our decisions and actions rather than following God’s plan.
Verse 39 is a familiar verse, and I love how The Message renders it: “If you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
Verse 40 contains a cultural reference to receiving someone. In that culture, an ambassador carried the full weight of the one who sent them. They spoke in that person’s name, in-persona. To reject an ambassador was to essentially reject the sender. And vice versa. Think about what it means for God to endow us with this level of trust. And how often do we betray our mission by doing or saying things that are not consistent with what Christ would do or say? I am reminded of the question “What would Jesus do?” as a guiding force for all of our actions.
Verse 41 is the connection to the Old Testament reading: the woman received Elisha simply because she had heard he was a holy man. Most of the time, true prophets aren’t swamped with invitations wherever they go. To invite a prophet in, to offer a prophet hospitality, may cause us to receive a prophet’s reward, but we will also be subject to the prophet’s message. And prophets don’t come to affirm us in our cozy way of life. They come to challenge and invite us into a deeper relationship with God.
In the Elisha story, the woman extends a huge measure of hospitality to the prophet. I like verse 42 as a counterpoint to this because it reminds us that often it’s the little things—the simple cup of cold water—that matter.
Coming back to the idea of Ordinary Time and how it teaches us to live out our faith in the day-to-day, ordinary circumstances of life…. One thing you have to say about the gospels is that they don’t always paint a rosy, inviting picture. The gospels lay it all out there about the difficulty of living the Christian life. Yes, there are rewards, and there are also great demands. And this is true not just about the big things, the big decisions, but also the daily choices that we make.
What is your mission, and how are you called to live it out? Consider crafting an “elevator speech” to express your mission in its essence in as few words as possible. Maybe consider sharing it with someone.
What is one concrete way you can forget about yourself and look to Christ today? Or, in the spirit of the Examan, how might you have been invited to do that yesterday?
How do you see yourself as Christ’s ambassador, and how do your actions reflect that?
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2023 Kelly Sollinger