The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Today’s Readings
Today, we see God choosing people, but not because they are somehow “better” or more holy. The Jews were weak and vulnerable; a tiny nation in the midst of powerful foes. The disciples were a motley crew who abandoned Jesus at the critical juncture. God does not choose us because we measure up. God chooses us because he made each of us to uniquely fit into his plan. We have something special to bring to the table that God has gifted us alone to do. He chooses us to do the work of the kingdom. This is what makes us special.
But Paul reminds us that this giftedness does not buy our justification or right standing with God. Only God can make that happen. God creates. God chooses. God calls. God brings into right relationship.
A final lesson from these readings is that we are gifted and called in order to give. We are Christ’s presence in the world, sent to build the kingdom.
Exodus 19:2-6a
Remember what I did in the past as you look to the future. This was the emphasis of last week’s Old Testament reading as well – a thread that follows us from one liturgical season to the next.
In this passage, God establishes a covenant with the people that goes beyond what he promised to Abraham in Genesis 15-17, when he promised land and descendants. There are specific obligations to this covenant as well as the promise of relationship with God’s self.
Most scholars see this story as part of a liturgical covenant renewal ceremony, much like we might renew our baptismal promises today.
Verse 4 says “you have seen.” God appeals to and most often works through our own experience. This was a key insight of Vatican 2 – that God is not limited to relating to us through doctrine and dogma or even the sacraments, useful as all those things still are. God works through everything. As St. Ignatius put it, “God in all things!”
Verse 6 calls them a “kingdom of priests.” A priest is one who mediates the presence of God in the world. At our baptism, we are all anointed as priest (prophet and king as well!). We are all commissioned to mediate the presence of God to our world.
What experiences can you recall and name as God working in your life and the world?
In what ways do you uniquely mediate the presence of God in the world?
Romans 5:6-11
The book of Romans has affected the later development of Christian theology more than any other New Testament book. No other book has been so commented and debated on.
Written around 57-58AD probably in Corinth. Paul’s mission in the eastern Mediterranean area was over and he was looking forward to evangelizing Spain. This is the only surviving letter that Paul wrote to a community that was unknown to him. It was a letter of introduction. If you think about Paul’s career… he didn’t have exactly a pristine record. In Jerusalem he persecuted Christians. He got into a huge debate with the apostles about the need to retain Jewish ways. He won the argument but it probably didn’t make him popular. Now he’s off to Rome and he’d like the Christian community there to help him make the journey to Spain. And so he wants to put himself in a good light and he wants to show them that he is doctrinally sound.
Romans is not a compendium of Christian doctrine nor is it Paul’s last will and testament. Romans is a letter to try and make Paul look good to an unknown group of people.
The audience in Rome is debated. Most of the book seems written to Gentiles but there are some chapters that are obviously written to Jews.
Romans chps 1-8 say that God has already acted faithfully to include Gentiles in the community of salvation. Chapters 1-4 make that case to a Jewish audience, while chapters 5-8 speak the message to a Gentile audience. 5:1-11 set the theme for chapters 5-8: those who are justified by faith in Christ are reconciled to God and will share in Christ’s risen life.
Verse 6 says that there was an “appointed time” when Christ died. This is chairos time. While it was indeed a moment in history, Paul is speaking in this passage about a flow of events outside chronology as we know it. In chronos time, things happen sequentially and in order. In kairos time, everything “is” all the time.
Verse 7 is a rhetorical argument by which Paul is attempting to show the completely gratuitous nature of what Jesus did for us. It sounds confusing, and some scholars think perhaps the scribe wrote out what Paul dictated and then later Paul or someone else tried correct or clarify the manuscript. It might be less confusing to say, “It would be hard enough to die for a good person, but to die for someone who’s not good is unthinkable.”
Verse 8 speaks a message to those times when we are tempted to think we must earn God’s love or do something to make God love us. There is no quid pro quo here, nothing that says God’s loving actions are dependent on anything we do.
Verses 9-10 use a variety of words to describe our condition in God: “we are justified, saved, reconciled.” All are similar verbs, but each has a slightly different perspective on what God does for us: The verb justified is relational: because of what God does, we are put into right relationship with God. Saved means delivered from peril. Paul uses another verb elsewhere to talk about deliverance from the perils of life. This verb indicates deliverance from the ultimate peril of death. Reconcile means to change or exchange, and it indicates the transformation that takes place in our relationship: we have been changed from enemies into friends.
In what ways have you tried to earn God’s love and approval? How can you take Paul’s message to heart and accept the love God is already giving?
Matthew 9:36—10:8
The gospel of Matthew has a well-defined narrative structure. You can see by the color bands above that each section has a corresponding section. For example, chapters 1-4 are Jesus’ birth and beginnings, which correspond to chapters 26-29 on his death and rebirth.
Chapters 8-9 demonstrate Jesus’ authority through narratives of healing and teaching. He also calms the sea during a storm, calls Matthew the tax collector, and engages with the Pharisees. Today’s passage is a hinge between that section and the next section, where he will teach about his mission.
At the beginning of this chapter, it says, “Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.”
Verses 2-4 give a list of the disciples
Verses 5-15 are instructions for the mission
Verses 16-25 are a warning that they will encounter persecution on the mission
Interestingly, we never hear about the end of this mission in Matthew. This could be a way of suggesting that the mission is open-ended and continuing.
In Matthew, Jesus appears to restrict his entire mission to the Jews. The few Gentiles to whom he ministers come to him. And yet, Matthew’s detailed genealogy does not attempt to hide Jesus’ Gentile blood. Matthew’s community was likely in the midst of a struggle with the question: Are we Jews or are we something else? Matthew must always balance these things, and he definitely leans in the direction of embracing Jewish identity.
There is a sense of urgency here. For the original audience, Jesus evokes the harvest which must be gathered in a timely manner – there was much work to do. The harvest was also a metaphor for the end of time – God’s final judgment.
Verse 36 says that Jesus’ heart was “moved with pity.” The Greek has a wonderful word – splagchnizomai from splanxna, ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. This word expresses a profound emotion and agitation in the innermost depths of the physical body. It was not simply pity but an embodied expression of solidarity with the people.
What situations in your own life have moved God to feel such deep compassion for you? Are there situations that move you to feel such compassion for others?
In what practical ways can you make the proclamation that the kingdom of heaven is at hand?
Old Testament / Gospel Connection
In Exodus God reminds the people who and whose they are and what they will become. Centuries (millennia?) later, Jesus looks over the people who were heirs to this great legacy and his heart is moved with compassion. There is still much work to be done. So he sends out his disciples on what is basically the same mission: remember what you have freely received from God and now go out and give it just as freely.
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