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.
Isaiah 66:10-14
Today’s passage uses the image of Jerusalem as a mother, and also the uncommon image of God as a mother. The latter is also seen in Isaiah 42:14, 45:10, and 49:15.
Isaiah chapters 55-66 are “3rd Isaiah,” which deal with the struggle for a new way of being – a new temple and a new leadership. The captives have returned “home” but “home” is nothing like what they once had. Most of us experienced something similar coming out of Covid and searching for a “new normal.”
The reading begins with a call to rejoicing. This might remind us of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, rejoice! The resurrection is coming. New life is just around the corner. Everything may seem dark and hopeless, but God’s constant promise is that of renewal. V11 is a somewhat shocking metaphor in our culture; nursing mothers may be revered, but only if they do what they do in private. The idea of drinking with delight at abundant breasts might make you cringe. And yet, the exiles-returned-home are invited to take courage from this metaphor; the city that fell to the enemy will once again become a source of vital nourishment.
V12 extends that metaphor and adds others. First water, a life-giving necessity to a desert people, the primary source of life. It will not just be a stream or a pool, but a river, flowing mightily. The word prosperity is the Hebrew word shalom, a word which means well-being, safety, and contentment. Shalom is not just the absence of war and conflict; shalom is the presence of a deep and abiding peace, in the midst of war and conflict if necessary.
V13 shifts the focus of the metaphor from Jerusalem to God’s very self. God will comfort through the city itself.
Some Biblical images make us uncomfortable, even those meant to comfort. Ponder the idea of a nursing mother. What feelings come up? Invite God to speak to you through this image.
Galatians 6:14-18
In v11, Paul makes it clear that he has taken the parchment of the letter from his scribe so that he can write a sort of postscript in his own hand. “See with what large letters I am writing to you in my own hand!” We know the Damascus Road experience rendered Paul temporarily blind. Even though that blindness eventually lifted (something like scales fell from his eyes at his baptism Acts 9:18), perhaps the restoration was never fully complete, or perhaps it flared up every now and then, rendering him sight-challenged once more.
6:12-17 provide a summary of the letter with vv12-13 providing one final warning against those who preached that being Jewish was necessary for being Christian. He reminds the Galatians that even those who supposedly “keep” the law can never keep it in its entirety – perfectly.
Paul begins and ends this passage with a reference to suffering – Christ’s and his own. V14 speaks of the “world.” This is the Greek word kosmos, meaning everything that stands in enmity with God. Paul says he boasts in the cross: he takes pride in his utter dependence on God, a radically counter-cultural approach.
In v15 he refers to the contentious issue of circumcision. Paul says circumcision, that mark of the old covenant, has nothing to do with it. It’s not about what you do – it’s about what God is doing within you! “Uncircumsicision” was a reference to the male foreskin, and it was frequently a slang term used by Jews to refer to Gentiles.
Previously, there were “boundary markers” around what it meant to be Jewish: to be circumcised and to follow the law. Paul is saying that these boundary markers are no longer relevant – this is a whole new paradigm. Being right with God no longer relies on things like circumcision or even genetic heritage; nor does it rely on taking pride that one is not circumcised. Rather, it’s about who is a part of the new creation, who has been made new through the cross.
V16 refers back to this “rule,” the Greek word canon, the idea that it is the centrality of the cross and the work God does within us. NT Wright sees this as Paul’s essential ecclesiology: the “church” is all the people of God, including but not limited to Israel. In this way, “Israel” is no longer about ethnicity, but, rather, about everyone who embraces the way of the cross. “Israel of God” indicates continuity but in a radically new way.
In v17, Paul says he bears the marks of Jesus in his body. This is the Greek word stigma, a word found only here in the New Testament. A stigma in Paul’s time was like a tattoo which identified slaves. There are many testimonies in the New Testament to all the beatings and suffering that Paul endured in service to the gospel. Surely these left physical scars and this is likely what he refers to here. Stigma is where we get the word stigmata but it wasn’t until St. Francis in the 13th century that this word took on the meaning that we know today – the marks of the crucifixion appearing on someone’s body. This is also a subtle irony: Paul preaches that a “mark” like circumcision in unnecessary, but he calls out the “marks” that he bears – suffering for Christ.
Think about the “marks” you bear in service to the gospel. For most of us, I suspect they are not physical marks but emotional and mental ones. Rejection leaves a deep mark in anyone. Exclusion and being misunderstood can wound deeply. Ask God to show you the marks you bear, both those which are healed and those which might need healing.
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
Last week Jesus spoke to us of the necessity of full commitment to the gospel. There was a call to leave behind everything and take up the work. Today, Jesus will give more instructions on what that looks like.
The passage begins in v1 with Jesus sending out a large group of disciples on mission. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus sends out the 12 apostles. There are 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles who were all Jewish. Here in Luke, it’s a much larger number of disciples. Luke’s 70 or 72 seems to want to suggest the universality of the gospel. Why the confusion of 70 vs 72? Half of the ancient manuscripts use one and half the other.
In Numbers 11, we see Moses choosing 70 elders to help him, which is probably the original reference. But 72 is a multiple of 12 and some scribes might have preferred that numerology. The Greek doesn’t use the word “pairs” but rather says “two by two” which could have played into the confusion.
Jesus sends them out to everywhere he intends to visit, possibly to test the waters of hospitality: will his message be received?
In v2 he speaks of the harvest, a common metaphor in the Old Testament for the Messianic age and eschatological judgment. When a harvest is ready, the need is urgent. Somone must go and work to gather it all in.
You’d think Jesus would employ some encouragement but, in v3, he seems to do quite the opposite. He says he is sending them out like little lambs among a bunch of wolves. But to the original audience, this would actually have been a positive image. Isaiah 11:6, at the coming of the Messiah, “The wolf will live with the lamb.” Also Isaiah 65:25, at the end of time, “The wolf and the lamb will feed together.” I think this verse functions on many levels. On one hand we have to acknowledge the inherent dangers that lie in being a true disciple. Jesus will make this point over and over. But on a more important level, I think it’s saying that we go out and do the work of spreading the gospel as though the kingdom is already here. It’s that common tension of already but not yet.
So be careful but also be joyful for what we’re trying to bring into existence – the kingdom.
V4 gives those concrete instructions about how to travel, not only on a missionary journey, but on “the way,” a common term for the Christian journey. Jesus says don’t carry anything, don’t be attached to anything. Luke will emphasize again and again the problem of attachment to material goods.
The verse also stresses the urgency: don’t greet anyone. We think this is like don’t say hello. But greeting someone in the Middle East is an involved process that necessarily requires hospitality. If you see someone and engage with them, that someone will invite you over and you will have to say yes; those are the ironclad laws of hospitality that must be observed. Jesus is saying don’t let yourself get sidetracked and off mission by getting friendly with everyone in sight! We can be polite but don’t get distracted in your politeness.
V5 echos the Isaiah reading, peace. They are to enter a household in peace but also they are to gauge how things feel. Is it a peaceful household? Is this a person of peace? If not, Jesus says, you’ll know! Peace becomes the test of whether the message can be preached – whether people are open to change, which is what happens on the way to wholeness and restoration.
If they do find peace in a household, they are to accept the hospitality from that household for the duration of the stay. No moving about looking for posh accommodations or better food. Don’t travel with anything but also don’t be picky about what you get. Take what is offered and be good with it.If you find a peaceful house to stay in, then you can start to work.
The first work is taking care of yourself in accepting hospitality. And then, in v9, they are to get to work bringing healing and wholeness. Only then are they to share the good news: the kingdom of God is at hand, is near. And if we recall Jesus’ manifesto from Isaiah back in Luke 4, we know that the kingdom involves healing and wholeness and freedom. The message is that, in the healing, the kingdom has come. It’s so close it’s upon you if you can recognize it.
What about if you go to a town and can’t find a person of peace? V11 says to shake the dust off your feet. The Message translates this as, “the only thing we got from you is the dirt on our shoes and we’re giving even that back.” Vv13-16 are not in the lectionary but they deal with this rejection of the gospel. It seems that there is a hierarchy of sins in the kingdom, and rejecting the gospel is at the top of that hierarchy.
In v17, the 70/72 return in joy. They’re excited!!! But look what has excited them – their power. The demons are subject to us – we can control even demons. It feels like almost an afterthought… “oh yeah, because of your name.” They’re excited by the power and feeling of control that they’ve exercised.
In v18, Jesus is going to temper their enthusiasm. He reminds them of his divinity and his pre-existence. He watched Satan’s fall. Why did Satan fall? Ultimately Satan fell because he wanted to be God. Who has ultimate power and control and authority over anything, including demons? God. I think Jesus is subtly saying to them that they are bordering on Satan’s sin and wanting to be God.
In v19 Jesus reminds them that he gave them the power to do what they did on mission. The power to tread upon serpents is a reference to Psalm 91. In desert spirituality, these are the sources of much angst and pure evil. That’s what these creatures symbolize.
Jesus, God, gave them the power, and that power protects them. But, in v20, don’t get lost in the power and the control and the effects. Get lost in the fact that your names are written in heaven. Get lost in the fact that you are united with Christ.
There are two qualities that characterize the mission: urgency and detachment. How evident are these qualities in your own life?
An important point to note is that it is not the disciples (or, subsequently, the church) who initiate the mission. It is God alone who does so. Our task is to discern where God is at work and where God is calling us. It may be that it is some new initiative. But the call comes from God. Spend some time this week praying about your own call. Is God inviting you to something new? Is God inviting you to your current ministries in a deeper way?
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger