The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Overview and Connections
Luke presents his version of the beatitudes, always a challenge to us no matter the format. The Jeremiah reading echos this same format. Both readings show us two possibilities, two ways of living. Which will we choose?
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Today’s passage stands out in Jeremiah because it doesn’t “feel” like most of his material. The style is more wisdom literature, which lends it to being paired with today’s gospel reading.
In this passage, Jeremiah paints a picture of someone who is blessed and someone who is cursed. They’re presented as complete opposites. As is typical of wisdom literature, there is no in-between, no gray. The author does this to drive home particular points. But always we must keep in mind our own human experience: that we are all a mix of good and bad, blessedness and cursedness.
To get a better sense of how this reading is structured, I’d like to present it in this way:
| Blessed are those who trust in the LORD; the LORD will be their trust. (v7) | Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. (v5) |
| They are like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It does not fear heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still produces fruit. (v8) | He is like a barren bush in the wasteland that enjoys no change of season, But stands in lava beds in the wilderness, a land, salty and uninhabited. (v6) |
In v5, the Hebrew word translated human beings means strong man or warrior. At issue in this passage is the source of a person’s strength. For the blessed, the source of strength is the LORD. Those who lack that blessedness try to trust in their own flesh, meaning all that is fragile, weak, and mortal.
The pairing in vv6 and 8 address the landscape in which a person is rooted. The blessed, whose source of strength is God, stays close to God. Although they are not shielded from the heat of trials, they are close enough to the source to stay supple and green through whatever comes their way. The one who is not blessed is in a completely different landscape, one that is barren and desolate. It is a desert scorched by lava and unrelenting sun, too salty to sustain life. It enjoys no change of season, meaning there is no change of heart in this person.
What is the source of your strength? From my personal experience, I know it is all too easy to say that God is the source, but often my actions and fears suggest otherwise.
What does your landscape look like? Keep in mind that life is rarely black and white. I suspect we all live in a landscape of variety. Maybe ask God to reveal and help you uproot a few weeds in your landscape.
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
The last few weeks in 1 Corinthians have been directed at the gnostic influences – those who held that the spirit is all that matters. The gnostics would say that their baptism had already resurrected them in spirit so the body did not matter. This would be extended to say that nothing done with the body mattered. But Paul argues today that to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the core of the gospel.
Paul uses a highly structure argument in this passage:
If Christ is not raised v13
We have believed in vain v14
We have been a false witness v15
If Christ is not raised v16
We have believed in vain v17
The dead are lost v18
The implications and consequences of denying the resurrection of the dead impact not just Christ but others as well. The pattern that Paul sets up invites the listener to equate being a false witness with “the dead are lost.” Why? Because the gospel message gives hope of eternal life. If the dead are lost, then our message is untrue, our hope unfounded.
Last week Paul cited a creed which the community knew. In v12 he asks how can they profess that creedal belief and yet say there is no resurrection of the dead?
Vv13-15 are left out of the lectionary. Often this is done with a section that is confusing when proclaimed. That’s a dicey criterion in Paul because so much of his material requires heavy lifting on the part of the modern ear. In the ancient world, men were trained in rhetoric and Paul’s audience would have easily picked up on the pattern above. Not so for us today.
How much does a belief in the resurrection of the dead impact your daily life?
Luke 6:17, 20-26
Last week Luke gave us some context on why the original disciples followed Jesus. That story is followed by some healing stories. And then Jesus begins to tangle with the Pharisees. Beginning at 6:12, he goes up on a mountain to pray.
Luke presents a Jesus who prays much more than in any of the other gospels. He’s always going off by himself to pray, especially before big events. After this particular prayer session, he calls the larger group of disciples up with him and then chooses 12 of them to be apostles – the Twelve. It’s important when reading Luke’s gospel to keep in mind that there are the Twelve, the apostles, but there’s also a much larger group of disciples who follow Jesus. So if Jesus is speaking to the disciples in Luke, he’s addressing this much larger group of people who believe in and follow him.
Today’s passage is usually subtitled The Sermon on the Plain. Matthew stages it on the mountain because mountains are an important motif for him, and everything important happens on a mountain. Luke’s Jesus is a man of the people; he’s always out among them. So this important teaching is done not with Jesus high above and remote, but rather on level ground, with the people.
One commentary says about this passage, “Luke’s beatitudes and woes are frankly disturbing to the moderate, middle-class listener from the developed world. For whom is this good news?!” The message is radically simple, but simple does not mean easy. Discipleship may have what we would term disastrous consequences. As Fr. Vinny used to like to say: this passage is Jesus preaching comfort to the troubled and trouble to the comfortable.
V17 sets the stage by describing the audience. There were people from all Judea and Jerusalem; these would be Jews. But there were also people from the coastal regions of Tyre and Sidon. This was an area north of Israel and it was Gentile territory. Luke is metaphorically saying that Jesus is teaching everyone from everywhere – Jew and Gentile. He calls it a great multitude, the Greek word plethora, which is the same word used in last weeks’ reading about the great catch of fish.
Vv18-19 are a powerful image. People came from all over for Jesus’ healing touch. And he is right there in the middle of them all, letting them touch him, healing them.
In v20 Jesus “raises his eyes.” He’s a teacher so he’s necessarily seated. And he’s talking to the disciples here: not just the inner circle of the Twelve, but to all who believe and follow him. What he’s going to teach here is Luke’s version of the beatitudes. If you compare Luke and Matthew, you’ll see there are some significant differences which stem from each Gospel writer’s overall purpose. Luke is writing to a highly educated Greek and Roman audience and his version is highly structured; it’s really a literary and rhetorical masterpiece.
One important thing to keep in mind about these beatitudes is that these are not social classes, but, rather, conditions of being. Someone can have millions in the bank and be poor or hungry. Someone can be penniless and hated for their words. These beatitudes deal with the spiritual rather than the physical plain of being. Some would like to say that we don’t have to help the poor because Jesus called them blessed. Such a view stems from seeing these beatitudes solely on the physical plain.
The word blessed is the Greek makários (from mak-, “become long, large”). The idea being conveyed is that when God extends His benefits or the advantages He confers, he necessarily enlarges us. We are blessed/enlarged by God’s very presence.
Blessed is contrasted with the word woe. Sometimes this word can be an expression of grief. Its use here is almost an explicative expression of denouncing something, akin to cursing. This is not to say that the person is condemned; rather, it emphasizes that they are on a path that does not lead to God; their path leads to grief.
One thing you might notice about Matthew’s version, and Matthew in general, is that he talks a lot about the kingdom of heaven whereas Luke talks about the kingdom of God. Matthew’s audience is Jewish and a pious Jew will never say the name of God. Luke’s audience is Gentile; they have no qualms about saying God’s name. Matthew’s kingdom of heaven is the same as Luke’s kingdom of God.
Like the Jeremiah passage, you can see the structure very clearly:
| “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. | But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. |
| Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. | But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. |
| Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. | Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. |
| Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. | Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way. |
The passage from Jeremiah was in the style of wisdom literature, as is the beatitudes passage. In wisdom literature, there is only black and white, either this or that. There are no middle ground shades of grey. You are either blessed or cursed, in one camp or the other. Wisdom literature does a great job of helping us see clearly the two (and only two!) choices before us and asking us to choose. But always we must remember that life and people are a mixed bag. It is dangerous to try and categorize people into one side or the other and treat them accordingly. The following questions might help:
- In what ways are you dependent only upon God?
- In what ways are you content in the consolation of your riches? What are those riches?
- In what ways are you spiritually hungry, not able to get enough of God?
- In what areas are you full, leaving no room for God?
- What in this world makes you weep?
- What makes you laugh because you take something at face value and refuse to look at the dark underside?
- Recall a time when someone excluded you because of your stance on certain issues or beliefs that you freely made known.
- Recall a time when someone praised you. Would God have praised you in that situation?
Jesus is not inviting us to categorize people into us and them. As long as someone is an other, we can never fully see and love them with Christlike love. The beautitudes invite us to see ourselves and one another in all our God-given complexity and fully appreciate how much we are all a work in progress.
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger