A kingdom of priests and apostles of the kingdom
Commentary
In our society, full as it is of rugged individualists, we tend to highlight the superstars of any field rather than give credit to the team or to the community. Indeed, Robert Bellah's well-known book of 1985, Habits of the Heart, indicates that as Americans we are so possessed with the language of individualism (self-awareness, self-analysis, self-determination, and so on) that we scarcely own a vocabulary that focuses our attention on commitment to community.
Our first lesson, on the other hand, focuses on the role God gives to the community of Israel encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our Gospel tells of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles, not as individuals (even though they are named) but as the new community called the church. The privilege and the responsibility of these communities might help us think beyond the individualism inherent in the "Lone Ranger" syndrome.
Exodus 19:2-8a
As far as the canonical records show, this ascent by Moses to the top of Mount Sinai was his second, the first occurring sixteen chapters earlier over curiosity about the blazing bush. By the time this chapter concludes, Moses made the trip so many times he must have known every stone along the way.
On this trip two issues stand out. First is the speech of the Lord. Second is the response of the people.
As for the speech that Moses is to deliver to the people at the foot of the mountain, it is nothing short of power and majesty. In one sense, it must be said, the speech might have originally come from somewhere else. Verse 4 amounts to a summary of the Lord's actions for the people. First, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians" refers, of course, to the exodus event. Whether it includes all the plagues, especially the slaughter of the firstborn, or specifically designates the event at the sea is difficult to determine. One could argue for the specificity on the basis of the eyewitness reference (compare "you have seen" with "and Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians" at Exodus 14:31). Second, "how I bore you on eagles' wings" might refer to the guidance through the wilderness. Although the use of eagles' wings is frequently related to the Lord's protection (see Psalm 17:8; 36:8; 57:1; 63:8; 91:4; in battle at Jeremiah 48:40; 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3, 7), the imagery of bearing the people "on eagles' wings" sounds more like the motif of guidance through the wilderness at Deuteronomy 32:10-11. Third, the concluding words "and brought you to myself" sound appropriate enough as a reference to Mount Sinai, but the Hebrew word means actually "brought you in to me." That term is part of a technical expression in ancient Israel's confessions about the exodus and the entry into the Promised Land ("bring out ... bring in"; see Deuteronomy 6:21-23; 26:8-9). Thus this little summary might be a summary of events after the entrance into the land rather than a reference to Mount Sinai, the long stop along the way.
In any case, what the Lord did for Israel carries some expectations, indeed one big condition: "if." If the people keep the covenant that is yet to be made (Exodus 24:3-8) and obey the Lord's voice (in the Decalogue of chapter 20), then they will be the Lord's "treasured possession out of all the peoples." The expression actually refers to a king's private treasure chest (see 1 Chronicles 29:3), a privilege and a responsibility for Israel in the midst of "the whole earth" that belongs to the Lord. In other words, God owns the world and is its King, but in the midst of that kingdom Israel is the private treasure chest. Israel's responsibility, precious as it is, is to be a "priestly kingdom and a holy nation," that is, separated from the rest for the task of priesthood to the world.
As for the response of the people, when Moses reported the Lord's words, they committed themselves wholeheartedly to the condition. Their words, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do," they will repeat when the covenant is made with blood at Exodus 24:3-8.
The two parts of the pericope reflect a common biblical motif, namely, that the declaration of God's actions precede and provide the basis for the imperatives of God. It is what we would expect for the role of the priestly kingdom in the midst of God's world.
Romans 5:1-8
These verses appear for the second time in our lectionary for Year A. We discussed them in some detail as the lesson for the Third Sunday in Lent (March 7). Our discussion here, therefore, will be brief in order not to be repetitious.
Having defined the present benefits of justification by faith as peace, hope, and love, Paul returns to the wonder of it all. Christ died for the ungodly, and that means us. On the basis of his arguments about the universality of sin in chapters 1-2, no serious reader of this epistle could imagine that the ungodly are the other folks, the ones we read about in the newspapers and see on the nightly telecasts. It seems as though Paul feels the need to reestablish the guilt of his readers so that they do not lose sight of how utterly preposterous the love of God really is. "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." That single sentence, the punch line of our lesson, is as clear a statement of the gospel as can be found.
Imagine what might happen if we were to take it seriously! Taking it seriously, of course, would mean recognizing our own sinfulness and the undeserved nature of God's gift. It would also mean accepting the simple fact that this utterly good news belongs to all the other ungodly folks, too -- even the ones that make the headlines for the wrong reasons. What might happen if we were to take it seriously is a renewed commitment to evangelism and a deepened commitment to justice, to say nothing of a fresh look at stewardship by which we manage our lives as though they themselves were gifts of God.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
Ever since the completion of the Sermon on the Mount at 7:29, Jesus had been extremely focused on the illnesses and even deaths of various people and the subsequent healing of them all. As the ninth chapter comes to a conclusion and the tenth begins, we run face to face with several realities about ministry: (1) the ministry of Jesus was holistic; (2) the ministry Jesus gave to the church was like his own; (3) the response to the church's ministry will be very much like that to Jesus.
First, as though a brief summary of all that had transpired until this point, 9:35-38 presents the ministry of Jesus as holistic. The description of his ministry here is almost identical to the words at the beginning of the story of his ministry at 4:23. We might even consider 4:23 and 9:35 to provide the bookends which surround the stories themselves. Certainly all the pieces of that puzzle had been reported throughout the intervening narratives, but here in one paragraph, indeed in the first sentence, the holistic nature of Jesus' work among people is loud and clear. Jesus went into all the cities and villages of Galilee announcing the word of God "in their synagogues." Actually, according to the records between 4:23 and 9:35 Jesus carried out his ministry not in the synagogues but on the mountain where he delivered "the sermon" (chapters 5-7) and in various locations where he healed persons of afflictions, drove out demons to restore the person to family and community, and even raised the dead to life. We have no reason to doubt that Jesus attended the synagogue on a regular basis and that he did indeed teach in the synagogues. It is just striking that Matthew has not yet recorded any of those instances apart from the content of the bookends.
In any case, the point is that Jesus taught, preached, and healed. He cared not simply for the physical ailments of people. He ministered not only to what we would sometimes call "their spiritual needs." He served persons in their entirety. In a very real sense his "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom" would of necessity have included a holistic ministry, because the prophecies about the kingdom to come were filled with healings (Isaiah 35), with restoration of persons to their community (Isaiah 2), with the inclusion of persons who had been cast off (Micah 4:6-7), with abundance of food (Amos 9:13-14). Jesus could not have proclaimed the good news of the kingdom without addressing these physical and social needs in addition to the announcement about the new relationship with God.
Jesus performed this holistic ministry with compassion. The people to whom Jesus ministered "were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (9:36). The words appear to come as a bolt out of the blue. In fact, however, the same imagery introduces the divine appointing of Joshua (in Greek, Jesus!) to succeed Moses so that "the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd" (Numbers 27:17). Elsewhere in the Old Testament similar imagery appears. God's concern is expressed for the people who "wander like sheep; they suffer for lack of a shepherd" in the eschatological prophecies at Zechariah 10:2. The reference to the motive for Jesus' compassion, therefore, rings of eschatological fulfillment, appropriate for Joshua/Jesus who came "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom."
Second, the path to Jesus' commissioning of the twelve in chapter 10 is paved by his prayer that "the Lord of the harvest ... send out laborers into his harvest." The narration of the commissioning itself is absolutely shocking: he "gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness." The shock is that Matthew does not at the outset include the teaching and the preaching of the kingdom. Thus far, the ministry of the twelve -- and thus of the church -- has only to do with the healing aspects of Jesus' ministry. Before the shock is relieved, Matthew takes the time to name the twelve. Some detail is added for all but four: Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Thaddaeus.
Only now does Matthew set the mission of the twelve into the context of kingdom preaching. Confining them "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," Jesus commissioned the twelve to proclaim the good news that "the kingdom of heaven has come near" and to demonstrate its nearness by curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out demons. Like Jesus, the disciples are to act like shepherds to the lost sheep, and like Jesus their ministry is holistic, addressing both the restoration of people to God and their physical needs. Moving the apostles beyond the confines of Israel will take place during another commissioning, that which will occur following the Lord's resurrection when he will send them to "all nations" (28:16-20).
Third, the response to the apostles' ministry will be much like that to Jesus himself. They now become like sheep in the midst of wolves. Their future will consist of danger and persecution. They will be flogged by the religious folks "in their synagogues." They will be dragged before the political and military authorities. The descriptions of their persecutions both resemble those of Jesus (the trials before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate) as well as reflect quite accurately the fate of the apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts (see, for example, Acts 4:1-12; 7:54--8:3; 17:1-9; 25:24-26).
In the midst of all this turmoil for his sake, Jesus offers some instruction and comfort. He tells them when they leave a town that has not received them, they are to shake the dust of that town off their feet, an act Paul and Barnabas performed when they reached the sign "You are leaving the town of Antioch" (Acts 13:51). The fate of such towns would make the judgment day on Sodom and Gomorrah look like a picnic, and those cities were well known for their injustice and for the devastation that followed (see Genesis 19; Isaiah 1:9).
Jesus also assured the persecuted apostles that in front of the authorities the Holy Spirit would tell them what to say. Such a promise carried with it the confidence in the presence of God in their sufferings. That presence, including through their speech, was part of the Lord's commissioning of agents throughout the Old Testament: Moses at Exodus 3:12; Gideon at Judges 6:16; Jeremiah at Jeremiah 1:4-10.
Further, Jesus promises that "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (v. 22). This assurance that the apostles will follow him into the kingdom is based, of course, on Jesus' own experience, one that can be comprehended only after the resurrection.
The final words of the pericope, namely the promise that the Son of man would come before the apostles had gone through all the towns of Israel, cannot be explained easily. If these, in fact, were Jesus' words originally, then clearly they did not convey what actually happened. If, however, the words are those of Matthew, the author, then we might understand them in his own day -- possibly around A.D. 85 -- when this expectation might have still prevailed, especially if the Christians of Matthew's community were trying to find hope in the midst of persecution.
The pericope includes many ideas about kingdom preaching. Perhaps it is well to focus on the missionary task of the whole church, which is nothing less than a continuation of the ministry of Jesus and ultimately an announcement about Jesus. That announcement is not simply a matter of words but of compassionate caring by a commissioned community for all those who in our own day still appear to be lost, like sheep without a shepherd.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Genesis 18:1-15
In our Old Testament lesson last Sunday, we heard God promise to Abraham that he would be the forbear of a "great nation," of many descendants. Now in our text for the morning we find God beginning to work out his fulfillment of that promise by granting to Abraham and Sarah, his wife, the birth of a son, who will begin the line of descendants. God's promise is being effected in the sphere of actual history.
There are three versions in Genesis of the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah. The first, from the source we call the Elohist, is found in Genesis 15:1-6. The second, from the priestly source, is in Genesis 17:15-21. The third, from the Yahwist of the tenth century B.C., forms our text for the morning. Those who edited the final form of our Bible kept all three versions of the promise, side by side, because, like the three Synoptic Gospels, all three have their own emphases and contribute to our understanding of God.
The author of our passage is noted for the vivid, earthly details of his accounts, and indeed, we have a very human picture given to us. The migrating Semite, Abraham, is sitting at noontime before the door of his tent beside the oak trees of Mamre in the southern part of Palestine. Without warning and without any notice of where they come from, three men, who are not identified, suddenly stand before the patriarch. Abraham is startled, but he is also a proper Oriental host, who manifests his piety by his hospitality. He therefore welcomes the strangers with a bow, has his servant wash their feet, and then hastens to bid Sarah to prepare a cake, while he himself runs to fetch an expensive calf from his herd to be cooked for the visitors. There is great emphasis in the text on the quickness with which Abraham puts together the meal. Moreover, Abraham does not eat with the strangers but stands by them, ready to fulfill any of their further wants.
Then comes the shocker in the text. One of the strangers asks, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" A total stranger is not only asking about Abraham's wife, but even knows Sarah's name! And by that question we are alerted to the fact that the three men are more than just travelers through the desert. Indeed, we are then told in verse 10 that it is the Lord speaking to Abraham. "I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son."
We were never told earlier whether Abraham believed the promises of God to him. Certainly he left everything behind and started out for the land God would show him. But judging from the accounts in Genesis 15:2-3 and 17:17-18, Abraham did not believe that he would have a son from whom would come many descendants. After all, he and Sarah were both well past the age of childbearing (cf. 17:17). It is Sarah's disbelief that is highlighted in our text, however. She has been standing behind the tent flap, listening in on the conversation of the strangers with Abraham. And when she hears the promise of a son, she laughs, yizhach! But that is Isaac's name that forever after signifies the fact that Sarah did not believe the Lord's promise.
It was not because of their great faith or piety or anything that they had done that Abraham and Sarah became the bearers of God's promise, any more than it is our great faith that prompts the Lord to work through us. Nevertheless, God is working his purpose out through each of our lives. Despite our sin, our unfaithfulness, our disbelief, God is gracious, and keeps his promises, and sometimes uses even us to move all history toward the coming of his kingdom on earth.
Lutheran Option -- Exodus 19:2-8a
The Israelites have been delivered by the Lord from slavery in Egypt and are now trekking through the wilderness. After three arduous months of hiking, they encamp at the foot of Mount Sinai in the Arabian peninsula, and there they learn the purpose of their lives and of their deliverance.
Moses ascends Mount Sinai and God gives him words to set a choice before the Israelites. They have seen God's redemption of them; God has "bought them back" out of slavery, which is the meaning of redemption (cf. Leviticus 25:47-52). They have experienced God's love and mercy toward them. Now they are asked to respond. If they will enter into covenant with their God and keep the covenant, God will make them his "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." God has already chosen them as his people by delivering them in the exodus. But now he asks Israel if she will serve his purpose.
God wants the Israelites to be his "priests." Here we find the first mention in the Bible of the priesthood of all believers. A priest is one who mediates between God and human beings, teaching the will and character of God to the people. So Israel is being asked to spread the knowledge of God in the earth. God also wants the Israelites to be his "holy nation." He is not saying that they should be morally perfect, although that is much to be desired. Rather, "to be holy," throughout the scriptures, is to be "set apart" for God's purposes. So God is asking Israel to be his "set-apart" people, his 'am segullah, his "peculiar treasure" as the KJV has it, through whom God can work out his purpose in the world. And Israel, of her own free choice, agrees. "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (v. 8). That is the purpose for which Israel has been redeemed -- to be God's servant people.
We Christians in the church have also been redeemed, have we not -- set free from our slavery to sin and death. Therefore, the same words that God spoke to Israel are spoken also to us in the New Testament. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Peter 2:9). There in a few words is described the nature of the church. Then the passage continues and gives us our reason for existence: "that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Now we know the purpose of our lives in the church, good Christians. As God's "royal priesthood," we are to mediate the knowledge of God to all the world by telling of the wonderful deeds of God, not only in our own lives, but through all of the sacred history recorded for us in the Bible. For as God's "holy nation," we are set apart and made special to serve God's purpose in the world. We do not belong to ourselves anymore, and we do not belong simply to our families or to some group in society. No. Now we belong to God, and the purpose for our lives is to serve his ongoing work of saving his world. Your life and mine, all of our lives, have meaning in that marvelous status and activity to which we have been called by our Lord.
Our first lesson, on the other hand, focuses on the role God gives to the community of Israel encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our Gospel tells of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles, not as individuals (even though they are named) but as the new community called the church. The privilege and the responsibility of these communities might help us think beyond the individualism inherent in the "Lone Ranger" syndrome.
Exodus 19:2-8a
As far as the canonical records show, this ascent by Moses to the top of Mount Sinai was his second, the first occurring sixteen chapters earlier over curiosity about the blazing bush. By the time this chapter concludes, Moses made the trip so many times he must have known every stone along the way.
On this trip two issues stand out. First is the speech of the Lord. Second is the response of the people.
As for the speech that Moses is to deliver to the people at the foot of the mountain, it is nothing short of power and majesty. In one sense, it must be said, the speech might have originally come from somewhere else. Verse 4 amounts to a summary of the Lord's actions for the people. First, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians" refers, of course, to the exodus event. Whether it includes all the plagues, especially the slaughter of the firstborn, or specifically designates the event at the sea is difficult to determine. One could argue for the specificity on the basis of the eyewitness reference (compare "you have seen" with "and Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians" at Exodus 14:31). Second, "how I bore you on eagles' wings" might refer to the guidance through the wilderness. Although the use of eagles' wings is frequently related to the Lord's protection (see Psalm 17:8; 36:8; 57:1; 63:8; 91:4; in battle at Jeremiah 48:40; 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3, 7), the imagery of bearing the people "on eagles' wings" sounds more like the motif of guidance through the wilderness at Deuteronomy 32:10-11. Third, the concluding words "and brought you to myself" sound appropriate enough as a reference to Mount Sinai, but the Hebrew word means actually "brought you in to me." That term is part of a technical expression in ancient Israel's confessions about the exodus and the entry into the Promised Land ("bring out ... bring in"; see Deuteronomy 6:21-23; 26:8-9). Thus this little summary might be a summary of events after the entrance into the land rather than a reference to Mount Sinai, the long stop along the way.
In any case, what the Lord did for Israel carries some expectations, indeed one big condition: "if." If the people keep the covenant that is yet to be made (Exodus 24:3-8) and obey the Lord's voice (in the Decalogue of chapter 20), then they will be the Lord's "treasured possession out of all the peoples." The expression actually refers to a king's private treasure chest (see 1 Chronicles 29:3), a privilege and a responsibility for Israel in the midst of "the whole earth" that belongs to the Lord. In other words, God owns the world and is its King, but in the midst of that kingdom Israel is the private treasure chest. Israel's responsibility, precious as it is, is to be a "priestly kingdom and a holy nation," that is, separated from the rest for the task of priesthood to the world.
As for the response of the people, when Moses reported the Lord's words, they committed themselves wholeheartedly to the condition. Their words, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do," they will repeat when the covenant is made with blood at Exodus 24:3-8.
The two parts of the pericope reflect a common biblical motif, namely, that the declaration of God's actions precede and provide the basis for the imperatives of God. It is what we would expect for the role of the priestly kingdom in the midst of God's world.
Romans 5:1-8
These verses appear for the second time in our lectionary for Year A. We discussed them in some detail as the lesson for the Third Sunday in Lent (March 7). Our discussion here, therefore, will be brief in order not to be repetitious.
Having defined the present benefits of justification by faith as peace, hope, and love, Paul returns to the wonder of it all. Christ died for the ungodly, and that means us. On the basis of his arguments about the universality of sin in chapters 1-2, no serious reader of this epistle could imagine that the ungodly are the other folks, the ones we read about in the newspapers and see on the nightly telecasts. It seems as though Paul feels the need to reestablish the guilt of his readers so that they do not lose sight of how utterly preposterous the love of God really is. "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." That single sentence, the punch line of our lesson, is as clear a statement of the gospel as can be found.
Imagine what might happen if we were to take it seriously! Taking it seriously, of course, would mean recognizing our own sinfulness and the undeserved nature of God's gift. It would also mean accepting the simple fact that this utterly good news belongs to all the other ungodly folks, too -- even the ones that make the headlines for the wrong reasons. What might happen if we were to take it seriously is a renewed commitment to evangelism and a deepened commitment to justice, to say nothing of a fresh look at stewardship by which we manage our lives as though they themselves were gifts of God.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
Ever since the completion of the Sermon on the Mount at 7:29, Jesus had been extremely focused on the illnesses and even deaths of various people and the subsequent healing of them all. As the ninth chapter comes to a conclusion and the tenth begins, we run face to face with several realities about ministry: (1) the ministry of Jesus was holistic; (2) the ministry Jesus gave to the church was like his own; (3) the response to the church's ministry will be very much like that to Jesus.
First, as though a brief summary of all that had transpired until this point, 9:35-38 presents the ministry of Jesus as holistic. The description of his ministry here is almost identical to the words at the beginning of the story of his ministry at 4:23. We might even consider 4:23 and 9:35 to provide the bookends which surround the stories themselves. Certainly all the pieces of that puzzle had been reported throughout the intervening narratives, but here in one paragraph, indeed in the first sentence, the holistic nature of Jesus' work among people is loud and clear. Jesus went into all the cities and villages of Galilee announcing the word of God "in their synagogues." Actually, according to the records between 4:23 and 9:35 Jesus carried out his ministry not in the synagogues but on the mountain where he delivered "the sermon" (chapters 5-7) and in various locations where he healed persons of afflictions, drove out demons to restore the person to family and community, and even raised the dead to life. We have no reason to doubt that Jesus attended the synagogue on a regular basis and that he did indeed teach in the synagogues. It is just striking that Matthew has not yet recorded any of those instances apart from the content of the bookends.
In any case, the point is that Jesus taught, preached, and healed. He cared not simply for the physical ailments of people. He ministered not only to what we would sometimes call "their spiritual needs." He served persons in their entirety. In a very real sense his "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom" would of necessity have included a holistic ministry, because the prophecies about the kingdom to come were filled with healings (Isaiah 35), with restoration of persons to their community (Isaiah 2), with the inclusion of persons who had been cast off (Micah 4:6-7), with abundance of food (Amos 9:13-14). Jesus could not have proclaimed the good news of the kingdom without addressing these physical and social needs in addition to the announcement about the new relationship with God.
Jesus performed this holistic ministry with compassion. The people to whom Jesus ministered "were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (9:36). The words appear to come as a bolt out of the blue. In fact, however, the same imagery introduces the divine appointing of Joshua (in Greek, Jesus!) to succeed Moses so that "the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd" (Numbers 27:17). Elsewhere in the Old Testament similar imagery appears. God's concern is expressed for the people who "wander like sheep; they suffer for lack of a shepherd" in the eschatological prophecies at Zechariah 10:2. The reference to the motive for Jesus' compassion, therefore, rings of eschatological fulfillment, appropriate for Joshua/Jesus who came "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom."
Second, the path to Jesus' commissioning of the twelve in chapter 10 is paved by his prayer that "the Lord of the harvest ... send out laborers into his harvest." The narration of the commissioning itself is absolutely shocking: he "gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness." The shock is that Matthew does not at the outset include the teaching and the preaching of the kingdom. Thus far, the ministry of the twelve -- and thus of the church -- has only to do with the healing aspects of Jesus' ministry. Before the shock is relieved, Matthew takes the time to name the twelve. Some detail is added for all but four: Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Thaddaeus.
Only now does Matthew set the mission of the twelve into the context of kingdom preaching. Confining them "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," Jesus commissioned the twelve to proclaim the good news that "the kingdom of heaven has come near" and to demonstrate its nearness by curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out demons. Like Jesus, the disciples are to act like shepherds to the lost sheep, and like Jesus their ministry is holistic, addressing both the restoration of people to God and their physical needs. Moving the apostles beyond the confines of Israel will take place during another commissioning, that which will occur following the Lord's resurrection when he will send them to "all nations" (28:16-20).
Third, the response to the apostles' ministry will be much like that to Jesus himself. They now become like sheep in the midst of wolves. Their future will consist of danger and persecution. They will be flogged by the religious folks "in their synagogues." They will be dragged before the political and military authorities. The descriptions of their persecutions both resemble those of Jesus (the trials before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate) as well as reflect quite accurately the fate of the apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts (see, for example, Acts 4:1-12; 7:54--8:3; 17:1-9; 25:24-26).
In the midst of all this turmoil for his sake, Jesus offers some instruction and comfort. He tells them when they leave a town that has not received them, they are to shake the dust of that town off their feet, an act Paul and Barnabas performed when they reached the sign "You are leaving the town of Antioch" (Acts 13:51). The fate of such towns would make the judgment day on Sodom and Gomorrah look like a picnic, and those cities were well known for their injustice and for the devastation that followed (see Genesis 19; Isaiah 1:9).
Jesus also assured the persecuted apostles that in front of the authorities the Holy Spirit would tell them what to say. Such a promise carried with it the confidence in the presence of God in their sufferings. That presence, including through their speech, was part of the Lord's commissioning of agents throughout the Old Testament: Moses at Exodus 3:12; Gideon at Judges 6:16; Jeremiah at Jeremiah 1:4-10.
Further, Jesus promises that "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (v. 22). This assurance that the apostles will follow him into the kingdom is based, of course, on Jesus' own experience, one that can be comprehended only after the resurrection.
The final words of the pericope, namely the promise that the Son of man would come before the apostles had gone through all the towns of Israel, cannot be explained easily. If these, in fact, were Jesus' words originally, then clearly they did not convey what actually happened. If, however, the words are those of Matthew, the author, then we might understand them in his own day -- possibly around A.D. 85 -- when this expectation might have still prevailed, especially if the Christians of Matthew's community were trying to find hope in the midst of persecution.
The pericope includes many ideas about kingdom preaching. Perhaps it is well to focus on the missionary task of the whole church, which is nothing less than a continuation of the ministry of Jesus and ultimately an announcement about Jesus. That announcement is not simply a matter of words but of compassionate caring by a commissioned community for all those who in our own day still appear to be lost, like sheep without a shepherd.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Genesis 18:1-15
In our Old Testament lesson last Sunday, we heard God promise to Abraham that he would be the forbear of a "great nation," of many descendants. Now in our text for the morning we find God beginning to work out his fulfillment of that promise by granting to Abraham and Sarah, his wife, the birth of a son, who will begin the line of descendants. God's promise is being effected in the sphere of actual history.
There are three versions in Genesis of the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah. The first, from the source we call the Elohist, is found in Genesis 15:1-6. The second, from the priestly source, is in Genesis 17:15-21. The third, from the Yahwist of the tenth century B.C., forms our text for the morning. Those who edited the final form of our Bible kept all three versions of the promise, side by side, because, like the three Synoptic Gospels, all three have their own emphases and contribute to our understanding of God.
The author of our passage is noted for the vivid, earthly details of his accounts, and indeed, we have a very human picture given to us. The migrating Semite, Abraham, is sitting at noontime before the door of his tent beside the oak trees of Mamre in the southern part of Palestine. Without warning and without any notice of where they come from, three men, who are not identified, suddenly stand before the patriarch. Abraham is startled, but he is also a proper Oriental host, who manifests his piety by his hospitality. He therefore welcomes the strangers with a bow, has his servant wash their feet, and then hastens to bid Sarah to prepare a cake, while he himself runs to fetch an expensive calf from his herd to be cooked for the visitors. There is great emphasis in the text on the quickness with which Abraham puts together the meal. Moreover, Abraham does not eat with the strangers but stands by them, ready to fulfill any of their further wants.
Then comes the shocker in the text. One of the strangers asks, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" A total stranger is not only asking about Abraham's wife, but even knows Sarah's name! And by that question we are alerted to the fact that the three men are more than just travelers through the desert. Indeed, we are then told in verse 10 that it is the Lord speaking to Abraham. "I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son."
We were never told earlier whether Abraham believed the promises of God to him. Certainly he left everything behind and started out for the land God would show him. But judging from the accounts in Genesis 15:2-3 and 17:17-18, Abraham did not believe that he would have a son from whom would come many descendants. After all, he and Sarah were both well past the age of childbearing (cf. 17:17). It is Sarah's disbelief that is highlighted in our text, however. She has been standing behind the tent flap, listening in on the conversation of the strangers with Abraham. And when she hears the promise of a son, she laughs, yizhach! But that is Isaac's name that forever after signifies the fact that Sarah did not believe the Lord's promise.
It was not because of their great faith or piety or anything that they had done that Abraham and Sarah became the bearers of God's promise, any more than it is our great faith that prompts the Lord to work through us. Nevertheless, God is working his purpose out through each of our lives. Despite our sin, our unfaithfulness, our disbelief, God is gracious, and keeps his promises, and sometimes uses even us to move all history toward the coming of his kingdom on earth.
Lutheran Option -- Exodus 19:2-8a
The Israelites have been delivered by the Lord from slavery in Egypt and are now trekking through the wilderness. After three arduous months of hiking, they encamp at the foot of Mount Sinai in the Arabian peninsula, and there they learn the purpose of their lives and of their deliverance.
Moses ascends Mount Sinai and God gives him words to set a choice before the Israelites. They have seen God's redemption of them; God has "bought them back" out of slavery, which is the meaning of redemption (cf. Leviticus 25:47-52). They have experienced God's love and mercy toward them. Now they are asked to respond. If they will enter into covenant with their God and keep the covenant, God will make them his "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." God has already chosen them as his people by delivering them in the exodus. But now he asks Israel if she will serve his purpose.
God wants the Israelites to be his "priests." Here we find the first mention in the Bible of the priesthood of all believers. A priest is one who mediates between God and human beings, teaching the will and character of God to the people. So Israel is being asked to spread the knowledge of God in the earth. God also wants the Israelites to be his "holy nation." He is not saying that they should be morally perfect, although that is much to be desired. Rather, "to be holy," throughout the scriptures, is to be "set apart" for God's purposes. So God is asking Israel to be his "set-apart" people, his 'am segullah, his "peculiar treasure" as the KJV has it, through whom God can work out his purpose in the world. And Israel, of her own free choice, agrees. "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (v. 8). That is the purpose for which Israel has been redeemed -- to be God's servant people.
We Christians in the church have also been redeemed, have we not -- set free from our slavery to sin and death. Therefore, the same words that God spoke to Israel are spoken also to us in the New Testament. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Peter 2:9). There in a few words is described the nature of the church. Then the passage continues and gives us our reason for existence: "that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Now we know the purpose of our lives in the church, good Christians. As God's "royal priesthood," we are to mediate the knowledge of God to all the world by telling of the wonderful deeds of God, not only in our own lives, but through all of the sacred history recorded for us in the Bible. For as God's "holy nation," we are set apart and made special to serve God's purpose in the world. We do not belong to ourselves anymore, and we do not belong simply to our families or to some group in society. No. Now we belong to God, and the purpose for our lives is to serve his ongoing work of saving his world. Your life and mine, all of our lives, have meaning in that marvelous status and activity to which we have been called by our Lord.
