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Proper 8

Preaching
Proper 8 | Ordinary Time 13 - C
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Elizabeth Achtemeier
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
With an Eye to the New
This is one of those texts that remains almost totally incomprehensible to the congregation when it is read on this Sunday of the church year. It therefore requires a good deal of explanation.

The ministry of Elijah is about to end. Even so great a servant of the Lord comes to the end of his labors, as the end comes to all of us. But Elijah, unlike the rest of us, will not experience death. Rather he will be "translated" or taken up immediately into heaven, as was our Lord at the time of his ascension.
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