Friday January 15 Epiphany 1
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Psalm 16
I have been loyal to the God of justice, save me from the grave and I will have joy.
Psalm 17
I am innocent, but the evil people surround me – save me and I will be fulfilled.
Both these psalms are appropriate for Fridays, the weekly mini-anniversary of the crucifixion and both conclude with hope for new life.
Isaiah 42: 1-17
God will provide a new leader for the people who will enact justice. Only God has the future in control, and God will ensure that future is wonderful for the people. Like a woman in labour, God said nothing for a long time, but now is the time for God to give birth to a new history. This is an an astonishing image for a tradition in which God was always male. All idols will look ridiculous in comparison to the real God of creation who enacts justice, and creates light and a level path through the Syrian desert for the people to return to Jerusalem.
Mark 2: 13-22
Jesus calls a tax extortioner, working for the Roman empire, to follow him and then eats at his home with other criminals. The religious leaders are incensed—if we affirm criminals, what use is religion? Jesus responds that God, the eternal doctor, makes healing the priority. When Jesus and his disciples are criticized for not joining in ritual fasting, Jesus points out that the kingdom has arrived, so fasting is no longer needed: everything has changed, religion, too.
Do we sometimes find this true in our own experience?
This week’s collect:
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit,
keep your children, born of water and the Spirit,
faithful to their calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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