Saturday April 17 Easter 2
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Psalm 20
We delight that God upholds us with strength far greater than military technology.
Psalm 21
Joy at how with great power God has blessed the king and removed the threats against him. This psalm would originally have been sung to the king, as God’s blessed one, but it is equally applicable to us and can be read with ourselves as the subject of the psalm.
These psalms are often used on Saturdays to suggest the power God is about to use to raise Jesus and us from death.
Daniel 3: 19-30 What’s Daniel about?
In this imaginary story set in the long-ago time of the Babylonian exile, God miraculously protects Daniel and his friends from the king’s punishment of being incinerated for not worshipping the statue the king had made. Even more amazingly God guides the king to enact legal protection for Judaism.
This would be an encouraging story for Jews suffering under the Greek and Roman empires shortly before Jesus’ birth. The story can be encouraging for us when there is strong opposition to justice in the highest places of our countries.
Luke 4: 1-13 What’s Luke about?
Immediately after he makes his commitment in baptism to God’s society of justice, Jesus is tempted to use power to avoid suffering for himself, and to control the world with naked power—which is exactly what the Roman empire does. His refusal means that he will not compromise with oppression, but will enact God’s love without limit, even to the point of crucifixion.
This week’s collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
the strength of those who believe
and the hope of those who doubt,
may we, who have not seen, have faith
and receive the fullness of Christ’s blessing,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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