Saturday March 19 Lent 2
Click here for simplified daily office prayers
Psalm 75
God assures us that justice will prevail.
Psalm 76
Praise to God who stands with overwhelming power for the poor and for the oppressed.
Genesis 43.16-34 What’s Genesis about?
The brothers return to Egypt to buy more food, and to their amazement Joseph seats his brothers in birth order at a feast in the royal palace. The story-teller is sophisticated in understanding the role of emotions as Joseph encounters his full brother Benjamin, and in stringing out the suspense.
These stories are masterpieces of literary development, not simple tales, and they reflect a time when there must have been a substantial Hebrew court community within which literary skills could be honed. So it is no surprise that the subject matter of these stories deals with the way in which the ancient Hebrew nomads became a sophisticated urban culture.
Mark 5.1-20 What’s Mark about?
Jesus calms another kind of storm—inside someone who has been overcome with evil. Notice that the demons are called “Legion”—it is no coincidence that that is the name of the military force oppressing the country. The Roman empire is being experienced as a herd of demons.
Notice that the Jews who are raising the pigs—which are disgusting—want Jesus to go away so they can continue with their disgusting business. Not hard to realize what this meant at a deeper level in Jesus’ time when many Jews cooperated with the Romans.
Today our society’s priorities are driven by a legion of gods of profit regardless of how damaging the outcomes are. Do we trust that they are ultimately subject to God’s inclusive justice in spite of there being widespread loyalty to them?
This week’s collect:
Almighty God, whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross,
give us faith to perceive his glory,
that being strengthened by his grace
we may be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Click here to share a comment on the web site.