Wednesday February 15 Epiphany 6
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Psalm 101
I am determined to live a life of justice and not to support exploitation.
Psalm 109
A desperate plea for God’s assistance, and rejoicing that God is faithful to the poor. The middle section, which uses violent images against those who oppress the powerless, expresses a profound desire that oppression be removed from the world. At the conclusion the writer rejoices that God is committed to the needy and to protecting those who are unjustly accused.
Isaiah 63: 15-64:1 What’s Isaiah about?
Isaiah urges the people to expect their immanent rescue—they are to lament their faithlessness—even Abraham and Jacob wouldn’t recognize them—and implore God to save them.
Mark 11: 27-12: 12 What’s Mark about?
On Sunday Jesus had mocked the Roman army, on Monday he had disrupted the religious extortion of money used to pay for the occupation, so today he is confronted. He claims John the Baptist as his mentor, which puts the authorities in a quandary—if they agree with John the Baptist, the Romans may execute them the way they executed John for starting a rebellion, and if they disagree, the people will hold them in contempt as collaborators with the Romans. Jesus is forcing them to choose between their collaboration and the new kingdom of God, a choice he has made in his actions the last two days. They demur. They do not choose the kingdom of justice. Jesus then tells a story illustrating how the religious leaders are being unfaithful to God’s vineyard—a common symbol of the people of God. Their determination to kill Jesus becomes clear. Within a couple of days he will be dead.
This week’s collect:
Almighty and everliving God,
whose Son Jesus Christ healed the sick
and restored them to wholeness of life,
look with compassion on the anguish of the world,
and by your power make whole all peoples and nations;
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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