Tuesday March 21 Lent 4
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Psalm 97
God’s power in creation is an expression of God’s commitment to justice—righteousness and justice are the foundations of God’s throne (the same image is used in Psalm 89) and therefore of all creation. We can count on God to uphold those who are without power as surely as we experience enormous power in creation. A wonderful image for our age when science shows us so much power in creation – dignity and justice are equally embedded in the way the world is put together.
Psalm 99
God’s justice was shown in the way God rescued the people from slavery and cared for them throughout history. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 100
A short hymn of praise that God has remained faithful forever.
Jeremiah 17: 19-27 What’s Jeremiah about?
Jeremiah is told to announce to royalty that if they respect the Sabbath (Saturday) and do no work on that day every week, God will return the country to safety.
The original sabbath was a celebration of the day that creation was completed—no person and no animal was a slave to anyone else. Therefore on that one day a week every person and every animal get to be what they are—not a slave for someone else to make money. God says if the people return to not exploiting each other, then the city will thrive and its rulers will be secure. Otherwise the consequence will be disaster.
John 6: 16-27 What’s John about?
Jesus triumphed over hunger in yesterday’s reading and that evening he triumphs over the wind and waves. John is saying that in trusting in Jesus (trusting in his death and resurrection) Jesus is able to bring us where we are going in safety.
John then uses the crowd’s search for Jesus and how Jesus got to the other side of the lake without a boat as the start of another conversation about Jesus’ significance. Jesus says that seeking him isn’t enough if all we want is to eat. We must seek true food, and the conversation about what true food is will continue for the rest of this week.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
through the waters of baptism
your Son has made us children of light.
May we ever walk in his light
and show forth your glory in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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