Saturday May 15 Ascension
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Psalm 87
A vision of Jerusalem as the source of life for all the world, as if every nation and every beautiful thing originated there. Christians might interpret this as Jesus’ death and resurrection in Jerusalem being the source of life and beauty for the whole world.
Psalm 90
Our lives are very short, like a breath we are gone, we are so insignificant. Bless us, God.
Ezekiel 3.4–17 What’s Ezekiel about?
Following the overwhelming revelation of God’s magnificence, Ezekiel is sent, or carried, to the exiles in Babylon, and God encourages him to confront them with the fact that they have not followed God’s justice and that is why they are in exile. God says that it would be easier if the people spoke a foreign language, because at least they would try to understand Ezekiel, but God says these Israelites are so stubborn that even though they speak the same language, they may choose not to understand.
In history, the Israelites were indeed conquered and taken away into captivity. This book is one of several in which that disaster is explained as being the consequence of the people abandoning God’s desire that all should live in dignity, and instead making it a priority to get wealthier and wealthier while others become poorer and poorer. The people have abandoned the God of justice and fairness and have followed the gods of greed and money. Ezekiel is sent to help them understand what has happened and to repent so that they may return to Jerusalem. Which is what happened 70 years later.
Luke 9.37–50 What’s Luke about?
The day after the disciples have seen Jesus in his cosmic glory at the transfiguration, Jesus heals a boy from epilepsy, and then repeats his statement that the kingdom can only come through his death. The disciples had been unable to heal the boy because they don’t yet trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection. We also may find it hard to accept that we must die for the kingdom to arrive. Jesus then uses a simple child to illustrate the trust they need to have in his death and resurrection. The disciples then refuse to accept that the kingdom can come outside their group—they are refusing to die to the self-centred belief that they control who is to enter the kingdom.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven
that he might rule over all things as Lord.
Keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit
and in the bond of his peace,
and bring the whole of creation
to worship at his feet,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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