Monday November 15 Pentecost 25
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Psalm 89 Part 2
The poet accuses God of breaking God’s commitment. God, the poet says in the first part of this psalm, you chose David as king and promised to protect him forever with the same amazing power with which you created the universe. In this second part of the psalm he says to God, You said you would be his father and he would be your son. But now you have broken your promise and have allowed him to be humiliated and his enemies rejoice in his defeat. God, you are faithless. Yet we can only trust in you. There is nothing more to say.
1 Maccabees 3: 1-24 What’s Maccabees about?
The priest Mattathias has died in old age, and his sons, known as the Maccabean brothers, inherit his role of resisting the godless Greek culture. Judas Maccabeus is zealous for Jewish faithfulness and goes throughout the country insisting upon traditional observances. In spite of smaller numbers he defeats the Greeks in battle by trusting only in God’s help.
Matthew 17: 1-13 What’s Matthew about?
After Jesus announces his determination to go to Jerusalem and die, three of the disciples see him in his transfigured glory. This is the glory that will shown in his loving act of making us his absolute priority.
As often in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus uses an Old Testament reference to provide background—Elijah was expected to return at the end of the world. Jesus says that has already happened in the form of John the Baptist, and so the end is near. But Jesus continues his insistence on moving toward his own death bcause just as Elijah was rejected, so John the Baptist, the returned Elijah, was also rejected by the authorities of his time and executed, as will Jesus himself.
The reference to six days later at the start of this passage may indicate that the disciples are about to see the new creation of humanity—parallel to the six days of creation in Genesis—but now they are seeing the world being re-created through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you sent your Son Jesus Christ
to be the light of the world.
Free us from all that darkens and ensnares us,
and bring us to eternal light and joy;
through the power of him
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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