Thursday May 20 Easter 7
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Psalm 105 Part 1
Praise to God for caring for and protecting the people—God looked after them before they were enslaved in Egypt, and prepared them for rescue from famine by arranging for Joseph to become the Pharaoh’s senior officer. God is committed through a covenant to do this forever. The second half of the poem will continue the story with God’s rescue of them from Egypt, God’s care for them in the wilderness, and God’s gift of a promised land.
Ezekiel 18: 1-32 What’s Ezekiel about?
The adult children of the original exiles have been arguing with Ezekiel that God is not fair, because it was their parents who abandoned God, but they themselves are in exile—it’s not their fault! God replies that every person is responsible for their own behaviour. If the present exiles, the adult children of those who had been taken to Babylon, behave well, then God will ensure that they will return to Jerusalem and to the promised land. There are consequences for abandoning justice, God is saying through Ezekiel, but God will offer an escape from the consequences if the people pursue justice, no matter what their parents had done.
The prophet is interpreting the people’s return to Jerusalem seventy years after the original enslavement, as God’s generous forgiveness of their parents’ injustice.
Luke 10: 25-37 What’s Luke about?
A biblical scholar attempts to engage Jesus in a contest of wits about scripture interpretation. But Jesus takes his technical question seriously and challenges him to live with the love the scholar’s quote describes. The scholar presses the technical issues of who he should love and who he shouldn’t in order to get out of Jesus’ challenge. Jesus responds with a story about how religious leaders ignored a victim of violence, but a Samaritan, a hated and despised enemy of Jews, acted with a generosity beyond that of the scholar’s own community. When Jesus asks him to draw the obvious conclusion, the scholar cannot bring himself to admit his enemy neighbour was more loving than he. Jesus tells him to emulate his enemy’s level of caring. The kingdom challenges us in our day to determine what is our deepest level of loyalty—to our own community, or to the community of justice.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven.
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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