Friday October 15 Pentecost 20
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Psalm 22
This psalm is one of the most dramatic expressions of extreme fear, moving into trust in God. God acted in the past, but is doing so no longer. Jesus quotes from this psalm while he is on the cross, (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) and early Christians applied some details in the psalm in their description of the crucifixion. It is appropriately read on Fridays, mini-anniversaries of the day Jesus was crucified.
Jeremiah 38: 14-28 What’s Jeremiah about?
The king insists that Jeremiah tell him exactly what God has predicted. Jeremiah explains that if the king does not resist the Babylonians, his life will be spared, otherwise the king will be killed by the Babylonians. What God is asking is that the king accept humiliation in order to save the city. So far, almost all the kings have used their power to serve themselves. God is offering true leadership in which the well-being of the people is served. The readers await the king’s decision, on which the future of Jerusalem will depend. The king makes Jeremiah swear he will tell nobody of this conversation.
Matthew 11: 1-6 What’s Matthew about?
John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is the messiah. Jesus responds by showing that only things that could happen at the end of time are happening now—if he is the messiah it’s because he is bringing in God’s kingdom of healing and justice for all.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
in our baptism you adopted us for your own.
Quicken, we pray, your Spirit within us,
that we, being renewed both in body and mind,
may worship you in sincerity and truth;
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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