Year A

Dec 16 2024

Back to Life

For God who spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, the people of Israel, carried off into Babylon, had become dead inside. They had lost hope during the decades spent in exile. So God raised up a prophet, Ezekiel—one of the strangest of the prophets—who not only had strange visions but did strange things. Ezekiel certainly got their attention. In this vision of dry bones lying in the valley, returning to life is a gradual process: first the sinews, then the flesh, then the skin, and, finally, the breath that is the spirit of life. God will bring the people back to life and bring them back home.

The promise of Lent is that God’s spirit can bring us back to life, to fullness of life that is available to us because of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. Addressing her hurt and loss, Jesus says to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Then, the challenging question: “Do you believe this?”

Lent leads us to professing a faith that is life-giving. Do you believe in God the Father almighty? Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to answer? The good thing is that we answer as a community, as a body, supporting each other in faith. We hold each other up by our faith.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever experienced a time where you felt dried up, all inner life gone, all spirit sapped?
What does it mean to say: I believe that you, Lord Jesus, are the resurrection and the life? How does it make a difference in your life?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus Christ, we approach the end of Lent, preparing to celebrate the new life you will pour into those being baptized. Stir up in them and in all of your people the fire of faith that we might proclaim you as our resurrection and our life at the Easter feast.

Dec 16 2024

Scripture Study for

Ezekiel uses bodily resuscitation as a metaphor for Israel’s reestablishment after its exile in a foreign land. The fact that the metaphor describes reconstitution of the dead does not necessarily mean that the people believed in resurrection. In fact, its improbability may be one of the strongest reasons for employing it, for then God’s wondrous power over death itself could be revealed. Resurrection would proclaim that God can bring life out of death, can make the impossible possible. The reconstitution of the bodies is likened to a new creation. Both original creation and this reconstitution are unconditional gifts from a magnanimous God.

Paul contrasts life in the flesh and life in the spirit. By flesh he means human nature in all the limitations that sometimes incline one away from God and the things of God. Life in the spirit is attuned to God and is that dimension of the human being that can be joined to the very Spirit of God. The real point of this passage is the resurrection of those who live a life in the spirit in union with God. Just as Christ conquered death and lives anew, so those joined to Christ will share in his victory and will enjoy new life.

The death of Lazarus became the opportunity for Jesus to identity himself as the Resurrection and the Life. The explanation of this claim is the heart of Jesus’ teaching here. Belief in him establishes a bond of life that not even death can sever. This bond will survive physical death and keep believers from an eternal death. A solemn question is posed: “Do you believe?” Martha’s answer is immediate and unequivocal: “Yes, Lord!” She may not understand, but she believes. The raising of Lazarus could not be denied, but it could be misunderstood. Jesus is not merely a wonder-worker; he himself has the power of resurrection and he is the source of eternal life.

Dec 16 2024

A Different Kind of Seeing

First, there is the seer (a “see-er”) who doesn’t see. Samuel, God’s prophet, was sent to anoint a replacement for King Saul. When his eyes fell on the oldest son of Jesse, Samuel thought he was seeing the next king of Israel. Eliab had some of the same qualities as Saul: tall, striking in appearance. But God was looking at the heart and the divine gaze turned elsewhere—indeed, outside the room, to where the youngest of Jesse’s sons was tending sheep. (Ever since Abel, God seemed to be partial to shepherds!)

In the Gospel, the man born blind is the only one who does see clearly, or rather, who comes to see clearly. As with most of us, he comes to a 20/20 spiritual vision gradually. When they first ask him who healed him, he replies forthrightly, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes.” And when they say Jesus can’t be from God and heal on the Sabbath, the cured man asks how Jesus could be a sinner and do what he did; then he calls Jesus a prophet. Later, he says, “If he were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” And, finally, on meeting up with Jesus again, he acknowledges him as Son of Man and as Lord.

On the other side were all these seeing people who do not see Jesus for who he was. To really see Jesus, you need faith. This gift will be generously given—in God’s time—to those who seek it.

Consider/Discuss

How do you see Jesus?
Are there people who do not see who Jesus is? Have you asked God to given them the sight of faith?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus, you are the light that lifts the blindness from the eyes of our heart, mind, and spirit. To see you is to come to faith in you as Lord and Savior. Give this gift of sight to those who do not have it. Grant, Lord, that they may see.

Dec 16 2024

Scripture Study for

The search for the new king and the choice and anointing of David open a new chapter in the story of Israel. The anointing of David is a solemn and sacred action that ceremonially sealed God’s choosing him. Following the ritual, the spirit of the Lord rushes upon him. This spirit was understood as a principle of dynamic divine action, a force that had visible effects in human history. Those seized by the spirit were thus empowered to act within the community in some unique fashion. This story recounts how it took hold of a future king.

The move from darkness to light is the principal metaphor used in the Letter to the Ephesians to describe the radical change that takes place in the lives of Christians as a result of their commitment to Christ. Christians are not only warned about the works of darkness, but also urged to expose them. This counsel is given as a play on the difference between virtuous behavior that can be plainly seen, because it is done in the light, and shameful behavior that is hidden in the secret of darkness. Christians have entered into a new state of being, which will require a new way of living.

The struggle between darkness and light is a thread that runs throughout the account of the man cured of blindness. Jesus uses this two-part form to underscore the urgency of his ministry. He and his disciples must do God’s work while it is yet day, for the night will come when such work will have to cease. Jesus identifies himself as the light of the world. The man who was brought from physical blindness to sight moves from spiritual blindness to religious insight. This is not true of the Pharisees. They are blind to the truth that the newly cured man saw so clearly. The one who was blind now sees, and those who can see are really blind.

Dec 13 2024

Our Thirsty God

There are a number of thirsty people in our readings today: the Israelites out in the desert, grumbling about the lack of water and wondering why they ever left Egypt; the woman of Samaria, who has gone to the well to draw water for herself and her companion at home; and Jesus, traveling through Samaritan territory with his disciples.

The thirst of the Israelites was physical. Once again disheartened, they were grumbling that Moses had taken them out in the desert to die. It must have gotten serious because we are told that Moses himself feared for his life. God’s response is dramatic: “Take your staff, go over to that rock and strike it.” And the water flowed.

The nameless woman is shown to be thirsty on several levels. Physically, yes, but her thirst is on far deeper levels—for companionship (five husbands and now living with yet another person!) and for communion with God. Jesus promises her that people will worship God in Spirit and in truth. Indeed, the Father seeks such people.

Is it possible the one most thirsty is God? The Father thirsts for all of us to draw closer, to live fully the life that only God can give, that life celebrated on Easter, made possible by the dying and rising of Jesus. Those to be baptized enter into divine life at baptism, but all believers continue to be satisfied by the life-giving water that is Jesus.

Consider/Discuss

What are you thirsting for?
Do you approach God as one who can satisfy your deepest thirst?

Responding to the Word

Risen Lord, you came to bring us life-giving water. Such water poured over us at our baptism. We pray for those who will soon enter into this water and become sons and daughters of the Father, co-heirs with you. Strengthen them, enlighten them, guide them, encourage them, in these final days of preparation.