Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jan 15 2025

Scripture Study for

The role of leadership among the people of God is very important. In ancient Israel, those in office had religious as well as political responsibilities. Today’s first reading narrates the transfer of authority from one man to another. This investiture symbolizes the man’s being clothed with authority. Even if this passage does not reflect an actual historical occasion, the picture it sketches is significant. The oracle promises a person who will provide the order and stabil ity that the kingdom of Judah must have needed. If the man being clothed with authority is not himself a messianic figure, he ensures that the kingdom—one that will produce such a figure—will survive.

Paul speaks of the mysterious ways of God in the plan of salvation. Even though human beings cannot grasp God’s plan, it has meaning and purpose, and God’s plan for all creation will unfold in God’s way. Paul extols God the creator, the source of all that is; he acclaims God the sustainer, through whom all creation continues to be; he celebrates God the goal for whom all things were made and to whom all things proceed. Paul is certainly grounded in a very Jewish understanding of God. What is unique, however, is the way he has interpreted this theology. It is here that Christ holds a constitutive place.

Jesus asks the disciples what people are saying about him. Some believe that he is John the Baptist; others, that he is Elijah; still others, that he is one of the other prophets. Simon Peter speaks in the name of the others when he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the Son of the living God. With a play on Greek words, Jesus declares that Peter (Petros) is the rock (petra) upon which Jesus will establish his church. Although the image of a rock suggests stability and endurance, we will soon see that these characteristics are not natural to Peter.

Jan 12 2025

Jesus Christ Is Lord!

Imagine that you are Judas Iscariot in this scene. You stand beneath the cliffs at Caesarea Philippi. Streams of water flow past lush growths of fig trees. This is one of Jesus’ favorite places of peace, a retreat from the stark heat and the politics of Jerusalem. Yet in the midst of this Roman city of pagan worship, your heart is not at peace. Jesus asks you all, “Who do you say that I am?” You’ve been pondering that question yourself. You hope for a rich intellectual discussion now.

Who does Peter think that he is? The big fisherman butters up the carpenter from Galilee by blurting out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Come on, Peter. That is pretty radical stuff—how can you say that? It has been an incredible journey, true. We’ve seen bent limbs made straight, the blind see, crazy people restored to their right minds . . . Jesus is a good guy, no mistake, but the Messiah? He might lead a revolution and set our nation free. Or he might not. He’s hard to read. He might be useful. But he’s unpredictable. Not easy to manipulate.

Look at the way Jesus is exalting Peter, the lumbering lout. “Keys to the kingdom? Rock?” No way. Judas has been trying to get the others to follow his lead, but they keep looking to Simon for leadership. He’s the least qualified to lead this group—impulsive, inconsistent, a big mouth, runs when things get tough. Nothing firm about him, certainly no “rock.” Why doesn’t Jesus turn to you—you’ve got a good head for figures, you plan ahead, you have a passion to get things done. Peter? None of those qualities. Jesus turns and looks at you. His eyes search yours, “Who do you say that I am, Judas?”

Consider/Discuss

Is God “useful” to us? Do we feel we have to stand on our own or is Jesus our “Lord”? Or is it sometimes both? What does it mean to say with our whole heart that someone else, not us, is in charge of our lives and our parish communities, that “Jesus is Lord”?
In the Gospels, Peter is sometimes portrayed as inept. But when the Holy Spirit descended upon him at Pentecost, he became highly qualified to do what he had to do. Do we ever use Peter’s example to excuse our weaknesses, permitting ourselves to slack off from being effective in human endeavors? Or do we allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen us so that we grow skilled in our discipleship?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of the Church, unless we see things from your perspective, we don’t always know the difference between wisdom and foolishness, especially in institutions. You see our brokenness. You know the times when we have used the things of faith only for our own advantage. Forgive us for that. Purify us so that your Spirit can flow through us more virtuously. We pray for the Church. Holy Spirit, unite what is fragmented and bring us together. Thank you for that hope of a new day when all will be one.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The context of Isaiah’s oracle is the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria around 701 B.C. Shebna, a scribe, holds the office of “master of the palace” or “royal steward,” a position of high authority. Apparently at some point he brought scandal to the royal household and was replaced by Eliakim, a move here attributed to the judgment of God on Shebna. As royal steward, Eliakim will now hold “the key of the House of David,” a symbol of his high authority. Such is the honor of this post that his family’s glory will depend on him (“hang” from him), who is fixed like a peg in the wall, holding “descendants and offspring” like “little dishes” (22:24).

Paul knows that God’s word has not failed, so Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah must be part of God’s intention from the beginning. It has allowed for the extension of salvation to the Gentiles. This plan for the salvation of the world reveals God’s wisdom, which remains inscrutable and unsearchable, even as the outlines come slowly into view. Ultimately, Paul cannot know exactly what God is up to in all the details, but believes that what God is doing is good and it ultimately means mercy for all, including the currently “disobedient” Israel. This is cause for wonder and reasons to give glory to God, whose ways may not be known, but can be trusted.

When Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is, they give the standard conjectures that he is a forerunner, but not the Messiah himself. Because Simon has received from God the insight that Jesus is in fact the Christ and Son of God, he receives the name by which he has been known to the reader, but never called by anyone in the Gospel until now: Petros, or “rock.” As elsewhere in the Bible, the new name reflects both a change of status and the meaning of that change. The notion that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the church can mean that the dark powers thought to emerge from them will not be able to defeat the church, or that they will not be able to prevent the church from defeating them.

Jan 06 2025

Discipline, Not Entitlement

The first image is found in Hebrews. No talk of being father’s “little darling” or mother’s “favorite pet” here. We get a comparison of God as a father who disciplines his child, even “scourges” every son he acknowledges. Now that certainly is a tough image to take, especially in a culture so attuned to the horrors of child abuse. But the time of the Letter to the Hebrews was a different culture, subscribing to the old adage “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” What is important is the notion of discipline. So let’s set the scourge aside and take up the issue of discipline—the discipline necessary to run a race, to “strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees, (to) make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.” Healing what is weak is the goal of this discipline.

The second image is Jesus as the gatekeeper who is telling us that the gate into the kingdom is a narrow one, so strive (there’s that note of discipline, again) to enter it. Jesus isn’t into numbers and doesn’t answer the question asked. He simply urges us to be strong enough to get through the gate. And any claims of “You knew me years ago, Jesus” or “You knew my mother and grandmother” won’t matter. Furthermore, prepare to be surprised when you see at who is getting through the gate into the kingdom.

The bottom line today: Strive, discipline yourself—feeling entitled won’t get you in.

Consider/Discuss

Is discipline necessary in your life? What kind?
What is the key to getting through the “narrow gate”?

Responding to the Word

Lord, teach us what we need to know to run the race, to gain entry through the narrow gate, to reach your kingdom. May we realize that you have called us to work with you to bring about the kingdom in our world. Give us the dedication to persevere in this goal.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

Isaiah announces that even foreign people are called together by God, and will become a sign to other foreigners of the glory that they themselves have seen. This vision is quite surprising, for Israel was not a nation that engaged in much missionary activity. Both the universal nature and the cultic character of the vision become clear. People stream to Jerusalem from all four directions. They all come to worship on God’s holy mountain. What is most amazing is that from these foreign people God will call forth priests and Levites. Both ethnic privilege and cultic regulations are set aside.

The author of Hebrews softens the view that suffering is discipline from God by appealing to the relationship of parent to child. If it is out of love and concern that parents discipline their children, then suffering can be seen as rigorous training from God that can strengthen us. According to the wisdom tradition, an individual must choose one of two paths, the way of the wise or the way of the foolish. The path referred to here is the way of the wise athlete, and the advice given admonishes the runner to make sure that the path is straight so that there will be no mishap.

Jesus is questioned about the number of people saved. He gives no direct answer but turns the focus from curiosity about the salvation of others to concern about one’s own future. His words illustrate the surprising reversals that the reign of God will bring forth. Salvation is not promised exclusively to one group rather than another. It will be surprising to see who is saved and who is not. Insiders will be kept outside and outsiders will be brought in; Jews will be barred from the messianic banquet while Gentiles will feast at it; outcasts will be welcome, but religious elites will not. While this is true only of some members of each group, the reversals are startling.