A highly stylized image – painted in 1740 – of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharoah who found the baby Moses in the reeds of the Nile River. 

The readings from the Bible for August 24, 2014, are Exodus 1:8-2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8, and Matthew 16:13-20, as discussed below.

 Welcome again to DOR Scribe, a blog about reading the Bible with an open mind.

This post is about the Bible readings for Sunday, August 24.  As always, you can see the full set of readings at The Lectionary Page, but here are some highlights and commentary.

The first reading,  Exodus 1:8-2:10, marks a shift from the end of Genesis – with the Children of Israel being brought down to Egypt at the request of Joseph, who had become Pharoah’s right-hand man – to the beginning of the saga of Moses.   Note that according to tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, so that in those five books he was giving his fellow Hebrews the complete history of the world – as he saw it – from the beginning of time up to the point where they were about the enter the long-awaited Promised Land.

(Note also that in that history of the world, Moses had to “tell the story using language and concepts that his relatively-pea-brained contemporary audience could understand,” as was discussed in On the readings for June 15 – Part I.)

Today’s reading begins with a new Pharoah ruling over Egypt, “who did not know Joseph,” and who got greatly concerned about the number of aliens who had come to dwell in his country.  (The ancient Hebrews were a very fertile people.  And why does this sound so familiar?)  So the Egyptians “became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter.”  Pharoah tried a number of other techniques to control the foreign aliens, including a command to “throw every newborn Hebrew son into the river,” i.e., to kill every new baby boy.

But the mother of Moses came up with the idea of putting her baby son into a waterproof basket, then setting it adrift into the Nile, but near where Pharoah’s daughter came to bathe.  Sure enough, Pharoah’s daughter – Bithiah, as seen above – saw the cute baby, fell in love with it and thus insured the boy’s survival.  And in the fullness of time she named him “Moses, ‘because,’ she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.'”  (Again, keep in mind Moses was writing about himself.)

Psalm 124 was characterized by the International Bible Commentary (IBC) as one of “divine deliverance,” using metaphors including that of a broken snare – as used to trap birds – leading to the ultimate lesson aptly summarized by Martin Luther.   Luther phrased it this way, in one of his hymn best-known hymns.  See A Mighty Fortress Is Our God – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:  “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.”

The IBC reflected that in Romans 12:1-8, Paul continued his reflection on the two sides of the Gospel – the believing side and the behaving side – and that it was “to the second side that Paul now turns.”  That is, he set down some general principles ranging “over most of life and also” – through analogy – “principles to cover every situation.”

Specifically – he said – we should “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Note the word discern.  It’s defined as being able to “recognize or comprehend mentally,” or to “perceive or recognize as being different or distinct” and/or to distinguish, or finally to “perceive differences.”  See definition of discern by The Free Dictionary.  Note also that it does not mean to accept “blindly” or without thought. . .)

Paul added we should “think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”  On that note see the “Blind Men and the Elephant,” at On reading the Bible.

And finally, the Gospel – Matthew 16:13-20 – was covered in the post On sharing the “Keys to the Kingdom”.  That post discussed the fact that Jesus did give Peter the “keys to the kingdom” at one point in time, giving rise to a claim by some Catholics that only they are going to get into heaven.  But it also noted that two chapters later Jesus gave pretty much the same power to all the disciples.  It noted the effect of such “later-imposed statutes,” and ended with this:

But what does the Bible say?   For one thing the Apostle Paul said, in Philippians 2:12, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”   Which is of course perfectly consistent with what he said much earlier, in Romans 10:9, “If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved.”  (Emphases added.)

Which leads to an illustration of what the Christian Faith should not be about:

The upper image is courtesy of Bithiah – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The caption for the painting reads:  “Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Finding of Moses, Bithiah, 1740, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.”   See also, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which noted that this Italian painter (1696-1770), was described as “the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, as well as its most able craftsman.”  The site further noted of some of his early works, “Despite their elevated subject matter, they are bright in colour, and light-hearted in mood . . . ‘a shimmering set of tableaux, full of wit and elegance.'”

The lower image is courtesy of http://df5eshuaiifdc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/image/Busines%20For%20Home%20Reports%202011/Member_Only.jpg.  See also Members Only – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and/or Members Only – Official Online Store | Free Shipping, describing the “brand of clothing that became popular in the 1980s with the Members Only jacket.”

To hear an audio rendition of “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” with the lyrics noted above, click on “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” – Martin Luther – YouTube.

As to the “RC” claim of exclusivity when it comes to getting into heaven, note that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Mormons, Hindus and Buddhists – among others – all make pretty much the same claim. . .

“Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” – or arguing with God  – as discussed in a May 12 post. . .

The Bible readings assigned in The Scribe’s* church for Sunday, August 3, 2014 are:

Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 17:1-7,16, Romans 9:1-5, and Matthew 14:13-21.

By way of catching up, last week’s Old Testament lesson was Genesis 29:15-28, about Jacob getting snookered by his future father-in-law Laban, who had two nubile (“marriageable”) daughters, Leah and Rachel.   The problem was that Jacob had the hots for Rachel and served Laban seven long years in order to marry her, but “they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”  That’s when Laban snookered him.

In that time and place, the older daughter had to get married off first, but Laban didn’t tell Jacob that until after the wedding night.  (What we would call today ex post facto.)   That is, at some point during the wedding and/or wedding night, that crafty ol’ Laban switched daughters, with the result that Jacob married Leah, the older daughter, and “went in to her.”  Jacob found out about it next morning,** and was naturally a bit sore. . .   But then Laban got him to serve another seven years, but that time Jacob got to really marry Rachel.

(Just as a side note:  Yours Truly got chastised after last week’s service – gently, by another member of the choir – for too-noticeably chuckling during the reading about Jacob and how he got bamboozled by Laban.  And a bit of foreshadowing: Jacob gets even with Laban, and is in the process of doing so in the reading for August 3.)

So anyway, last week’s reading was from Genesis 29, but this week’s reading skipped over the chapters where Jacob got tired of Laban taking advantage of him, and of taking “his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children,” and fleeing the country.  So he sent his whole family and/or clan all across the river Jabbok and was left alone.  That was when he ended up wrestling with an “angel” – who turned out to be God – and got literally “out of joint.”

This is a reading already covered in the post On arguing with God, the gist of which is that Jacob got his name changed to “Israel,” and so became a prototype for pretty much anyone and everyone who struggles with the idea of God.  That post then added:

The point of all this is that maybe – just maybe – we today are supposed to “argue with God,” or “wrestle with God,” or even “wrestle with the idea of God.”   Maybe, just maybe, that’s how we get spiritually stronger, by “resistance training” rather than passively accepting anything and everything in the Bible, without question or questioning.

And just as an aside, this day’s Gospel – Matthew 14:13-21 – has also been covered, by Another view of Jesus feeding the 5,000, which noted in part:  Maybe the lesson Jesus intended was that, by His example, He got a bunch of normally-greedy people to share what they had.

So maybe the Bible really is for liberating the human spirit, not shackling it. . .

The upper image, courtesy of Wikipedia, is Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, by Alexander Louis Leloir (1865).  Leloir (1843-1884), was a a French painter specializing in genre and history paintings. His younger brother was painter and playwright Maurice Leloir.

As to “the real Good News.”  The term Gospel is from “the Old English gōd-spell . . . meaning ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings.’   The word comes from the Greek euangelion.”  See Gospel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  (Unfortunately these days that Good News seems to have been transmogrified into bad news, as in the perception, “How can we Christians get political power so as to control the lives of other people?”  That seems to be the perception anyway.  See e.g. Why are Christians so negative and judgemental? – RZIM Europe, Do Christians spend too much time being negative? – Christian …, and 5 Negative Effects of Complaining for Christians – Patrick’s ….   The gist of which is that this perception presents a problem for all practicing Christians.)

 *  As to the “Bible readings assigned in The Scribe’s church.”  Every once in a while I sink into the practice of illeism, referring to oneself in the third person.  See On Moses and “illeism”.

As to “ex post facto.”  See Ex post facto law – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which noted in part that it usually refers to “a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.”  The term comes from the Latin for for “from after the action” or “after the facts.”

**  As to Jacob only finding out about Laban’s daughter-switch until the morning after the wedding, see Benjamin Franklin’s famously saying that “in the dark all Cats are grey,” at Letter from Ben Franklin gives advice on dating older women | ….

The lower image is courtesy of http://www.theimperfectprincess.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Perception.jpg.  Another note:  If you Google “perception is everything” you should get some 57 million hits.  One pity quote from Perception – Wikiquote:  “It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.”  

In other words, don’t limit the power of God to your ability to perceive Him. . .

And as always, you can see the full readings at  The Lectionary Page.

Esau Selling His Birthright – (to the crafty Jacob, ancestor of Moses)

From the Scribe (7/8/14)

Today’s post was written in beautiful Montreal, as part of my vacation to “Yankee-land and beyond,” but more about that later.   In the meantime:

The Bible readings for next Sunday, July 13, are: Genesis 25:19-34, Psalm 119:105-112, Romans 8:1-11, and Matthew 13:1-9,18-23.

The Genesis reading – 25:19-34 – began with the birth of Jacob and Esau, to Isaac and Rebekah.  It moved to “Esau‘s loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that had spawned between their descendant nations.”  (Jacob was “father of the Israelites,” while Esau was progenitor of the Edomites, from the land of Edom, or Idumea.  “The Edomites may have been connected with  . . . nomadic raiders mentioned in Egyptian sources.”  Edom – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

The conflict started in the womb and continued to young adulthood, with Isaac liking his first-born Esau more, while Rebekah loved the younger Jacob more.   (Keep in mind, Jacob was an ancestor of Moses, who wrote the book.)

Surprisingly, the writer emphasized Jacob’s trait of being sneaky, again starting in the womb as Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel, “seemingly trying to pull Esau back into the womb so that he could be firstborn.  The grasping of the heel is also a reference to deceptive behavior.”

The deception continued to young adulthood when Esau gave up his birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew, because he was so hungry.  (In the painting above Esau is the hungry one on the right.   The shifty-looking guy on the left is Jacob.)  But as Wikipedia noted:

The birthright has to do with inheritance of goods and position both.  The tale is typically biblical.  Esau acts impulsively.  As he did not value his birthright over a bowl of lentil stew, by his actions, Esau demonstrates that he does not deserve to be the one who continues Abraham’s responsibilities and rewards under God’s covenant, since he does not have the steady, thoughtful qualities which are required.   Jacob shows his wiliness as well as his greater intelligence and forethought. What he does is not quite honorable, though not illegal.  (Emphasis added.)

There are a host of object lessons here, one of which might be that we as Christians are expected to be harmless as dove, but also expected to be “wise as serpents.”  That’s Matthew 10:16, where some translations say to be “cunning as serpents,” “crafty as snakes,” or “shrewd as serpents.”  And since the serpent is a metaphor for the Devil, what Jesus seemed to say in Matthew 10:16 was that we should be “wise as hell” or “wise as the Devil.”

Which by the way is something much harder to do if you only interpret the Bible in a narrow, strict, or “fundamental” way.    (BTW: that’s the theme of this blog.)

 The Psalm 119 reading begins with the beloved Bible-verse, “Thy word is a lantern [or lamp] unto my feet.”  That’s Psalm 119:105 in the King James Version ( the one God uses).  If you Google that phrase, you’ll get some 3,900 results.

[T]he word of God is like a torch … in a dark night.  It shows … the way; it prevents [us] stumbling over obstacles, or failing down precipices, or wandering off into paths which would lead into danger, or would turn him away altogether from the path to life.

(See Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, at Psalm 119:105 Commentaries: Your word is a lamp to my feet …, and Second Peter 1:19, saying we have – from Jesus – “a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”)

The Psalm 119 reading ends at verse 12, “I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes, for ever and to the end.”  As noted in the “About” pages above, those statutes were fulfilled in Jesus and his three main promises:  1) that He would accept anyone, 2) that He came so His followers could have life in abundance, and 3) that He expected His followers to perform even greater miracles than He did. See ABOUT THIS BLOG.

In Romans 8:1-11, Paul compared the old law and the new grace, available through faith in Jesus.  In Romans 8:6 Paul said, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”  Compare that with what he said in Second Corinthians 3:6, that the letter of the law kills, while the Spirit of the law gives life.  See also John 4:24 (in the KJV), “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

That’s another way of saying rather than focusing only on the literal sense of the Bible, the better course to try and discern what it means spiritually, in a deeper sense, or what Paul Harvey might have called “the rest of the story.”  (See below.)

And finally, in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Jesus told the Parable of the Sower.  For more on that see Parable of the Sower – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The top image is courtesy of Jacob and Esau – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The full caption:  “Hendrick ter Brugghen, Esau Selling His Birthright, c. 1627.”

The bottom image is courtesy of Paul Harvey’s 1978 ‘So God Made a Farmer’ Speech – Garance …. On the matter of being “wise as the devil,” noted above, see also Harvey’s “If I were the Devil,” at If I Were the Devil – (BEST VERSION) by PAUL HARVEY audio ….

Speaking of “the rest of the story,” see also Paul Harvey – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which added of Harvey’s service in World War II:  “He eventually enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces [after Pearl Harbor] but served only from December 1943 to March 1944.”   Some critics claimed he was “given a psychiatric discharge for deliberately injuring himself in the heel. Harvey angrily denied the accusation, but was vague about details: ‘There was a little training accident…a minor cut on the obstacle course…I don’t recall seeing anyone I knew who was a psychiatrist…I cannot tell you the exact wording on my discharge.'”

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July 6, 2014 – “Happy 4th of July Weekend!” As I’m writing this, I’m riding a train north from New York City to Montreal. That means I had to find my passport, and in the process I found out that passport makes for some interesting reading. Especially on this holiday weekend. Like page 1, where the “Secretary of State of the United States of America” personally requests, of “all whom it may concern,” to permit this named citizen – me – “to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.” Pretty impressive.

That’s followed by the Preamble to the United States Constitution, which also makes for some pretty impressive reading.  That’s followed by pages of Important Information, then pages where you get your visa(s) stamped. Each two-page set is topped with a pithy quotation, about America and the promise of freedom it entails. For example, pages 8-9 are topped by a saying from George Washington, “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.”

Unfortunately – and as we’ve seen way too often lately – the stupid and dishonest can also “repair to the standard” of freedom that America promises.  But that seems part and parcel of what “freedom” is all about. Or as John Steinbeck said:

…this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.  And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected.  And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.  This is what I am and what I am about.

See Quote by John Steinbeck. (Of course he always was an ornery cuss.) Then there’s a quote on pages 16-17, attributed to Teddy Roosevelt:  “This is a new nation, based on a mighty continent, of endless possibilities.” Get that?  “Endless possibilities.”

But to get to that land of endless possibilities, our ancestors – the people with gumption and nerve – had to leave behind the old and corrupt ways of where they came from. (Another way of saying “conservative types,” but that’s a subject for later posts.) And finally there’s the last quote on page 28, from the late astronaut Ellison Onizuka:

Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds . . . to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.

(Ellipses in the passport.) But that’s just another way of saying, “Sing to the Lord a new song.” Also a way of saying you can’t “live up to, fulfill or implement” either promise – either of the American Dream with its “endless possibilities” or Promises of Jesus – if you interpret the Bible or the Constitution in a closed, narrow, or “strict” way.

The point is that our duty as Americans – and especially Christian Americans – is to help and not hinder the endless possibilities of the American Dream or the promise of Jesus that we should live a life of abundance, in His name. (Some things to remember this July 4th weekend.)

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 Ellison Shoji Onizuka, American astronaut – and philosopher…

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Onizuka (1946-1986) was an American astronaut “from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. He was the first Asian-American to reach space.”  See Ellison Onizuka – Wikipedia. The image above is courtesy of that article. As to singing a new song to the Lord, see for example Isaiah 42:10 and Psalms 96:1, 98:1, and 144:9.

*   *   *   *

King David in Prayer, by Pieter de Grebber (c. 1640). . .

“June 22 – Part I” covered Genesis 21, where Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael out in the desert to die.  Turning to Psalm 86, the International Bible Commentary (IBC) said the writer kept imploring God “to hear him in his need” in verses 1-10, but with each new plea slowly moved from “self-orientation towards a focus on God Himself.”  (Which is usually the way it works. . .)

Another commentator indicated, based on Psalm 86, that the people who wrote the Bible were indeed just like us, which could mean it’s our duty to continue the ongoing story of the Bible “even to this day,” and beyond into the future. . .     But we digress. . .

Which makes this as good a time as any to mention the importance of David, shown above in prayer when he was “old and full of years.”   Traditionally David is given credit for writing half the 150 psalms listed in the Bible, though he was far from faultless:

He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms. . .   David is an important figure to members of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. Biblical tradition maintains the Messiah‘s direct descent from the line of David. In Islam, he is considered a prophet.

See David – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Turning again to this Sunday’s Psalm 86, verse 16 has a note of irony:  “Turn to me and have mercy upon me; give your strength to your servant; and save the child of your handmaid.”  (Which is what God did in the Genesis 21 story, save the child of Abraham-and-Sarah’s “handmaid.”)

In the run-up to Romans 6:1b-11, the IBC said Paul “personified” sin as – for example – a king or a slaveholder, “an external power alien to man’s true nature as God intended it,” an enemy that has invaded man and “occupied his ‘flesh.'”   However, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

Which is another way of saying that Jesus wants us: 1) to come to Him, 2) to live a life of abundance, and 3) to perform even greater miracles than He did.  (See About this Blog.)

In Matthew 10:24-39, Jesus predicted future persecution for the twelve disciples, and said while they needed to “guard against men,” they were (and are) secure in their faith; “So have no fear of them. . .  Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  Jesus also warned of disunity produced by the Gospel, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  Of this one commentator said:

This is taken from Micah 7:6.  Christ did not here mean to say that the object of his coming was to produce discord and contention, for he was the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 11:6; Luke 2:14; but he means to say that such would be one of the effects of his coming.

See Matthew 10:34 Commentaries: “Do not think that I came to … (emphasis added).

Micah was a Hebrew prophet of the 8th century “before Jesus,” whose book “reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor against the rich and powerful, and preaches social justice; while looking forward to a world at peace. . .”   (We’re still working on those.)   Note also, Micah used the idea a “covenant lawsuit,” with God suing the Hebrews for breach of contract, in Chapter 6:1-8.  (Did I mention that I was a lawyer in my former life?)

In Chapter 7, verse 6, Micah noted the results of such a contractual “breach:”

The godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts his brother with a net. . .   The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. . .  Put no trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

So what’s the solution?  One answer comes in Micah 6:8 (in the Living Bible), that God “has told you what he wants, and this is all it is: to be fair, just, merciful, and to walk humbly with your God.”

– The Scribe

The upper image is courtesy of Wikipedia.  The “seek justice” image is courtesy of http://thefinestkind.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/img_1748.jpg?w=529&h=396.

As always, to see the full readings for the upcoming Sunday, see The Lectionary Page.

As to “Another commentator wrote.”  What the commentator wrote was, “We may learn from the present psalm [86] that the great saints of old were accustomed to pray very much in the same fashion as we do.” Treasury of David—Psalm 86 – The Spurgeon Archive. , emphasis added.  Which again is a reminder that those who lived in Bible times – and indeed took part in writing the Bible – may not have been that different from us, or “special.”  

As to Micah 6:8, Cliff’s Notes on the Old Testament (1965 copyright, 1988 printing) called it “a clear statement of the prophetic religion at its best.”   It further noted that Micah understood “that Yahweh desires moral qualities on the part of his worshipers [sic] rather than sacrifices and burnt offerings,” and that he – Micah – had captured “the nature of true religion and the moral qualities it is designed to promote.”    (In other words it’s always easier to follow the letter of the law, rather than trying to live that darned-hard-to-implement spirit of the law.  See 2d Corinthians 3:6.)

See also What does it mean to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly …:

One of the most popular verses among both Jews and Christians promoting social justice is Micah 6:8. . .    The message of Micah is still pertinent today.  Religious rites, no matter how extravagant, can never compensate for a lack of love (1 Corinthians 13:3).  External compliance to rules is not as valuable in God’s eyes as a humble heart that simply does what is right. God’s people today will continue to desire justice, mercy, and humility before the Lord.

Which is pretty much what The Scribe is trying to say. . .

 “A depiction of Hagar and Ishmael. . .”

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) has two choices for the first reading and the psalm for June 22, 2014.  (See The Lectionary Page.)  The second reading and Gospel are “set.”

The readings to be used in The Scribe’s church include Genesis 21:8-21, Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 Page 709-10 BCP), Romans 6:1b-11, and Matthew 10:24-39.

Genesis 21:8-21 tells more about the birth of Isaac (begun in Genesis 21:1), to Abraham and Sarah, when they were “well past their prime.”  (As Wikipedia said, “Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was past 90.”  Isaac – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

But this Sunday’s reading is more about Hagar, and Abraham’s other son Ishmael:

Hagar . . . was an Egyptian handmaid of Sarai (Sarah), who gave her to Abram (Abraham) to bear a child. Thus came the firstborn, Ishmael, the patriarch of the Ishmaelites. . .    She is revered in the Islamic faith and acknowledged in all Abrahamic faiths. In mainstream Christianity, she is considered a concubine to Abram.

See Hagar – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  In other words, for the longest time Abraham’s wife Sarah couldn’t give him a son (to carry on the patriarchal line), so way back in Genesis 16, Sarah “gave” Abraham her slave woman, Hagar.  Sarah did this so that her husband wouldn’t be childless (or more accurately, “sonless”).

That is, in Genesis 16:2, Sarah said “go in to my maid,” and Abraham – like a good husband – said, “Okay!”  (In the language of the Bible, he “hearkened to the voice of Sarah.”  Ah, the good ol’ days.)   But when Hagar got pregnant she “looked with contempt” upon Sarah, her boss, which wasn’t very smart.  So Sarah kicked Hagar out into the wilderness, but in Genesis 16:7-16 she had a talk with God and decided to return to Abraham.

Then came the story told in this Sunday’s reading, in which Hagar and her son get kicked out again, at the “behest” of Sarah.  Sarah saw Hagar’s son Ishmael – who was apparently about 13 at the time – either playing with or mocking the infant Isaac (depending on the translation).  So Sarah – who apparently had a pretty short fuse where her competition was concerned – told Abraham to kick out Hagar and her son again.  Abraham was “distressed,” but had a talk with God, and God told him it was okay to do what his wife wanted:

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away.  And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. . .   When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.

In other words, Abraham sent Hagar and his son Ishmael out into the wilderness to die,* and when she thought that they were both going to die, she threw her son under a bush then went away, “about the distance of a bowshot,” so that she wouldn’t have to watch her son die.

But then magically God heard Ishmael crying, and provided a well for them to drink from so they survived.  He then fulfilled His promise to “make a great nation” of Ishmael; later on he married a woman from Egypt, and so became the “father of the Ishmaelites.”

As to who these Ishmaelite “wild men” are or have been, answers vary.   The Jewish Virtual Library said they were a group of nomadic tribes, “Bedouin who live in the desert,” who were also “desert robbers (cf. Gen. 16:12),” who periodically overran and/or plundered permanent settlements “(Ps. 83:7; Judg. 8:24).” See Ishmaelites – Jewish Virtual Library.

Later on the Bible mentions certain Ishmaelites (or Midianites) who purchased and/or sold Joseph as a slave to Potiphar, “an Egyptian officer of Pharoah.”  See Who purchased Joseph, the Ishmaelites or the Midianites …, which noted:  “The Midianites were descendants of Midian, a son of Abraham and his concubine Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2).”

At this point the reader may want to type into his or her search engine, “Just how many dang children (or sons) did Abraham have, with his wife Sarah, or his wife’s Sarah’s slave(s), or his concubines?”  For one answer, see Why Did the Lord Allow Men to Have Concubines? – UK Apologetics, but at this point we are digressing greatly…

The point could be this:  Just as Jacob-turned-into-Israel could be a prototype for anyone who “struggles with the idea of God,” so this Ishmael could be a prototype for anyone among us who has been cast out from “decent society” and still managed to survive, with God’s help (as in – for example – having your ship sunk by a “monstrous big whale”).

The upper image is courtesy of Ishmael – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The full caption:  “A depiction of Hagar and Ishmael in the desert by François-Joseph Navez.”

The image just above is courtesy of Moby Dick (1956 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which added:  “Ishmael is a fictional character in Herman Melville‘s Moby-Dick (1851).”  Seen as a minor character when the book was first published, later literary criticism “served to establish Ishmael as a central force in the book.   By contrast with his namesake Ishmael from Genesis, who is banished into the desert, Ishmael is wandering upon the sea.   Each Ishmael, however, experiences a miraculous rescue; one from thirst, the other as the lone surviving crewmember.”  (Emphasis added.)  “The opening line, ‘Call me Ishmael,’ is one of the most recognizable opening lines in Western literature.”

*   As to Abraham sending Hagar and her (and Abraham’s) son out into the wilderness to die, that practice is arguably not unlike the tale of Eskimos sending or leaving their old folk “out to die.”  See Senicide – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  For another point of view see The Straight Dope: Did Eskimos put their elderly on ice floes …, where – in response to a question whether Eskimos “still did that” – the writer responded (somewhat snippily):

Do Europeans cause rat-borne plagues by killing cats because cats are demon spawn?   Sorry for the iciness, but it bugs me when questions about strange Eskimo customs are phrased in the present tense, as if nothing could have changed since the eighteenth century.  But yes, in the past some Eskimos did kill old people when circumstances were sufficiently desperate. . .   [W]hen food did run short, the old and sick were looked upon as drains on the community’s resources. Sometimes they were killed – thrown into the sea, buried alive, locked out in the cold, or starved to death. Far more commonly they were simply abandoned to die.  The victim might be taken out in the wilderness and left there, or the whole village might pick up and move away while the old person slept.

Which may explain why Abraham wasn’t averse to Sarah’s command.  Apparently such practices were just not that unusual at that time and place.  Which leads to a logical conclusion that God didn’t particularly like that practice, but had to work with the resources available.  That is, He – and His spokesman Moses, who had to write down all this stuff – had to speak to His Chosen People using “language and concepts that his relatively-pea-brained contemporary audience could understand,” as noted in On the readings for June 15 – Part I.

Just as Jacob-turned-into-Israel could be a prototype. . .   See On arguing with God.

“Moses lifts up the brass serpent. . .”

On the readings for June 15 – Part I noted that “June 15 is the First Sunday after Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday,” and that the readings are Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Psalm 8, Second Corinthians 13:11-13, and Matthew 28:16-20.

The post said June 15 honors “the Trinity” – God in three persons – an idea that even a smart guy like Thomas Jefferson didn’t understand.  The post added, “Another thing that’s hard for many people to understand is that the ‘Creation Story’ found at the beginning of the book of Genesis must be taken as literally true, or else you go to hell.”

The post theorized that in writing his Creation Story, Moses had to use “language and concepts that his relatively-pea-brained contemporary audience could understand.”  Moses’ ability to get his point across was limited by his audience’s limited powers of comprehension, the same problem God has in talking to us.   (And it doesn’t help if you think you’re a “know it all.”)

Which is why you read the Bible: to expand your ability to comprehend the points God may be trying to get across to you.   One good way to expand your ability is to see how others in the past expanded their ability to comprehend God.

Which brings us back to the readings for June 15.

As noted, in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Moses told the story of the creation of the world and the history of that world, with a special emphasis on events impacting how the Hebrew people came to be wandering in the wilderness, after what seemed like a miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt.  (But even then some people were prone to complain about “the good old days,” and ask why things had to change.  See for example Numbers 14:2-3, and 21:4-5, below.)

A note here:  Possibly because the Genesis reading was so long, the second reading and Gospel are extremely short.  And by the way, to see the full readings check The Lectionary Page.

The International Bible Commentary characterized Psalm 8 as emphasizing “Man’s Place in God’s World.”  The psalm begins and ends with the phrase:  “O LORD our Governor, how exalted is your Name in all the world!”  And verse 2 – “Out of the mouths of infants” – was of special interest to Jesus, as noted in Matthew 21:14-16:

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.  ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry ¹⁶ and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?”

Moving along, in 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, the Apostle Paul gave his “Farewell and Benediction,” ending his second letter to the church he founded in Corinth.  In the letter he offered a “polemic defense of his apostleship,” which was being attacked by some, while affirming his affection for the church. (See Second Epistle to the Corinthians – Wikipedia, the free …)

Finally, Matthew 28:16-20, told of The Great Commission, “the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world:”

The eleven disciples went to Galilee. . .    And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age.”

The upper image is courtesy of Moses – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The full caption reads: “Moses lifts up the brass serpent, curing the Israelites from poisonous snake bites in a painting by Benjamin West.”     As to some Hebrews whining about “the good old days,” see:

Numbers 14:2-3, “All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!  Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?  Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?'”

Numbers 21:4-5,  “Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.  The people spoke against God and Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.'”

And incidentally, that complaining led God to punish the whiners:  “Frustrated and impatient, they complained against Yahweh and Moses (Num. 21:4-5)[,] and God sent ‘fiery serpents’ among them. For the sake of repentant ones, Moses was instructed by God to build a ‘serpent of bronze’ that was used to heal those who looked upon it.”  That “serpent of bronze” was the prototype of the Caduceus, symbol of today’s medical profession.

The lower image is courtesy of Great Commission – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta. . .

June 15 is the First Sunday after Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday.  The readings for June 15 are Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Psalm 8, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, and Matthew 28:16-20.

“Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”   Trinity Sunday – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Sundays following Pentecost, until Advent, are numbered from this day. . .   In the Church of England, following the pre-Reformation Sarum use, the following Sunday is the “First Sunday after Trinity”, while the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) now follows the Catholic usage, calling it the Second Sunday after Pentecost.

All of which is another way of saying that from now to the First Sunday of Advent – this year, November 30 – the readings in the church calendar are numbered as a given Sunday after Pentecost, up to the 23d and the Last Sunday after Pentecost, November 16 and 23, respectively.

As Wikipedia also noted, “The Christian doctrine of the Trinity . . .  defines God as three consubstantial persons, expressions, or hypostases.”  Wikipedia added that according to this “central mystery of most Christian faiths, there is only one God in three persons.”

If you’re really interested in further information, see Trinity – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  On the other hand, if you don’t understand the whole concept, don’t worry.  Neither did Thomas Jefferson, so you’re in good company.

Jefferson questioned key parts of Christianity including Mary’s virgin birth, Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ teachings of being the messiah long before his death in 1826.  “As early as 1788, we have a letter where he said he didn’t understand the trinity, and if he didn’t understand the trinity, how could he possibly agree to it?”

A note:  Thomas Jefferson was a very smart guy, but he seems to have fallen into the common error of thinking that he could ever really understand everything there is to know about God. See for example Isaiah 55:8-9 (in The Living Bible translation):

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So Jefferson’s saying he wouldn’t believe anything he couldn’t fully comprehend was a bit like me saying The Force That Created The Universe is no greater than my feeble ability to comprehend “Him” (anthropomorphism), but that’s a subject for another post…

Another thing that’s hard for many people to understand is that the “Creation Story” found at the beginning of the book of Genesis must be taken as literally true, or else you go to hell.

But turning back to the idea of “originalism” – see On “originalism”  – it may help to explore what was on Moses’ mind when he wrote this very first book of the Bible.  And one thing that he had to keep in mind was that he didn’t want to get burnt at the stake for heresy.

Which brings up the question:  Who was Moses writing for?   Or the question could be: Who was Moses’ primary audience?   The answer:  Moses was writing mostly for his fellow Hebrews, but those fellow Hebrews didn’t have the level of educational advantage that he did.  (Don’t forget, for the longest time Moses was literally a Prince of Egypt.)

So how would those fellow, primitive, backward Hebrews have reacted to being told things we now take for granted?  How would they have reacted to being told, for example:

“You see that big bright round thing in the sky?  The thing that disappears when it gets dark, to be replaced by a smaller not-so-bright round thing?  Well, it looks like it revolves around us, but really, we live on this other big round thing, which is hurtling though space, and our big round thing actually revolves around that other Big Bright Round Thing In The Sky, not the other way around like we’ve been thinking all these years…”

The point is this:  However Moses described the history of the world – for example in Genesis 1:1-2:4, part of the story the Hebrews from “Creation” up to where they were wandering in the wilderness – he had to tell the story using language and concepts that his relatively-pea-brained contemporary audience could understand.

In other words, Moses’ ability to tell the story he wanted was limited to his audience’s ability to comprehend.  One other note: There was a guy named Galileo who did tell that “Big Bright Round Thing In The Sky” story almost 3,000 years after Moses, and he was lucky to avoid getting burnt at the stake as a heretic, but we digress…

For more on next Sunday’s readings, see “On the readings for June 15 – Part II,” coming up.

“Cristiano Banti‘s 1857 painting Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition.”

The upper image is courtesy of Wikipedia.  The full caption: “Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta, 1738-9 (St. Gaudenzio Church at Ivrea, Torino).”

“Jefferson questioned key parts…”  See e.g. Controversial Thomas Jefferson book pulled over complaints of …  See also Jefferson Bible – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which said Jefferson’s book titled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth begins with an account of Jesus’s birth “without references to angels (at that time), genealogy, or prophecy.   Miracles, references to the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, and Jesus’ resurrection are also absent from his collection.”

The “Galileo” image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article, Heresy – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Galileo Galilei was brought before the Inquisition for heresy, but abjured his views and was sentenced to house arrest, under which he spent the rest of his life. Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture.  He was required to “abjure, curse and detest” those opinions.

So again, imagine how those just-getting-used-to-the-idea-of-fire, desert-cutthroat Hebrews would have reacted if Moses had told that “Big Bright Round Thing In The Sky” story:

A note about timing: Moses was born some 1300 years before Jesus, and Galileo got in trouble for the “Round Thing In The Sky” story about 1600 years after that.  See Moses (1393-1273 BCE) – Jewish History – Chabad.org, and the Wikipedia article on Galileo, attached to the article on heresy.  (The “angry mob” image is courtesy of

ecantwell.tumblr.com/post/191101250/dear-angry-mob-oak-wood-tr…

 http://wordspy.com/graphics/torch-and-pitchfork.jpg.)

The Pentecost, by El Greco

June 8, 2014, is Pentecost Sunday, and as noted in El Greco | Hear what the Spirit is saying:

In [the book of] Acts of the Apostles an account is given of the day of Pentecost when the twelve apostles, as well as Mary and people of many nationalities were gathered in one place.  All at once the sound of a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the room:  “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) gives several alternatives for Pentecost readings.  (For the full readings see The Lectionary Page.)

The readings for The Scribe’s church are: 1st Corinthians 12:3b-13, Psalm 104:25-35, 37 (page 736 BCP), Acts 2:1-21 (partly noted above), and John 20:19-23, which can lead to this thought:

Pentecost might be considered “Tongue Sunday,” both because of the “tongues of fire” visible in the El Greco painting above, and because of the phenomenon of “speaking in tongues.”

In his Commentary on the Bible, Isaac Asimov wrote about this special day.   He noted that Christians generally regard the Pentecost “speaking in tongues” as a miracle, in that the Apostles weren’t just babbling but rather were speaking in such a way that people from a host of nations and peoples understood them.  He said it was likely the Apostles knew a smattering of Greek – the “universal language” at the time – in addition to their native Aramaic, so that “if, in their ecstasy, they uttered phrases in both languages, then those who listened to them from the various nations listed, would have understood something.” (E.a.)

Nevertheless, it’s not just Christians today who saw the events on this Pentecost as a miracle;  “so did the onlookers … for many were converted to the belief in Jesus as Messiah.”   As noted in Acts 2:41, “the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

Another note:  That sound – “like the rush of a violent wind” from heaven described in the reading above – is widely seen as the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as a whole.  For that reason and for the addition of the 3,000 souls on one day, “Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the ‘Birthday of the Church.'”

In the first reading – 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 – Paul added some of his commentary, beginning with: “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”   He then described a number of spiritual gifts – healing, working miracles, prophesy – but said that all were motivated “by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

Turning to Psalm 104, the International Bible Commentary said the writer “has been called ‘the Wordsworth of the ancients,” and the Psalm itself as “Genesis set to music.”  (Also – and not to be heretical or anything – the IBC said Psalm 104 resembled the “Egyptian Hymn to Aten as the source of all life,” which hymn was written by Akhenaten, “alias Amenhotep IV.”)

Anyway, the psalm-readings for the day – verse 25-45, and 37 – first emphasize the sea, “traditional object of awe and even dread to Israelite landlubbers,” emphasizing God’s power over such a dreadful force of nature.  Verse 27 notes, “There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it.”  (Indicating God has a sense of humor.)

After the Acts 2 reading comes the Gospel – John 20:19-23 – in which Jesus first appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection.  At that point in time, “He  breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'”

So you could say that Pentecost is literally a Great Day in the Morning!!

An image gleaned from the search term “speaking in tongues…”

The upper image is courtesy of Pentecost – El Greco – WikiArt.org – WikiPaintings.

The full citation to Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One) The Old and New Testaments, Avenel Books (NY), 1981 Edition, at pages 999-1003.

As to the origin of the phrase “Great day in the morning,” that’s a tough one, but see for example Southern Slang tracihill.com:  “an exclamation. ‘Great day in the morning! That’s the biggest punkin’ I ever did see!'”     The site also added the following examples:

I swanee– An exasperation. Pronounced “swun-ee”. “He failed that test again? I swanee that boy!!”   And that’s not to mention “Fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down…”

See also Have you ever heard this phrase? – Yahoo Answers, which gave two conflicting answers:  First, “It means ‘great day’ in its early stages i.e. a great day in the morning with expectations of a great day for the rest of it.”  But another answer gave this meaning:  “enjoy the morning as u will be doomed by the evening.”

And finally, as to speaking in tongues see Glossolalia – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, referring to the “fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice.   Some consider it as a part of a sacred language. It is a common practice amongst Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.”

On the other hand, it could be argued this is another example of some people taking isolated Bible passages out of context, like those who handle snakes based on Mark 16:17-18, or those who have a “quiverfull” of children based on a passage from Psalm 127.  (See Snake handling – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and QuiverFull .com :: Psalm 127:3-5.)

You may want to also check out Statutory interpretation – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, on  “In pari materia (‘upon the same matter or subject’)[:]  When a statute is ambiguous, its meaning may be determined in light of other statutes on the same subject matter.”

In this case you might want to consider how handling snakes or having a “quiverfull” advances the three main promises of the Bible, to wit:  Jesus promising 1) that He would accept anyone who came to Him, 2) that He came so His followers could have life “in all its abundance,” and 3) that He expected His followers to perform even greater miracles than He did.

And finally consider First Corinthians 14, verse 4:  “Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.”  Verse 5 adds, “One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues…”  Verse 19:  “I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”  And finally see verse 23:  If a church “comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”  (Emphasis added.)

“Snake handling at Pentecostal Church … 1946,” courtesy of Wikipedia, above. 

Note also the guy on the right, whose nickname might well be Stumpy.

Lion Devouring a Rabbit, by Eugene Delacroix.  (See the second reading below…)

The RCL Bible readings for Sunday, June 1, are:

Acts 1:6-14, Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36, 1^st Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, and John 17:1-11.

The first reading – Acts 1:6-14 – is about Jesus telling His disciples – some six weeks after His resurrection – that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they were then to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Then came The Ascension, as described in the post On Ascension Day.

While the disciples were standing there on Mount Olivet, two men in white robes appeared and asked why the disciples were looking up into the sky.  They explained that Jesus, having been “taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The reading concluded with the disciples returning the “Sabbath day’s” journey back to Jerusalem, where they were “constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”

That is, the disciples had a far different reaction to this parting, compared to the initial one when they thought Jesus had been killed, as the International Bible Commentary (IBC) noted:

…robbed again of their beloved Master within a few short weeks of His reappearance in resurrection life, this time they are neither depressed nor dispirited, but superlatively happy…

(See the IBC commentary on Luke 24:50-52.)  This of course fits in with the theme of this Blog, that Jesus came to earth mainly to insure that His followers would be able to experience life in all its abundance.  (See John 10:0.)

That doesn’t mean that such followers can go around blithely ignoring the very real dangers inherent in this life here on earth, a point that Peter made in the second reading below.

But in between the first and second readings come portions of Psalm 68, which the IBC described as “God’s Triumphal Procession.”  (The IBC also added that it was one of the most difficult psalms “both to translate and to interpret.”)  The psalm’s prelude – verses 1 to 6 – “calls the people to the worship of the God who protects them from all their enemies and cares for them in all their troubles.”   And the full psalm “has been associated with the ascension of Jesus,” with a look at the past, present and especially the future, and so anticipating “God’s final victory and universal sovereignty.”  Of particular interest is verse 3: “let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; let them also be merry and joyful.”

But between “now and then” – God’s final victory – there is that time “on the road to Jesus” (John 6:37), with its very real dangers.  Thus the main theme of the second reading – 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 – is that the followers of Jesus are to be steadfast in their faith. (See also First Epistle of Peter – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)  But the Apostle added:

Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.  Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.

(That is, you don’t want to end up like the rabbit in the Delacroix painting.)

And finally, the Gospel reading – John 17:1-11 – is part of the “great prayer of Jesus,” as the IBC described John 17:1-26.  Note that in this prayer – before His crucifixion – Jesus “consecrated Himself for the work which He is about to undertake,” after which He prayed for His disciples and the ordeal that they were about to begin:

“Father, the hour has come…   I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do….   I have made your name known…   And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. “

So the lesson – especially from the second reading from 1 Peter- could be this:

The upper image – Lion Devouring a Rabbit, by Eugene Delacroix – is courtesy of http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/214297/1/Lion-Devouring-A-Rabbit.jpg.

For the full Sunday readings see The Lectionary Page.

As to “a Sabbath day’s journey.”  See How Far was a “Sabbath Days Journey” – Bible History Online, which indicated that from the time of Joshua to the time of Jesus, the distance a devout Hebrew could travel on the Sabbath was gradually and continually expanded.   In other words, they weren’t strict or “conservative,” but rather used a liberal interpretation of Scripture:  “Over the centuries the authorities within the rabbinical circles of Judaism found ways, from examining the miniscule details of the law, to increase the distance that an Israelite may travel on the Sabbath day.”

See also BibleGateway.com Dictionaries: SABBATH DAY’S JOURNEY, which indicated the distance was “supposed to be a distance of 2,000 cubits, or less than half-a-mile, the distance to which, according to Jewish tradition, it was allowable to travel on the Sabbath day without violating the law (Acts 1:12; comp. Ex. 16:29; Num. 35:5; Josh. 3:4).”

The “let’s be careful” image is courtesy of http://api.ning.com/files/HbWmngpSBZZrUu-5tO6yQxzT-yapP2aih7MX-o7vLPFDTzhgIq8etUXz2WZFegjNxGUhQMmnHbMVV*-0LXhxiA__/staysafeoutthere.jpg?width=320&height=238.

I.e., that lower image is a “cut” from the old Hill Street Blues TV series; the “American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987.” See Hill Street Blues – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.