Scripture for November 7

1. Luke 20:27-38

²⁷Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him ²⁸and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a    man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; ³⁰then the second ³¹and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. ³²Finally the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” ³⁴Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; ³⁵but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. ³⁷And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

2. For resources for this Sunday go to: http://www.textweek.com/yearc/properc27.htm

3. For an interpretation by The Right Rev. Porter Taylor, an Episcopal Bishop go to:

http://day1.org/814-love_the_questions

So here are these Sadducees, learned men who are members of the branch of Judaism that does not believe in a resurrection after death. These Sadducees finally get to encounter Jesus. This is their moment--this is their time in the sun. Yet, this is what they say: Teacher, if seven brothers die in succession and each marries the same woman, one after another, to whom is she married in heaven?

Excuse me? Here they are before the Christ--the Anointed One--and this is the best they can do? ….

However, Jesus always has time for questions that are real. ….

• Can you heal my child? • I have a demon that torments me and I can find no rest. Can you help me? • I have lost my way to the circle of life. Can you bring me back?
• No one will come near me--because they say I am unclean. Do you love someone like me? • Does God love me?  • Are we alone? • Can people find Shalom? ….
The Sadducees cannot ask these questions because they think they already know the answers. He invites the Sadducees to lay aside their stupid questions and think of a new world in which the living and the dead are connected

October 31 scripture from Joe

1. Luke 19:1-10  (Zacchaeus)         

19He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

2. Resources for this Sunday go to: http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk19a.htm

3. An Interpretation by John Wesley (Yes, that John Wesley): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.iv.xx.html

1. He passed through Jericho - So that Zaccheus must have lived near the end of the town: the tree was in the town itself. And he was rich - These words seem to refer to the discourse in the last chapter, ver. 24, particularly to ver. 27. Zaccheus is a proof, that it is possible by the power of God for even a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

2. The chief of the publicans - What we would term, commissioner of the customs. A very honourable as well as profitable place.

4. And running before - With great earnestness. He climbed up - Notwithstanding his quality: desire conquering honour and shame.

5. Jesus said, Zaccheus, make haste and come down - What a strange mixture of passions must Zaccheus have now felt, hearing one speak, as knowing both his name and his heart!

7. They all murmured - All who were near: though most of them rather out of surprise than indignation.

8. And Zaccheus stood - Showing by his posture, his deliberate, purpose and ready mind, and said, Behold, Lord, I give - I determine to do it immediately.

9. He also is a son of Abraham - A Jew born, and as such has a right to the first offer of salvation.

10. Matt. xviii, 11.

October 24 from Joe

1. Luke 18:9-14, – The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

2. Resources for this Sunday go to: http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk18b.htm

3. Interpretation by Bill Long: http://www.drbilllong.com/LectionaryIII/Lk189II.html

There is no doubt in Jesus' or Luke's mind who the "good guy" is in this parable--the tax collector. He went home justified. The tense of the participle translated "justified" is interesting--it is in the perfect passive tense. This tense suggests that his justification had already begun by the time he left the temple area and headed home. And Luke slips in two words at the end of v. 13. Not only does it say that the tax collector went home justified, but he did so "instead of that one" (i.e., the Pharisee). It would have been enough to say that the tax collector went home justified without having to specify the fate of the Pharisee. But he wants to make sure we understand what is at stake here: Pharisaic attitudes and words lead to a reversal, the reality of not being justified. Thus, I think we can conclude by saying that Jesus' point is pretty clear--that the "big people" are going to be put down from their lofty situations while the "little people" will be exalted. But I think we can also conclude that it isn't very clear into which category we fit. I am afraid that most people with whom I associate are more like the Pharisees than they think they are, despite the fact that we all want to identify with the tax collector. Maybe that is why I like them. How about you?

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