NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 12: 18 - 29 (RCL)

Hebr 12:18 (NRSV) You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 27 This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

h/t montreal Anglican

Hebrews 12:18-29
The author contrasts the assembly of the Israelites when the old covenant (“something that can be touched”) was given with those who have entered the new covenant (vv. 22-24) brought from God (“mediator”, v. 24) by Jesus. On Mount Sinai, the Israelites were filled with awe and terror. Death by stoning was the Jewish form of capital punishment. In the story of the Golden Calf, Moses trembles with fear (v. 21). The old covenant was made on earth, but the new is in heaven (“Mount Zion ...”, v. 22). The community celebrating (“festal”) it includes all the Christian faithful, who “have [already] come ... to the city”, (“the firstborn”, v. 23) and the exemplars of the Old Testament (“spirits of the righteous”) who trusted in God despite not having the promises brought by Jesus.
The author has written: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s ... he died, but through faith he still speaks” (11:4). The “sprinkled blood” (v. 24) of Jesus, his death and resurrection that established the new covenant, speaks much more definitively of forgiveness than Abel’s example. Then v. 25: greater punishment is in store for those who reject Jesus’ warning from heaven than for those who rejected his warning at Sinai (“on earth”).
In vv. 26-29, the author interprets God’s words spoken through the prophet Haggai as a reference to the Last Judgement. The kingdom that Christ has brought is unshakable, permanent, but those who “reject” (v. 25) him and his message will perish, be consumed with fire (v. 29), at the Last Day: God will “will shake not only the earth but also the heaven” (v. 26).


Verses 14-17: The necessity of pursuing peace and purity. [NOAB] If the faithful tolerate “bitterness” (v. 15) or moral defilement, they will forfeit their inheritance, as Esau did. [CAB]
Verse 15: There are similarities between this verse and the Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 29:18: “Lest there be among you man, or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart has turned aside from the Lord your God, having gone to serve the gods of other nations; lest there be in you a root springing up with gall and bitterness”. [NOAB] [BLXX] Watch over one another to avoid straying from the faith. [NJBC]
Verse 16: “like Esau, an immoral and godless person”: NJBC offers no fornicator or profane person like Esau. He says that fornicator may not refer to Esau. Esau’s profaneness is shown by his giving up his birthright for a single meal: see Genesis 25:29-34. JB translates this verse as And be careful that there is no immorality, or that any of you does not degrade religion like Esau, who sold ... . To degrade religion refers to the sin Esau committed when he surrendered the position that was his by birth, of being heir to the messianic promises.




GOSPEL: Luke 13: 10 - 17 (RCL)

Luke 13:10 (NRSV) Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Luke 13:10-17
In the story of the healing of the crippled woman, Jesus shows what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom – through his actions. That he heals a woman and refers to her as a ”daughter of Abraham” (v. 16), a full member of Jewish society, is remarkable: the kingdom is equally open to women and the sick. In Jesus’ day, physical and mental ailments were seen as the work of evil forces (“Satan”); the very being of someone with a serious ailment was thought to be hostile to God. The woman does not ask to be cured; no one asks on her behalf; Jesus notices her (“Jesus saw her”, v. 12). Her response to his saving action is to praise God (v. 13). Anyone could speak in the synagogue: the “leader” (v. 14) speaks to the “crowd”, but his words are directed at Jesus. He is blind to God’s kingdom.
Jesus’ rebuttal is clever, for while untying an ox or a donkey on the sabbath was forbidden in one part of the Mishnah (a Jewish book of laws), it was permitted in another. Jesus has “set free” (v. 12), untied, the woman who was tied to Satan. If you untie animals on the sabbath, why not humans? Honour and “shame” (v. 17) were, and are, important in Near Eastern cultures. Realizing that Jesus is right, the “leader” (v. 14) and other “opponents” (v. 17) are shamed before the crowd, who rejoice in this wonder-worker. The kingdom is open to all when they turn to God


Verse 14: “because Jesus had cured on the sabbath”: On this subject, see also:
• Matthew 12:10-12: Jesus cites the example of saving a sheep on the Sabbath as showing that doing good on this day is in accord with the law.
• Luke 6:6-11: on the Sabbath Jesus heals “a man [in a synagogue] whose right hand was withered”. When criticised, he asks “is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”.
• Luke 14:1-6: Jesus sees a man with dropsy. He asks religious leaders whether it is “ lawful to cure people on the sabbath” – they do not reply. He cures the man. He then cites the example of “a child or an ox that has fallen into a well”, and asks whether they would not “pull it out on the sabbath day”. Again they are silent.
• John 5:1-18: Jesus heals a paralysed man at the Beth-zatha pool on the Sabbath. [NOAB]
Verse 14: The “leader of the synagogue” recalls one of the Ten Commandments: see Exodus 20:9-10. [NOAB] Detailed rules with regard to the kind of work allowed on the Sabbath, according to the urgency of the injury, were published by the rabbis. A prohibition is found in CD (Damascus Document) 8:22-23: No man shall help an animal in its delivery on the Sabbath day. And if it falls into a pit or ditch, he shall not raise it up on the Sabbath. [BlkLk]
Verses 15,16: “untie his ox ... whom Satan bound ... be set free ...”: BlkLk offers for these verses: Jesus answered him and said, “Hypocrites, does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or ass from the manager and lead him away and water him? This woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has tied up - see! – eighteen years, was it not right that she should be untied from her bonds on the sabbath days?”. “Untie” (v. 15) and “set free” (v. 16) are translations of the same Greek verb; “bound” is a translation of the opposite Greek verb. BlkLk’s translation brings out the sense of what Jesus said better than the NRSV. REB goes part way in making the sense clear.
Verse 15: “untie his ox ...”: Per the Mishnah (Shabbath 7:2), tying and loosing knots are among the 39 kinds of work forbidden on the sabbath, but Shabbath 15:1-2 exempts certain kinds of knots. [JBC]
Verse 15: “lead it away”: CD (Damascus Document) 11:5-7 says that a stubborn animal can be led up to “a thousand cubits” (i.e. half a kilometre) on the sabbath. [JBC]