· 3 Richard
Hooker, Priest, 1600 was an English priest in the Church
of England and an influential theologian.[2]
He was one of the most important English theologians of the sixteenth century.[3]
His defence of the role of redeemed reason informed the theology of the
seventeenth century
· 7 Willibrord,
Archbishop of Utrecht, Missionary to Frisia, 739 was a Northumbrian
missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians"
in the modern Netherlands.
OLD TESTAMENT: Wisdom 3: 1 - 9 (RCL)
Wis. 3:1
(NRSV) But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
3 and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive
great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.
Isaiah 25: 6 - 9 (alt. for RCL)
Isai 25:6 (NRSV) On this mountain the LORD of hosts will
make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines
strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
8 Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all
faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all
the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he
might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Revelation 7: 2 - 4, 9 -
17 (Roman Catholic)
Reve 7:2 (NRSV) I saw another angel ascending from the
rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud
voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3
saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have
marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one
hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with
palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the
throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around
the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before
the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing,
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who
are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" 14 I said to
him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me,
"These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their
shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
PSALM 24 (RCL)
Psalm 24: 1 - 6 (C of E, Roman Catholic)
Psal 24:1 (NRSV) The earth is the LORD's and all that is
in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory. [Se'lah]
24 Domini est terra (ECUSA BCP)
1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, *
the world and all who dwell therein.
2 For it is he who founded it upon the
seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the
deep.
3 “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? *
and who can stand in his holy place?”
4 "Those who have clean hands and a
pure heart, *
who have not pledged themselves to
falsehood,
nor sworn by what is a fraud.
5 They shall receive a blessing from the
Lord *
and a just reward from the God of their
salvation."
6 Such is the generation of those who seek
him, *
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 “Who is this King of glory?” *
“The Lord,
strong and mighty,
the Lord,
mighty in battle.”
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 “Who is he, this King of glory?” *
“The Lord
of hosts,
he is the King of glory.”
NEW TESTAMENT: Revelation 21: 1 - 6a (RCL)
Reve 21:1 (NRSV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no
more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said,
"See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this,
for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 Then he said to me, "It
is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
h/t Montreal
Anglican
This book is “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (
1:1) made known through John. It is prophecy which reveals secrets of
heaven and earth. Our reading is from John’s record of his vision of the
end-times. He has told of the destruction of the old city, Babylon
(code name for Rome) and of the old
heaven and earth (
20:11); the ungodly have been driven off to punishment (
20:15). Only the godly, a remnant, remain. Isaiah 65:17-25
and 66:22
predict that all creation will be renewed, freed from imperfections and
transformed by the glory of God.Now John sees the new creation. The “sea” ( 21:1), a symbol of turbulence, unrest and chaos, is no more. He sees “the new Jerusalem” ( 21:2), probably not made with bricks and mortar, “holy”, of divine origin, beautiful and lovely as a “bride”. (Marriage is a symbol of the intimate union between the exalted Christ and the godly remnant. Some see the city as the church, set apart for God’s use in the world.)
John hears “a loud voice” ( 21:3) interpreting 21:2: God again comes to “dwell” (be present spiritually) with “his peoples”. Sorrow, death and pain – characteristics that made the old earth appear to be enslaved to sin – will disappear ( 21:4). God, “seated on the throne”, speaks in vv. 5-6: he will do everything described in 21:1-4; he is sovereign over all that happens in human history. (“Alpha” and “Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so God encompasses all.) God will give the gift of eternal life (“water”, 21:6b) to all who seek him.
Verse 1: See also Romans 8:19-21. [ NOAB]
Verse 1: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth”: Isaiah 65:17 says “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind”. See also Isaiah 66:22. Creation will be renewed or refurbished in order to befit redeemed humanity. [ JBC]
Verse 1: “sea”: Evil oppressors have come from the sea ( 13:1). [ CAB] God conquered mythical monsters ruling over primeval chaos when he ordered the universe: Rahab or Leviathan in the Bible, Tiamat in Babylonia (Job 26:12ff; Psalm 89:10; Isaiah 51:9). He will annihilate them at the time of the new creation (Isaiah 27:1). Brutal power and violence are incompatible with the peace of the world to come. [ JBC]
Verse 2: This verse is inspired by Isaiah 54. As in 2 Esdras 9:38-10:59, a historical restoration of Jerusalem is not expected. [ NJBC]
Verse 2: “holy city”: See also 3:12 and 22:19. God is the architect and builder of the city (Hebrews 11:10). It is “holy” because it is definitively consecrated to God, a notion already found in the Old Testament: see Isaiah 54; 60; Ezekiel 48:30-35. [ JBC]
Verse 2: “new Jerusalem”: See also Galatians 4:26; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:10; 12:22. [ CAB] [ JBC]
Verse 2: “coming down out of heaven”: See also James 1:17. [ JBC]
Verse 2: “adorned for her husband”: In contrast to the old city, which is described in terms of harlotry and drunkenness ( 17:1-2). [ CAB]
Verse 2: “bride adorned for her husband”: See also 19:7-9. [ NOAB]
Verse 3: This is the fulfilment of prophecies foretelling the intimate union of God with the chosen people in the era of salvation. See Ezekiel 36:26-28; 37:27; Jeremiah 31:33ff; Zechariah 2:4ff; 8:8; Leviticus 26:12; 2 Samuel 7:13 and also 2 Corinthians 6:16. The intimacy proto-human enjoyed in the Garden of Eden is now granted to all members of the people of God forever ( 7:15-17). [ JBC]
Verse 3: “loud voice”: JBC suggests that the speaker is one of the four fantastic living creatures described in earlier chapters.
Verse 3: “dwell”: The Greek word is the same as that in John 1:14: “... the Word became incarnate and lived [dwelled] among us.” The literal translation is tabernacled. [ CAB]
Verse 4: See also 7:16-17; Isaiah 25:8; 35:10. [ NOAB] The old city brought pain and death to its victims ( 18:24), but God’s new city will provide healing for the nations ( 22:2). [ CAB]
Verse 4: “wipe every tear”: See also 7:16ff and Jeremiah 31:16. [ JBC]
Verse 4: “Death will be no more”: See also 20:13. [ NJBC]
Verse 4: “mourning and crying and pain”: See also Isaiah 35:10; 65:19. This condition is the exact opposite of Babylon’s (Rome’s) fate: see 18:22-23. [ JBC]
Verse 5: the one who was seated on the throne”: See also 1:8; 4:2, 9; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16; 7:10, 15; 19:4; Romans 14:10.
Verse 5: “‘I am making all things new’”: See also Isaiah 43:18ff (”... I am about to do a new thing ...”); 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15. This is the only passage in Revelation where God himself speaks. [ JBC]
Verse 5: “trustworthy and true”: See also 3:14 (“... the faithful and true witness ...”); 19:11 (“... Its rider is called Faithful and True”) and 22:6 (“... These words are trustworthy and true ...”) [ JBC]
Verse 6: “the Alpha and the Omega”: See also 1:8. [ CAB]
Verse 6: “water of life”: See also Isaiah 55:1; John 4:10, 13; 7:37-39; Psalm 42:1; Jeremiah 2:13; Zechariah 14:8. [ NOAB] [ JBC]
Verse 7: “Those who conquer”: Note the endings of the seven letters to specific churches. All include “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” and also:
- 2:7: “... To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God”
- 2:11: “... Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death”
- 2:28: “... To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star”
- 3:5: “If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life ...”
- 3:12: “If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. ...”
- 3:21: “To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne”. [ NOAB]
Verse 7: “I will be their God and they will be my children”: In Genesis 17:7, God tells Abraham: “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, ... to be God to you and to your offspring after you”. See also God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7:14. [ CAB] Note that Revelation, unlike the gospel of John, looks primarily to the future for the fulfilment of eschatological hopes: here “I will be”. [ JBC]
Verse 8: The “cowardly”, the “faithless”, etc. do not have faith enough to endure trials, and so will fall away in time of persecution. [ NOAB] JBC notes that John gives first place to those who have sinned against the faith. He sees the “cowardly” as those whose superficial and unstable faith has succumbed to persecution.
Verse 8: “sorcerers”: Literally poisoners, i.e. those dealing in philters and poisons. Acts 19:19 tells us of such people who, coming to the faith, burned their valuable books publicly. [ NOAB]
Verse 8: “the lake”: See also 19:20. The “lake” is Gehenna. In Matthew 18:9, Jesus says “‘And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire’”. The Greek word translated “hell of fire” is Gehenna. [ NOAB] This was literally the valley of Hinnon (ge’Hinnon) outside Jerusalem where garbage (rubbish) was gathered and burned. Per 2 Kings 23:10, Hinnon had been the site of child sacrifice: see also Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5-6. It provided a physical reminder of the place of eternal punishment. See 1 Enoch 27:2; 90:24-26; 2 Esdras 7:36. [ JBC]
Verse 8: “the second death”: i.e. the final condemnation of sinners. See also 2:11. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus says “‘Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell’”. Gain, “hell” translates Gehenna. Note the contrast with the “water of life” (v. 6). [ NOAB] “The second death” is probably a reference to the fact that those who are banished to eternal punishment are temporarily resurrected from their first death. [ CAB]
GOSPEL: John 11: 32 - 44 (RCL)
John 11:32
(NRSV) When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and
said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also
weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said,
"Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and
see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved
him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of
the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away
the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord,
already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus
said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the
glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and
said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that
they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried
with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Now Mary repeats Martha’s earlier assertion (in v. 21). Jesus is stirred with indignation, probably at the sorrow death brings. Touched by the pain of those he loves, he weeps: he shares that pain in some real way. Martha tries to restrain Jesus from viewing the decomposing corpse of his friend (v. 39). Jesus says to her: did I not tell you that if you believed you would see God’s power to end death? God, Father and Son, bring Lazarus back to physical life. Jesus verbalizes his thanks to the Father as he tells the unbelieving “crowd” (v. 42) that he is sent by the Father. On Jesus’ command, Lazarus emerges, still wrapped in burial cloths
Verse 25: “on the last day”: This phrase occurs in the New Testament only in John: see also 6:39-40, 44, 54; 12:48.
Verse 25: Jesus modifies Pharisaic doctrine. His words are not only about resurrection but also about the fate of those faithful to him. Jesus is not only the agent of final resurrection but also gives life now: see also Romans 6:4-5; Colossians 2:12; 3:1. Mere physical death can have no hold over the believer.
Verse 26: The believer has passed from the death of sin into life: see also Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8.
Verse 27: “‘I believe’”: A scholar translates this as I am convinced.
Verse 27: “‘the Messiah’”: An affirmation made by Andrew in 1:41.
Verse 27: “‘the Son of God’”: An affirmation made by Nathanael in 1:49.
Verse 27: “‘the one coming into the world’”: An affirmation made by those present at the Feeding of the Five Thousand in 6:14.
Verse 28: We aren’t told that Jesus has committed to raising Lazarus. In faith that he will, Martha simply goes to fetch Mary: [ CAB] as does Andrew, in fetching his brother to Jesus ( 1:41) and as does the Samaritan woman in fetching men from her city ( 4:28ff). Martha, the organizer, assumes that Jesus wishes Mary to be present.
Verse 33: “moved”: Another translation is troubled. Jesus is stirred with indignation, probably at the power of death: see 12:27. [ NOAB]
Verse 34: “laid”: i.e. buried. [ NOAB]
Verse 35: Jesus realizes that the miracle he is about to perform will precipitate a final clash with the authorities, and so bring about his own death – a prospect from which he instinctively recoils.
Verse 35: A sign of Jesus’ humanity.
Verse 38: “cave”: Tombs were carved out of the limestone rock, either out of the ground or out of a rock face. A stone formed a slab or door to cover the entrance. The NRSV translation assumes that Lazarus was placed in a tomb in a rock face.
In Israel, spices were used to arrest the odour caused by decay but not, as in Egypt, to arrest decay.
Verse 40: Actually, Jesus has told the disciples, but not Martha, that they “would see the glory of God”; however revelation of his glory is implied in Jesus’ conversation with her in vv. 23-26. God will act to reveal his power as life-giver.
Verse 42: “I knew”: It is helpful to make an insertion here, so the reading becomes I, for my part, knew.
Verse 42: “always”: A scholar translates this as every time.
Verse 42: Comments: to help the crowd understand that his power is from God, and not magic: See also 3:17; 5:36, etc.
Verse 43: “cried with a loud voice”: 5:28-29 says that the hour is coming when all in the tombs (as Lazarus is) will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done what is good to resurrection life. The raising of Lazarus is a fulfilment of Jesus’ words in Chapter 5. [ NJBC]
Verse 44: The resurrection of the body is not the same as resuscitation of corpses, as Paul shows: see 1 Corinthians 15:42ff. This is not the resurrection and not a resurrection – it is resuscitation, a foretaste of the resurrection.
Verse 44: Corpses were completely bound up, with the feet bound at the ankles, so Lazarus could not possibly walk. He might have been able to shuffle to the entrance – so he would need to be unbound.
Verses 46ff: Members of the Sanhedrin meet, fearing that the Jesus movement may provoke Roman intervention, which could lead to the destruction of the temple and of the Jewish state.
The stories in the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus restores life to a person concern one who has just died, but this miracle is a sign that Jesus really is the power of life evident in resurrection: he calls to life a person already buried in a tomb.
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