According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Judas Iscariot, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

Judas Iscariot

APRIL 5, 2023

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 70:1-2 4-6 (LBW) or Psalm 18:21-30 (LW)

Romans 5:6-11

Matthew 26:14-25

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty God, your Son our Savior suffered at the hands of men

and endured the shame of the cross. 

Grant that we may walk in the way of his cross

and find it the way of life and peace;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 20

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Merciful and everlasting God the Father,

who did not spare your only Son

but delivered him up for us all that he might bear our sins on the cross;

grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in our Savior

that we may not fear the power of any adversaries;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 43

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In context, Isaiah 50:4-9a is an odd lection to read on this Sunday.  The speaker–the prophet/servant (Second Isaiah)–is pious yet merely human, therefore, sinful.  He believes that the suffering of the exiles during the Babylonian Exile has been justified.  Yet he also anticipates the divine vindication of that exiled population, for the glory of God.  Applying this reading to sinless Jesus (who suffered an unjust execution as an innocent man) requires astounding theological gymnastics.

Judas Iscariot played an essential role in a divine plan.  The writers of the four canonical Gospels portrayed him negatively, for one major obvious reason.  The Gospel of John added that Judas was an embezzler (John 12:6).  Despite all this, Judas was not outside the mercy of God.  And he had not committed the unpardonable sin–blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:28; Luke 12:10).  Judas may have thought that he knew what he was doing, but he did not.  Recall Luke 23:24, O reader:

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

I do not pretend to know the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot.  I am not God.  I do, however, repeat my position that the only people in Hell are those who have condemned themselves.  God sends nobody to Hell.  Divine mercy and judgment exist in a balance I cannot grasp, for I am not God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 12, 2022 COMMON ERA

HOLY TUESDAY

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID URIBE-VELASCO, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927

THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIUS I, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENO OF VERONA, BISHOP

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisement

Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves so that you can experience the genuine love of brothers, love each other intensely from the heart….

Above:  St. Matthias

Image in the Public Domain

Resurrected Lives, Part II

APRIL 16, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Acts 1:12-26

Psalm 16:5-11

1 Peter 1:3-9, 14-25

Matthew 28:11-20

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

–1 Peter 1:22, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As one’s soul rejoices in God, who resurrected Jesus, who has issued the Great Commission, one requires guidance in how to follow Christ.  Certain rules are specific to times and places, but principles are timeless.  In 1 Peter 1:22 and elsewhere the germane principle is genuine love for God and others.  Love of the unconditional and self-sacrificial variety, we read in 1 Corinthians 13, prioritizes others and is not puffed up.  Such love builds up others.

This is a high standard; each of us falls short of it.  By grace we can succeed some of the time, however.  Furthermore, we can strive for agape love more often than we act on it.  We need not attempt moral perfection, which is impossible, but we must seek to do as well as possible, by grace.  We are imperfect; God knows that.  Yet we can improve.

The surviving Apostles regrouped and restored their number to twelve.  They selected St. Matthias to fill the vacancy the death of Judas Iscariot had created.  St. Matthias became a martyr; he loved God to the point of dying for the faith.  We might not have to make the choice, but we still owe God everything.

Grace is always free yet never cheap.  In the wake of Easter it demands that we who accept it lead resurrected lives defined by love.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 30, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOAN OF ARC, ROMAN CATHOLIC VISIONARY AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF APOLO KIVEBULAYA, APOSTLE TO THE PYGMIES

THE FEAST OF JOSEPHINE BUTLER, ENGLISH FEMINIST AND SOCIAL REFORMER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LUKE KIRBY, THOMAS COTTAM, WILLIAM FILBY, AND LAURENCE RICHARDSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/resurrected-lives-part-ii/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Ministry of the Apostles

Image in the Public Domain

A Faithful Response, Part V

APRIL 5, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 70

Hebrews 12:1-3

John 13:21-32

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As I read Isaiah 50:4-9a, I realized that I had, very recently, written about that passage in the post for Palm/Passion Sunday.  I have decided not to duplicate the essence of that analysis here, but rather to provide a link.

Likewise, a portion of Psalm 70 reminded me of Psalm 71:13, about which I wrote in the post for Tuesday of Holy Week.  I have therefore provided a link to that post also.

Now for Hebrews 12:1-3 and John 13:21-32….

The audience for the poorly named Letter to the Hebrews (actually a treatise) was Gentile Christians.  The author encouraged them to derive courage from the example of Jesus.  Those who crucified Christ intended his execution as a method of disgrace and extermination, but it became, as the Gospel of John stated so well, his glorification (12:23).  Jesus gave the commandment, first to his Apostles (minus Judas Iscariot), to love one another as he loved them.  That commandment has come to apply to Christians.

Jesus loved sacrificially and unconditionally.  He loved all the way to his death.

That is a daunting challenge.  Being a Christian is about serving people, not lording over them.  Many Christians are fortunate; they will never be in a position to face the possibility or reality of martyrdom.  Others are less fortunate, though.  The annals of Christian history are replete with the sacrifices of martyrs.  But all of us must, if we are to follow Christ, love one another as he loved his Apostles–sacrificially and unconditionally.  This, possible via grace, is a mandate, not a recommendation.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 27, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B:  TRINITY SUNDAY

THE FEAST OF PAUL GERHARDT, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ALFRED ROOKER, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST PHILANTHROPIST AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS SISTER, ELIZABETH ROOKER PARSON, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF AMELIA BLOOMER, U.S. SUFFRAGETTE

THE FEAST OF SAINT LOJZE GROZDE, SLOVENIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/a-faithful-response-part-vi/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Harvest

Image in the Public Domain

Yielding the Full Harvest of Righteousness

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Obadiah 1-4, 11-15

Psalm 32

Philippians 1:1-14

Matthew 26:1-16

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The pericopes from Obadiah and Matthew recount perfidy.  In Obadiah, the briefest book in the Jewish Bible, with 291 Hebrew words, we read of the perfidy of the Edomites, descendants of Esau who, in the words of verses 12 and 13, gazed with glee and participated in the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.  We read of God’s displeasure and promised judgment on the people of Edom.  The perfidy of Matthew 26:1-16 is that of those (including Caiaphas and Judas Iscariot) who plotted to kill Jesus.  In stark contrast to them, we read, was the unnamed woman of Bethany who anointed Jesus.

The author of Psalm 32 had recovered from a serious illness.  In his culture a common assumption was that such an illness was divine punishment for sin, regardless of what the Book of Job argued in its fullness.  The author seemed to accept that assumption, thus he focused on the confession of sins and linked that confession to his recovery.

Yielding the full harvest of righteousness (per Philippians 1:11) is possible only via grace.  One might have the best and most righteous of intentions, but free will, with which God can work, is a good start.  It is also insufficient by itself.  Confessing one’s sins is part of the process; repentance needs to follow it.  Loving one’s fellow human beings to the point of being ready, willing, and able to sacrifice for them, if that is what circumstances and morality require, is also part of yielding the harvest of righteousness, which we can do in community, not in isolation.

May our words and deeds glorify God and benefit others.  The difference between words and deeds proves hypocrisy, which undermines claims to moral authority.  Words also have power; they can tear down or build up.  Words can inspire justice or injustice, reconciliation or alienation, hatred or love or indifference, selflessness or selfishness.  Words can defile the one who utters or writes them or demonstrate one’s good character.

Yielding the full harvest of righteousness is a high and difficult calling.  It is a daunting challenge, but it is one we have a responsibility to accept.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 22, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK HERMANN KNUBEL, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

THE FEAST OF GEORG GOTTFRIED MULLER, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN FOREST AND THOMAS ABEL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1538 AND 1540

THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIA OF CORSICA, MARTYR AT CORSICA, 620

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/yielding-the-full-harvest-of-righteousness/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Odd Fellows Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, Corsicana, Texas, 1910

J149681 U.S. Copyright Office

Copyright deposit; Jno. J. Johnson; 1910

Copyright claimant’s address: Ennis, Tex.

Photographer = John J. Johnson

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-133853

The Idol of Public Respectability

MAY 18, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Proverbs 1:1-7

Psalm 119:145-176

Mark 12:35-37 or Luke 20:41-47

1 John 2:3-29

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The term “fear of God” should be “awe of God,” for the latter translation conveys the concept accurately.  Certain distractions can draw our attention away from God and the awe thereof.  Among these are suffering (not necessarily a distraction, per Psalm 119, yet a distraction for many), worldly appetites (also not necessarily distractions inherently, but distractions for many), and false teaching (always a distraction).  The issue is idolatry.  An idol is an object, teaching, philosophy, or practice that draws attention and awe away from God.  Many idols for many people are not idols for many other people.  If someone treats something as an idol, it is an idol for that person.

One can seem to be holy and free of idols yet be disingenuous.  In the parallel readings from mark (extended) and Luke Jesus condemns those who put on airs of righteousness yet crave public respectability and devour the property of widows, in violation of the Law of Moses.  The spiritual successors of the scribes Jesus condemned are numerous, unfortunately.  Some of them even have their own television programs.

Public respectability is not a virtue in the Gospel of Luke:

Alas for you when the world speaks well of you!  This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.

–Luke 6:26, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

That saying’s companion is:

Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, then your reward will be great in heaven.  This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

–Luke 6:23, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

This is a devotion for the Feast of the Ascension.  The selection of these lections seems odd, I admit, but one can make the connection.  After the Ascension Jesus was no longer physically present with his Apostles.  Afterward, however, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and empowered them to do much to spread the word of Jesus and to glorify God.  Of the original Apostles (including St. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot) only two did not die as martyrs.  St. John the Evangelist suffered much for God and died of natural causes.  Those Apostles (minus Judas Iscariot) did not crave and did not receive public respectability.  They did, however, glorify God and change the world for the better.

May we resist the idol of public respectability and, by grace, live so as to glorify God and benefit our fellow human beings.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/the-idol-of-public-respectability/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Judas Iscariot

I took this digital photograph of an image from a fragile book dating to the 1880s.

Christ, Confronting Us

APRIL 9, 2022

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

O God of mercy and might, in the mystery of the passion of your Son

you offer your infinite life to the world.

Gather us around the cross and Christ,

and preserve us until the resurrection,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 29

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Leviticus 23:1-8

Psalm 31:9-16

Luke 22:1-13

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is a devotion for the day immediately preceding Holy Week.  Liturgically Jesus is a day away from his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, yet he has been in the city for days in Luke 22.  In fact, the Triumphal Entry occurs in Luke 19:28-40.  In Luke 22:1-13 preparations for the annual observance of the Passover, mandated in Leviticus 23:4-8, are underway while Judas Iscariot conspires with Temple officials to betray Jesus.  In a short period of time Jesus will fully resemble the afflicted author of Psalm 31

To every one of my oppressors

I am contemptible,

loathsome to my neighbors,

to my friends a thing of fear.

–Psalm 31:11, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

The narratives of Holy Week are familiar to many of us who have read them closely for a long time and heard them liturgically.  Tradition has attempted to smooth over discrepancies among the four canonical Gospels, but I prefer to acknowledge those disagreements and take each Gospel as it is.  The Passion narrative in Luke emphasizes Jesus’s innocence and the injustice of his trial and execution.  Pontius Pilate finds no guilt in Jesus (23:4, 14, 20, and 22); neither does Herod Antipas (23:15).  Jesus, never an insurrectionist, goes to his death, but Barabbas, an insurrectionist, goes free (23:18-25).

Luke 23 compels me to confront injustices–those I commit, those others commit in my name as a member of a society and a citizen of a state and the United States of America, those of which I approve and might not even label as unjust, and those of which I disapprove.  I benefit from some forms of injustice regardless of whether I approve or disapprove of them.  Luke 23 compels me to confront that reality also.  The unjustly executed Christ confronts my easy complacency as I lead my quiet, bookish life.

Practicing Christianity is a difficult undertaking with rigorous demands, but it is a challenge I have accepted for a long time.  I intend to continue to struggle with it and to keep relying on grace, for my human powers are woefully inadequate for the task.

What about you, O reader?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GERARD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT AMBROSE OF MILAN, ARCHBISHOP

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/christ-confronting-us/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Question Mark

Image in the Public Domain

Difficult Questions

MARCH 9, 2022

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land.

Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world

toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 27

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Job 1:1-22

Psalm 17

Luke 21:34-22:6

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The assigned readings for this day present a composite picture of dire circumstances.

The Lukan Apocalypse, set immediately prior to the execution of Christ, advises spiritual vigilance for the return of the Son of Man, that is Jesus.  (“Son of Man” is an apocalyptic term in the Bible.)  Goodness does not spare Jesus from the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, however.

In the Book of Job God permits the titular character to suffer as part of a wager with the Adversary (the Satan), still one of God’s employees, according to the theology of the time.  One might imagine that the author of Psalm 17 was thinking of Job when he wrote that short poem.  Certainly the tone of Psalm 17 is consistent with Job’s speeches.

Hear my just cause, O Lord; consider my complaint;

listen to my prayer, which comes not from lying lips.

Let my vindication come forth from your presence;

let your eyes behold what is right.

–Psalm 17:1-2, Common Worship (2000)

Feel-good religion fails to deal properly with such circumstances.  Easy answers prove inadequate when the questions are difficult.  Human inadequacy becomes obvious and the need to rely on divine sufficiency becomes clear.  But what if one understands God to be at least partially responsible for one’s troubles?  I offer no easy answers, for the questions are difficult.  I do, however, embrace the wonderful Jewish practice of arguing with God faithfully.  It recurs throughout the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Book of Psalms.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 13, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRY MARTYN DEXTER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HISTORIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABBO OF FLEURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT BRICE OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS TAVELIC AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/difficult-questions/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Jerome Pradon as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

(A Screen Capture I Took Via PowerDVD)

Genesis and Mark, Part XXIV:  Disappointment, Grudges, Revenge, and Forgiveness

MARCH 25, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Genesis 49:29-50:7, 14-26

Psalm 43 (Morning)

Psalms 31 and 143 (Evening)

Mark 14:1-11

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Related Post:

Prayer:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/prayer-for-saturday-in-the-fourth-week-of-lent/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After everything from Genesis 45 forward, Joseph’s brothers still feared that he might bear a grudge against them.  He did not, fortunately.  Yet, in Mark 14:10-11, Judas Iscariot had a reason (which made sense to him) to agree to betray Jesus.  The placement of those verses immediately after an unnamed woman anointed our Lord’s head implies a link (explicit elsewhere) between the two.

The story of a woman anointing Jesus, by the way, occurs in some form in each of the four canonical Gospels.  The other citations are Matthew 26:6-13, Luke 7:36-50, and John 12:1-8.  Each account, although different from the others, contains the same core.

Back to our regular programming…..

Jesus will be at Gethsemane before Mark 14 ends.  That is how close to the end of that Gospel we are.  Yes, one unifying thread between the Old Testament and the New Testament readings is death.  Jacob died in Genesis 49 and Jesus was about to die in Mark 14.  And how did fears and anger play out at these occasions?  Joseph repeated his forgiveness of his brothers.  Chief priests, scribes, and Judas Iscariot plotted our Lord’s death.

Judas was arguably disappointed in Jesus, who seemed insufficiently zealous against the occupying Romans.  Those with whom Judas conspired collaborated with the Romans.  So these were natural enemies who became temporary allies for the sake of convenience.  It was all very unseemly.

Joseph could afford to forgive, of course; he was a powerful man in Egypt.  Yet powerful people have nursed old grudges.  But, even more impressive than Joseph’s forgiveness was that of Jesus, who did not even take a grudge to his cross.  That is a fine example to ponder.

As for me, I know about deep, abiding, and justified anger.  My time as a doctoral student at the Department of History of The University of Georgia was traumatic, ending prematurely.  I never came close to the desired credential.  My anger was justified.  Yet it was also spiritually poisonous, so I had to relinquish it.  I harmed myself inwardly while those who committed academic abuse faced no consequences.  The grudge was a burden too heavy to continue to bear.

As for judgment or mercy, I leave that to God.

Revenge is always a burden too heavy to bear; may each of us in the human race drop it if we are carrying it and refuse to  pick it up if we are not carrying it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 23, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DESIDERIUS/DIDIER OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT GUIBERT OF GORZE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BAPTIST ROSSI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS, SCIENTIST

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/genesis-and-mark-part-xxiv-disappointment-grudges-revenge-and-forgiveness/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/uga-and-me/