The Third Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 7C), June 20, 2004
Zech. 12:8-10, 13:1; Psalm 63:1-8; Gal. 3:23-29; Luke 9:18-24
Momentous events are astir in these lessons, for each sets forth a time of immense transition. In spite of the upheaval in normal life we find in the lessons, what emerges is something magnificent.
The lesson from Zechariah begins with the image of a siege against Jerusalem. An attack, with threat of violent death, was close at hand. Nevertheless, the prophet declares that “on that day the Lord will shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:8). The rest of the lesson speaks not only of the ultimate triumph of the people of God against their oppressors, but that the occasion will lead to “compassion and supplication” (12:10) in the entire population, leading to mourning (presumably for their sins), and that finally they shall be cleansed “from sin and impurity” (13:1). The image of looking “on the one whom they have pierced” (12:10) is clear to us that it is the crucifixion of Jesus that has made (or will make) possible the transition from being besieged by an enemy, to deliverance, to repentance, to cleansing.
In Galatians, another kind of upheaval to something good is presented. The lesson describes the new understanding of relationship with God that faith has brought. The law was “our disciplinarian until Christ came” (Gal. 3:24), but faith makes the faithful into “heirs” — and therefore puts an end to the time of “imprisonment” under the law. The line “there is no longer Jew or Greek, … slave or free, … male and female” is often misapplied in an attempt to prove the equality of the sexes, but the truth is far more earth-shattering than that. The passage is an assertion that all the boundaries and differences among people (in this case, ethnic, social, and eternal) have no bearing on the standing of all who are incorporated into Christ.
Finally, in the gospel, the confession of Peter that Jesus is “the Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20) is, in many ways, the watershed moment in Jesus’ ministry before the passion. His followers realize that he is more than a prophet; in fact, he is the long-awaited Messiah. They are the first to realize that the Messianic age has at last come, and they are partners with its inception.
In these three lessons, magnificent changes are happening, all for good. Nothing can ever be the same again.
Look It Up
How does the psalm for today, Psalm 63, express the theme of great transition into newness of life?
Think About It
Remember a time in your own life in which there was a momentous and irreversible change into something good. Did you feel any regret for what was left behind? Did you feel any apprehension about what was coming?
Next Sunday
The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 8C), June 27, 2004
1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21; Psalm 16 or 16:5-11; Gal. 5:1,13-25; Luke 9:51-62
