Christmas 2C Lectionary Notes

Lectionary Notes - 2nd Sunday after Christmas

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Readings for Second Sunday after Christmas:

Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalm 147:12-20, Ephesians 1:3-14, John 1:(1-9) 10-18

Jeremiah 31:7-14:

Jeremiah is writing to Israel, during the period of Babylonian captivity. He is writing a hopeful message of what it would/will be like when God gathers back the 'remnant' and returns them to their homeland.
The 'remnant' imagery is strong today among certain groups of Christians who believe that they continue this remnant, the remaining part of God's faithful chosen.
This passage talks about the scattering of Israel and the re-gathering of the people to their homeland. These metaphors can hardly be ignored in a time when the Palestine/Israel region is in such turmoil.
A classic story of homecoming.

Psalm 147:12-20:

" What wonderful wintry images with which to begin the month of January in Central New York! Snow, frost, hail, cold, wind.
"He has not dealt thus with any other nation." (v. 20a) How do we deal with images that talk about God as God that prefaces one nation over others? Is the God of some peoples but not others? A very timely question - does God bless America? How about Afghanistan? Iraq? Is God the God of one religion, one race, one people, and one nation? Of course, in theory we say God is God of us all, but does our behavior/attitude match our claim?

Ephesians 1:3-14:

"adoption as his children through Jesus Christ" - The language of adoption in terms of our relationship to God stirs mixed emotions for me. On the one hand, it is such a loving image of God choosing to make us part of God's family - going out of the way to make us children of God's own. On the other hand, I hear a lot of the biblical witness saying that as creatures of God, created by God's hand, that fact alone makes us God's children. Are we or aren't we all God's children? I think we are…
"The Beloved" from the Greek agapema, meaning, an object of love. Here Christ is called the beloved, the same word God speaks to Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan. Elsewhere in the scriptures, we are called beloved. My bishop, Bishop Violet Fisher, always opens her letters by addressing as The Beloved. Amazing comfort in little words.
"having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will" - predestined, from the Greek prooristhentes, meaning "to determine beforehand". Are we predestined to be adopted or not adopted by God? To heaven or hell? If we believe that God has plans for our lives, which I do, how is that different than believing that God has determined already our final salvation/non-salvation, which I don't believe?

John 1:1-18:

This is John's take on a birth narrative. No shepherds, no angels, no Mary and Joseph, no manger. This is how John describes Jesus' coming into the world. The language is rich in metaphor, and though it lacks the characters of the traditional nativity, the point is still communicated without a doubt: 'And the word became flesh and lived among us'.
This is one of my favorite passages in the Greek New Testament, not only because of the easy, repetitive vocabulary :) but also because it is poetic and lyrical through the simple, repetitive structure. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Passages like this from John provide the strongest basest for our Trinitarian Christian Creeds. Jesus was "in the beginning with God."
"No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son . . . who has made him known." John's gospel is filled with the most exclusive language, that is, language that insists that Christ is the only channel to God. (Ie John 14, which describes Christ as The Way.)

Pastor’s Note: (I use the Greek-English Lexicon from Liddell and Scott, the “little Liddell” and the Metzger et. al Greek New Testament in my translation work.)

Lectionary Notes are from the Lectionary Chat Group Bible Study of St. Paul's UMC, Oneida, NY.

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