All Saint's Day - 1 November 2012
Isaiah
25:6-9
Psalm
24
Revelation
21:1-6a
St.
John 11:32-44
Background: Biblical Manuscripts
So many Christians don’t seem to understand
the rather complex nature of sacred texts, both their own and the Hebrew texts
as well. The enterprise of biblical
translation is a balance of not only setting the text in another language but
of determining the text itself. The two
oldest Hebrew manuscripts are the Aleppo Codex (920 CE) and the Leningrad Codex
(1008). Individual manuscripts are even
earlier, with the Dead Sea Scrolls dating to perhaps the first century BCE. Of the Old Testament manuscripts we have
around 300 ore more extant manuscripts.
The New Testament, coming from a more recent
period of time, has a greater number of extant texts: 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin
manuscripts, and around 9,300 manuscripts in various languages (Syriac, Slavic,
Coptic, etc.). The discovery of ancient
manuscripts continues. In 2008, 47 new
manuscripts were discovered in Albania.
Of these manuscripts, 17 were unknown to biblical scholars.
Isaiah 25:6-9
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.
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.
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.
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.
In this hymn of thanksgiving, the first Isaiah anticipates a great
victory on the part of YHWH. It falls in
the midst of oracles against the cultures and nations that are seen as hostile
to Israel. The vision is one of a
messianic banquet that is not limited to the people of Israel, but to “all
peoples” – a development that moves this prophet’s vision from one that is
bounded by nationalism to a much broader perspective. The notion of the celestial banquet is common
to both Israelite and Canaanite culture.
In a way, this oracle or hymn is a completion of the cycle begun in
Genesis with the account of the Fall, for here the threat of sin and death and
their consequences are vanquished. That
the Christian Scriptures rely so much on Isaiah (both of them) is not
surprising, for this note of universalism and salvation represents beginning
steps to the theology found in the Gospels.
If we were to plumb the depths of the Eucharistic Meal, its roots would
be found in this very vision.
Breaking
open Isaiah:
- How do you imagine heaven?
- How does Isaiah image heaven?
- What are the differences?
Psalm 24 Domini est terra
The earth is the LORD'S
and all that is in it, *
the world and all who
dwell therein.
For it is he who
founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon
the rivers of the deep.
"Who can ascend
the hill of the LORD? *
and who can stand in
his holy place?"
"Those who have
clean hands and a pure heart, *
who have not pledged
themselves to falsehood,
nor sworn by what is a
fraud.
They shall receive a
blessing from the LORD *
and a just reward from
the God of their salvation."
Such is the generation
of those who seek him, *
of those who seek your
face, O God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O
gates;
lift them high, O
everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory
shall come in.
"Who is this King
of glory?" *
"The LORD, strong
and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in
battle."
Lift up your heads, O
gates;
lift them high, O
everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory
shall come in.
"Who is he, this
King of glory?" *
"The LORD of
hosts,
he is the King of
glory."
This psalm is interesting in its question/answer format, which explores
the beauty of the work of God’s hands.
The second verse, noting the foundation of the world “upon the seas”
refers to the Canaanite (and Mesopotamian) beliefs about the primeval battle
between the deity and the chaos of the sea.
So in creation, God separates the land from the sea. Then we are transported to the temple, and
the question as to who can rightfully ascend its heights. The question is answered with a series of
qualifications that are represented in the people of God.
Verse seven probably begins a separate work, in which the question posed
wishes to identify whom it is that the pilgrims are ascending to worship. Some commentators think that this work
actually was commenting on the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the field
of battle (The Lord who is valiant in battle).
Breaking
open Psalm 24
- What allows you to enter God’s holy space?
- Do the requirements keep anyone out? Whom might it keep out?
- How is the Lord “valiant in battle?” What does this mean?
Revelation 21:1-6a
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. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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;
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."
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." Then he
said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end."
Again we are confronted with the foundation of creation, this time in
the vision of the Divine. Here he has a
vision of a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth. That the “sea is no more” is a comment on the
ancient myths regarding God’s victory over chaos, represented in the sea
itself. What follows are a series of
aspects of the new creation. There is
the new city (a heavenly Jerusalem) and a loud voice proclaiming new realities
from the Throne of God. One of the
canons at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City opined that
the only proper way to read these proclamations, which appear elsewhere in the
book, especially in the letters to the churches, was to shout them in a loud
voice. The signs of the proclamation are
a reflection of what the first Isaiah wrote in the first reading for the
day. Again, it is a vision as if it had
already had been completed. Thus the one
seated on the throne (the Resurrected One) states emphatically, “It is done,”
and then encapsulates all of it in his own existence as the “Alpha and the
Omega.”
Breaking
open Revelation:
- Is the new creation a future or a present event?
- What would you like to see renewed in creation?
- What do you need to have renewed within yourself?
St. John 11:32-44
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." When Jesus saw her
weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed
in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They
said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews
said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not
he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Then
Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone
was lying against it. 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." Jesus said to her, "Did I not
tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they
took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank
you for having heard me. 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." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus,
come out!" 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."
In
Jesus last journey to Jerusalem we see previews of things to come, and the
seventh (the number of perfection) sign.
It is the raising of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. The term “greatly disturbed” can either be
translated as “anger”, “trembling”, or “intense emotion”. What is clear is that Jesus, as well as the
sisters and on-lookers are facing the existential reality of death, and all
react to it. What follows is like a
drama, complete with stage directions.
Jesus seems to comment in sotto
voce so that the emphasis of the action might be heard, seen, and
understood. What is operating at a
different level is the communication of the Father and the Son – knowing the
mind of the other. Thus follows then,
another “Loud Voice”, this time the voice of Jesus communicating to the dead
Lazarus. The final comment of Jesus is
almost ironic, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
It is a comment on the practical requirements of the situation, and a
bit of Gospel proclamation intended for all the witnesses of this sign – a
proclamation about their own freedom.
Breaking open the Gospel:
- Which emotions are visible in this Gospel reading?
- How does Jesus involve the crowd?
- What emotions would you assign to Jesus in this story?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and
fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so
to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may
come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love
you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and
reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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