Break Open the Word

The Second Sunday in Lent, 28 February 2021   Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Romans 4:13-25 Mark 8:31-38 Psalm 22:22-30   The Collect   O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.     Background: Son of Man   In today’s Gospel reading we encounter a phrase that is used by Jesus in a Passion Prediction. It is a term that has a widely different usage in the Hebrew Scriptures than that in the New Testament. We see the term used some 93 times in Ezekiel, and also used in Numbers, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and finally in Daniel. The phrase,  ben adam,  is translated differently in Hebrew texts. In Numbers the translation is “mortal,” while in Job it i...

The First Sunday in Lent. 21 February 2021   Genesis 9:8-17 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 Psalm 25:1-9   The Collect   Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.     Background: Cutting a covenant   In Genesis 15 we have a startling image of a covenant between YHWH and Abraham which involved the cutting in half of a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon. It explains the Hebrew usage; one didn’t make a covenant, one cut a covenant. In classical usage, sacrificial animals were cut in half, and the two parties to the covenant passed between the offerings, sealing the covenant. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of covenants made between God and hu...

  The Last Sunday after Epiphany, 14 February 2021   II Kings 2:1-12 Psalm 50:1-6 II Corinthians 4:3-6 Mark 9:2-9   The Collect   O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.   Background: Moses and Elijah   Why do these two appear at the Transfiguration of Jesus? There are multiple reasons, but the simplest and most elegant reason is that both sought to see the face of God. Moses requests such in  Exodus 33:18-23 , when on Sinai he asks God “to show me your glory.” Moses had other opportunities to encounter God, especially the conversation at the Burning Bush when he receives his commission from God and learns God...