Scripture Study
12 September 2010 - 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
All three of this weekend's readings are about God's forgiveness. The first reading portrays Moses in the role of an intercessor for his people after the "golden calf" incident. The second reading reminds us that past unbelief, ignorance, or even serious sin is not an insurmountable barrier to service of God. In the Gospel Jesus paints several word pictures of the greatness, all-inclusiveness and persistence of God's love and forgiveness. In all the readings there is a rejoicing over the lost being found. This finding is always an activity of God's. To what extent is the Eucharist a celebration of God's activity in my life? Is my recognition of God's action any better than that of the Pharisees whose preoccupation with the law blinded them to God's activity?
NOTES on First Reading:
* 32: 7-10 Yahweh informs Moses that the people have violated the fundamental commandment not to worship other gods (20:2-6). God tells Moses that He will destroy the people who have been unfaithful and start anew with a people from Moses' own family. In verse 7, God refers to Moses as the one who brought the people out of Egypt.
* 32:11-14 Following the example of Abraham (Gen 18:20-32) Moses becomes a determined intercessor for his people and pleads with God to remain faithful to His great promise. Moses does not accept the statement that he brought the people out of Egypt but reminds God that it was Divine grace that accomplished the task. The image of Moses and Abraham (Gen 18:20-32) arguing with or reminding God of His promises seems odd to us as 20th century westerners but it expresses the ancient Semitic world's mind set toward speaking to God. This is intended as a literary device to make a point about prayer and service to the people as well as to God and not so much as a portrait of God's attributes.
NOTES on Second Reading:
* 1:12-17 Paul recalls an earlier time in his life when he had been a persecutor of the Christian communities (See Acts 26:9-11) until his conversion by the intervention of Divine mercy through the appearance of Jesus. He is led to speak of this change by his present gratitude for the Christian apostleship to which Jesus has called him. He presents his own case along with his subsequent apostolic experience as a testimony to the saving purpose of Jesus' incarnation. His recounting of this great mystery of God's love leads to a spontaneous outpouring of adoration in verse 17. Notice the literary device used in this reading. Structurally the two semi-doxologies of verses 12 and 17 together with the repeated statement , "but I received mercy", in verses 13 and 16 form a ring construction that focuses attention on the "reliable saying" about the work of Jesus in verse 15.
* 1:15 In the Pastoral Epistles, Paul frequently uses the phrase, "This saying is trustworthy," to introduce a basic truth of early Christian faith. See 1 Tim 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8. In the Gospels this reliable saying about Christ's work is to be found in such places as: John 3:17;Luke 19:10; Matt 9:13 and its parallels.
* 1:17 "King of ages" is a Greek expression which through Semitic influence, could mean "everlasting king." It could also mean "king of the universe."
NOTES on Gospel Reading:
* 15:1-3 The reference to Jesus' indiscriminate table fellowship leads us to the basic issue between Jesus and the Pharisees which always remains the same: Where are the boundaries of God's love? Who are those on the inside and who are those on the outside? The Pharisees were constantly trying to pull those boundaries in to be exclusive while Jesus was always trying to push them out to be as inclusive as possible. The three parables in Chapter 15 deal with the foolishness of God in lavishing His love on all. The basic theme is God's mercy breaking through human restrictions and limitations concerning how God should act toward sinners.
* 15:5 The theme of joy is interwoven throughout this chapter and has four areas of focus: Universality, community, and soteriology commingled together, Conversion as a requisite for finding true joy, Happiness consists essentially of a willingness to share God's own joy in dispensing salvation, The call to participate in God's love and joy comes to us through Jesus Christ.
* 15:6 "Lost" becomes a refrain in this chapter: lost sheep, lost coin (9), lost son (24), lost brother (32).
* 15:8 Luke added the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) from his own special tradition to illustrate Jesus' particular concern for the lost and God's love for the repentant sinner. The ten coins are literally, "ten drachmas." A drachma was a small Greek silver coin.
* 15:11 Luke has added this parable from his own material. It does not appear in other Gospels. Jesus takes advantage of the long tradition of "two brother" stories in which the younger brother triumphs over the older as in Esau and Jacob, Isaac and Ishmael, Joseph and his brothers. Here, however there is a double twist. The prodigal son is a parody of the successful younger brother and the older brother is not vanquished but invited to the banquet.
* 5:12 The legal system permitted this kind of thing to be done under certain circumstances. Property could be sold and paid for but the new owner would not take possession until the seller's death at which time it would belong to the purchaser.
* 15:15 The care of swine indicates the taking on of Gentile ways, and a repudiation of his Jewish heritage.
* 15:17 The stirrings of repentance are given voice in this verse.
* 15:20 The father ran to his son which is highly unusual and uncharacteristic behavior for a Father of that time and culture. It indicates the depth and strength of his love and joy at his son's return.
* 15:22-23 The father's forgiveness of the son who had become a Gentile is acted out and represented in symbols in these verses. The robe is a ceremonial robe, the ring, a signet ring, and the shoes indicate the status of a free person. Meat which was rarely eaten indicates a celebration of special significance. The actions here present a ceremony of investiture in which the younger son is re-installed into the status of being a son of the household. He is, in a sense, reborn into another life.
* 15:25-32 These verses are very much a part of the two son story even though they often are ignored. They address the issue of self-righteousness and unforgiveness. The elder brother refuses to go in and the father goes out and tries to bring him in for he loves this son too. Without denying the elder son's righteousness the father tries to make him understand that his brother's return is a cause for great joy and celebration. The elder brother refers to the younger as "this son of yours" and refuses to think of him as his brother. The end of the story is left open. In a sense Jesus is asking us to consider whether we when we are the righteous ones will enter into fellowship with the repentant sinners and with God or will we self-righteously remain outside in the cold and dark. This issue is important because all of us are cast in the role of the elder brother sooner or later.
Courtesy of: http://www.st-raymond-dublin.org:80/scripture.php - St. Raymond Parish, Dublin, CA