1st Reading (Track 1): Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
The Ten Commandments (or ten “words,” as the text says) form
the heart of the covenant God is making with his people, as they travel from
Egypt to the Promised Land. The first three speak of relationship with God,
that there is one God and he cannot be controlled. The fourth is a
transition—the keeping of the sabbath day of rest, which might be taken as
governing Israel’s relationship with itself.
The last sixth are the outline of proper relationship with our
neighbors.
20:1 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3
you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether
in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 7
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses
his name. 8 Remember the sabbath
day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days
you shall labor and do all your work. 12 Honor
your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the
Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor. 17 You shall not
covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male
or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder
and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were
afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, 19 and
said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak
to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses
said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to
put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”
Psalm
19 (Track 1)
The
first six verses of Psalm 19 focus on God’s dealings with the creation; verses
7-14 turn to the subject of the Law. The
transition from creation to law has led some to believe this originally was two
psalms, but the psalmist seems to be saying that the Law is as natural and necessary
for human living as the creation is for the natural world.
1 The
heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows
his handiwork.
2 One
day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts
knowledge to another.
3 Although
they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not
heard,
4 Their
sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the
ends of the world.
5 In
the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *
it comes forth like a
bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a
champion to run its course.
6 It
goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and
runs about to the end of it again; *
nothing
is hidden from its burning heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the Lord is sure
and
gives wisdom to the innocent.
8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the Lord is clear
and
gives light to the eyes.
9 The fear
of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; *
the
judgments of the Lord are true
and
righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
more
than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey, than honey
in the comb.
11 By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how often he offends? *
cleanse me from my secret faults.
13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous
sins;
let them not get dominion over me; *
then
shall I be whole and sound
and innocent of a great offense.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of
my
heart
be acceptable in your sight, *
O
Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
1st Reading (Track 2): Isaiah 5:1-7
The image of “vineyard” or “vine” is used frequently for a
lover (see the Song od Solomon) and, specifically, Israel as God’s love (see
Psalm 80, Jeremiah 2 & 12, Ezekiel 17 and Hosea 10). It is an image that
Jesus himself uses (see below and John 15). There is a double play on words in
Hebrew in verse 7: “mishpat” (justice) vs. “mishpah” (bloodshed)
and “tsedaqah” (righteousness) vs. tse’aqah
(a cry). This curse of the vineyard will
be overturned in Isaiah 27.
5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my
love-song concerning his vineyard: My
beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2
He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice
vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in
it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people
of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What
more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected
it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will
remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it
shall be trampled down. 6 I will
make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with
briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon
it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw
bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
Psalm
80:7-14 (Track 2)
Psalm 80 uses the image of “vine” for Israel. As a
whole, it is a community lament for the fall of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, to
the Assyrians in 722 b.c.e.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *
you cast out the nations and planted it.
9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shadow *
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.
11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *
and its branches to the River.
12 Why have you broken down its wall, *
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?
13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.
14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine; *
preserve
what your right hand has planted.
2nd Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
In chapter 2, Paul has appealed for unity and gives
three examples of how what unity demands of us. The first example is Christ
himself, who “emptied himself” (2:5-11). The second is Timothy and Epaphroditus
(2:19-30), the latter having come “close to death for the work of Christ.” The
third example is Paul himself, which is today’s reading. Paul had to set aside
his status and zeal, to count them all as “rubbish.” Verses 10-14 are Paul’s
understanding of what new life in Christ means.
3:4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have
more: 5 circumcised
on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as
to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet
whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss
because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I
have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order
that I may gain Christ 9 and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but
one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on
faith. 10 I want to know Christ and
the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
like him in his death, 11 if
somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or
have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ
Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved,
I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of
the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:33-46
The parable of the
wicked tenants is found also in Mark (12:1-12) and Luke (20:9-19). It is a
simple allegory: Jerusalem is the vineyard, God the owner, the tenants the
religious authorities, the slaves the prophets, and the Son Jesus himself. It
is so simple that the religious authorities immediately understand it is
directed at them, and so comes the first mention of having him arrested. The
quote in verse 42 is Psalm 118:22-23.
21:33 [Jesus said,] “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who
planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a
watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his
slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35
But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another,
and stoned another. 36 Again he
sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying,
‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But
when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come,
let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So
they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes,
what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They
said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the
vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in
the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God
will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of
the kingdom. 44 The one who falls
on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it
falls.” 45 When the chief priests
and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about
them. 46 They wanted to arrest him,
but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
The Scripture quotations (except for the
psalm) are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by
permission. All rights reserved. The Psalm translations are from The Book of Common Prayer. Commentaries are copyright © 2017
Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843. www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights
reserved. Permission is given to copy for congregational use with this
attribution.
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