The
Collect of the Day
Gracious
Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true
bread that gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
1st
Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
The call of
David to be King of Israel is a story meant to underscore both David’s
specialness and the ability of God to see what mortals cannot. Saul, the first
King of a united Israel, has been rejected by God, and, as our story begins, the
prophet Samuel is still taking this rejection hard. God insists Samuel overcome
both his grief and his fear to anoint a new king from the obscure town of Bethlehem.
His choice is the lowliest of the sons of Jesse, although the text cannot help
itself in telling us he “was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome!”
16:1 The Lord said to Samuel,
“How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over
Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the
Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of
it, he will kill me.” And the Lord
said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite
Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall
anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel
did what the Lord commanded, and
came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said,
“Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said,
“Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord;
sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse
and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord.” 7 But
the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not
look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected
him; for the Lord does not see as
mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him
pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord
chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made
Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord
chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made
seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons
here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the
sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down
until he comes here.” 12 He sent
and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.
The Lord said, “Rise and anoint
him; for this is the one.” 13 Then
Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers;
and the spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to
Ramah.
Psalm 23
1 The Lord
is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul*
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they
comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence
of those
who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil; and my cup is
running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days
of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
2nd
Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
5:8 Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are
light. Live as children of light—9 for
the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the
Lord. 11 Take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what
such people do secretly; 13 but
everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14
for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Gospel
Reading: John 9:1-41
Our Gospel reading continues the encounters of individuals with Jesus
in the Gospel of John. None is better
told than the story of the unnamed blind man.
This story plays into one of John’s major themes: light vs. darkness. Notice also at the beginning and end of the
story the issue is misunderstandings about the nature of sin. Like the Samaritan woman from last week’s
Gospel, as the story progresses the blind man understands more and more who
Jesus is and what the miracle means beyond himself.
9:1 As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was
born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while
it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him
before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
9 Some were saying, “It is he.”
Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the
man.” 10 But they kept asking him,
“Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He
answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me,
‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said,
“I do not know.” 13 They brought to
the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and
opened his eyes. 15 Then the
Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them,
“He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is
not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a
man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What
do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been
blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who
had received his sight 19 and asked
them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered, “We know
that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21
but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who
opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were
afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed
Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age;
ask him.” 24 So for the second time
they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to
God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He
answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They
said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already,
and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to
become his disciples?” 28 Then they
reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but
as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing
thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to
sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been
heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do
nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You
were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him
out. 35 Jesus heard that they had
driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of
Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is
he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37
Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with
you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I
believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus
said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may
see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40 Some
of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind,
are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If
you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your
sin remains.
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. All rights reserved. The Collect of the Day and the Psalm
translation are from The Book of Common
Prayer. Commentaries are copyright ©
2020, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All
rights reserved. Permission given to copy for group study. Bulletin inserts are
available. Go to our website for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment