{"id":4078,"date":"2018-08-22T16:48:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T16:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=4078"},"modified":"2018-08-22T16:48:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T16:48:11","slug":"twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/08\/22\/twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twent<\/span>y-first <\/span>Sunday in Ordinary Time (<\/span>26<\/span>August 2018<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-18b; Ps 34:2-3,16-21; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:<\/span>53, <\/span>60-69<\/span><\/p>\n

Theme: <\/span>Lessons in Reverence<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"T<\/span>his passage from John\u2019s Gospel <\/span>presents a situation of cr<\/span>isis in the sense of <\/span>one that provoke<\/span>s<\/span>crucial decisions, in response to Jesus\u2019 teachings. <\/span>The text states explicitly, \u201c<\/span>among you <\/span>there are some who do not believe\u201d and later \u201cJesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe\u201d (64). His ultimatum, \u201cunless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you\u201d (6:53) <\/span>provokes <\/span>the parting of the ways.<\/span>Reinhartz<\/span> suggests that the \u201ccannibalistic overtones\u201d of his words would have been not only offensive but repellant \u201cbecause Jews do not ingest the blood of the animal along with the flesh<\/span>\u201d; <\/span>that was forbidden<\/span>in, for example, Gen 9:4 \u201cYou must not eat flesh with life, <\/span>blood<\/span>, in it <\/span>(<\/span>171, notes 53 and 60). With that, \u201cmany of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him\u201d (66). <\/span>Brown comments that this indication of desertion \u201cis found only in John \u2026 and may reflect a period toward the end of the <\/span>(first) <\/span>century when the <\/span>Koinonia<\/span> was being broken\u201d (346, note 33). <\/span>There is a sense of resolution at the end of the passage when Jesus turns to the twelve and asks. \u201cdo you also wish to go away?\u201d and Peter responds:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lord to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A similar development occurs in the <\/span>Joshua <\/span>passage, which is taken f<\/span>rom the final chapter of the book. The introduction to this b<\/span>ook in the Stone Edition refers to<\/span> this chapter as Joshua\u2019s valedictory, reflecting his mission \u201cto plant the seeds of Torah in the Land of Israel\u201d (517). The setting is the solemn assembly at Shechem, convoked by <\/span>the elderly <\/span>Joshua, in which he demands of the people a decision: if they are unwilling to serve the Lord, then they must choose to serve the gods <\/span>of <\/span>their ancestors <\/span>beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in the land they have entered \u201cbetween the Jordan and the great sea<\/span>,<\/span> toward the setting sun.\u201d <\/span>Here the resolution of the tension emerges in <\/span>Joshua<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> affirm<\/span>ation<\/span> that he and his household will serve the Lord<\/span>; that prompts the people to acknowledge how \u201cthe Lord our God\u201d brought them out of the land of slavery and has protected them wherever they went, which leads them to the profession of faith:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Therefore, we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A somewhat similar dynamic is played out quite subtly in <\/span>Ephesians <\/span>5:21-32<\/span>, which<\/span> explores the \u201cgreat mystery\u201d of the relation between Christ and the Church. The author seeks a metaph<\/span>o<\/span>r by which to elucidate that relationship and finds it in the intimacy of marriage<\/span>. The <\/span>text\u2019s <\/span>attempt to distinguish the roles of husband and wife leads <\/span>Grossman <\/span>to <\/span>describe <\/span>them<\/span> as a \u201chierarchical relationship of mutuality\u201d<\/span> and perhaps that <\/span>provides a<\/span> key. The<\/span> passage<\/span> begin<\/span>s<\/span> with the mutuality of kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness, loving as Christ loved us and gave himself for us<\/span>; the text moves on to: <\/span>\u201cbe subject to one another out of reverence for Christ<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> Ideally, ultimately, the two \u201cbecome one flesh\u201d finding<\/span>, through their love, <\/span>the ways to resolve the <\/span>differences and <\/span>tensions that emerge.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Reflection and Discussion<\/span>: <\/span>1. Peter\u2019s profession of faith in Jesus was: you have the words of eternal life. What would your profession of faith in Jesus be now? What does that mean to you? 2. Think of one mutual relationship that you truly value. <\/span>What are some of the expressions of mutuality that make that friendship so precious?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/span>:<\/span>Brown, Raymond, <\/span>An Introduction to the New Testament<\/span>,<\/span> pp. 344-349, (Doubleday, New York, 1997);<\/span> Reinhartz, Adele, <\/span>Introduction and annotations for \u201c<\/span>The Gospel According to John\u201d<\/span> pp. 170-171, and Grossman, Maxine, Introduction and annotations for \u201c<\/span>The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians\u201d <\/span>pp. 351-352<\/span>,<\/span>in Levine, Amy-Jill and Brettler, Marc Zvi, <\/span>The Jewish Annotated New Testament<\/span> (Oxford University Press, New York, 2011); <\/span>Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, Editor, <\/span>Tanach, The Stone Edition<\/span>: <\/span>Joshua<\/span>, pp. 517, 576-77<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This w<\/span>eek\u2019s <\/span>Sunday Gospel C<\/span>ommentary was <\/span>p<\/span>repared by<\/span><\/p>\n

Diane Willey, nds, M.A.<\/span>, <\/span>Canada, <\/span>Bat Kol Alum<\/span> <\/span>2005, 2006<\/span><\/p>\n

dianewilley@hotmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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[Copyright \u00a9<\/span> 2018<\/span>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/span>: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant <\/span>to stimulate deeper thinking a<\/span>bo<\/span>ut the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/span><\/p>\n

1983-2018<\/span><\/p>\n

Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish Milieu, using Jewish Sources<\/span><\/p>\n

Website: <\/span>www.batkol.info<\/span><\/a>;<\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>gill@batkol.info<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (26August 2018) Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-18b; Ps 34:2-3,16-21; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:53, 60-69 Theme: Lessons in Reverence   Download   This passage from John\u2019s Gospel presents a situation of crisis in the sense of one that provokescrucial decisions, in response to Jesus\u2019 teachings. The text states explicitly, \u201camong you there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":4070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}