Sunday, October 13, 2013: “Today’s Scripture Readings”

 

Celebrating St. Mark’s 75th Anniversary

 

A Reading from the Book of Genesis (28:10-17)

 

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.  He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.  And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.  Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”  And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

 

> Ladder = Ziggurat most likely (large tower).

> Similar to the first promise to Abraham.

> Universal intent from God.

> “Know that I am with you” is one of the most frequent phrases in the Bible.

> A “non-place” becomes a sacred place.

 

 

Psalm 84

 

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,    

   Lord Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints,

   for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh

   cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,

   and the swallow a nest for herself,

   where she may have her young— a place near your altar,

   Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

   they are ever praising you.  

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

   they make it a place of springs;

   the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength,

   till each appears before God in Zion.  

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

   listen to me, God of Jacob.

9 Look on our shield, O God;

   look with favor on your anointed one.  

10 Better is one day in your courts

    than a thousand elsewhere;

   I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

   than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

   the Lord bestows favor and honor;

   no good thing does he withhold

   from those whose walk is blameless.  

12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

 

> Talks about the temple where God dwells.

> Home for all people and all of creation. 

 

 

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter (2:1-5, 9-10)

 

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.  Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  1Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

 

> Instructions to new Christians.

> Deals with new life in baptism.

> Quote from Psalm 34:8.

> Universal aspect that Israel exists for all the world.

> Image of the light shining in the darkness.

 > We do not know if the author is actually Peter or one of his followers.

> Takes passages from the Old Testament and explains how Jesus fulfills the prophesy.

> Salvation was incorporated into the community and not the isolated individual.

 

 

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark (11:15-18)

 

(Jesus) entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”  And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

 

> Cleansing of the temple theme.

> After the story of the fig tree.

> Talks of the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

> Buying and selling had to go on for the required sacrifices.

> No Roman coinage was allowed because it had animal images on them.

> Perhaps there were economic battles going on as well between various areas.