Sunday, May 24, 2015: “Today’s Scripture Readings”

 

A Reading from the Book of Ezekiel (37:1-14)

 

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

 

> Ezekiel began his career in Jerusalem.

> He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem at first.

> In Babylon, he declares God will bring them back to Jerusalem.

> All of Israel is a valley of dry bones.

> Breath/Spirit/Wind: all the same word in Hebrew and Greek.

> Mortal (son of man), can these bones live?

> Only Yahweh can answer!  All twelve tribes are to be reunited.

 

 

Psalm (104:25-35, 37)

 

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *

     in wisdom you have made them all;

    the earth is full of your creatures.

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea

     with its living things too many to number, *

     creatures both small and great.

27 There move the ships,

      and there is that Leviathan, *

      which you have made for the sport of it.

28 All of them look to you *

     to give them their food in due season.

29 You give it to them; they gather it; *

      you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *

      you take away their breath,

      and they die and return to their dust.

31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *

      and so you renew the face of the earth.

32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *

      may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *

      he touches the mountains and they smoke.

34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *

     I will praise my God while I have my being.

35 May these words of mine please him; *

      I will rejoice in the Lord.

37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *

     Hallelujah!

 

> Psalm 103 and 104 are a set.  They are in praise of God.

> It refers to a coherent, life-giving system.

> The Earth is ultimately dependent upon God.

> God makes the Leviathan as a nice little pet for himself!

> Verse 36 is skipped.

> The word “bless” means to turn fully towards God.

 

 

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-21)

 

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

 

> This is Luke’s account of the coming of the Spirit.

> Luke is the only one that mentions Jesus being on earth 40 days after his resurrection.

> “They” most likely refer to Jesus’ 120 followers.

> Fire is often associated in the Bible with the appearance of God.

> Intelligible speech is not the same as speaking in tongues, which is an incoherent way of speaking.

> Jerusalem at that time was very international.

> Only Jews or Jewish converts were present.

> Peter gives the first of his multiple speeches.

 

 

The Holy Gospel of Our  Lord Jesus Christ according to John (15:26-27; 16:4b-15)

 

Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

 

> The situation is a bit anti-climactic.

> A Paraclete is someone who stands by you in court.

> Jesus had been your advocate, but he will now send another that since he will be gone from earth.

> The ultimate sin is not believing in Jesus.

> It is an ongoing process with the Spirit leading to the ultimate truth.