Weekly Bible Notes
Ordinary 20 - Year B
Liturgical Colour - Green
Introduction
Do this in remembrance of me
The service of Holy Communion is very special for Christians, not least because it is an occasion which Jesus specifically told his disciples to repeat.
Over the centuries it has been the source of controversy. Calvin, Zwingli and Luther were all united in their rejection of the medieval Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, yet they each believed different things!
However the importance of this sacred ceremony remains for us Christians. Jesus never gave us an explanation of how bread and wine could possibly be his body and blood. Indeed the clever philosophers sometimes seem to understand it less easily than those who simply trust.
We believe that by some divine mystery the bread and wine unite us in the death of Christ, a death which in itself brings eternal life. When Jesus took the bread and wine he promised that
'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life'
Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him
lack nothing.
Psalm 34 v 9
Collect Prayer for the Day —Before we read we pray
God of the nations, to whose table all are invited and in whose kingdom no one is a stranger: hear the cries of the hungry and mercifully extend to all the peoples on earth the joy of your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship
To set the earth ablaze, O God, your Son submitted to death on the cross, and from his cup of suffering you call the church to drink. When we are tempted give us strength to run the race that lies before us, and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Methodist Worship
Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please you; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Common Worship
Lord of heaven and earth, as Jesus Taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer, give us patience and courage never to lose hope, but always to bring our prayers before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Common Worship Shorter Collect
First Bible Reading 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14
2:10-12
Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. He
had reigned forty years over Israel--seven years in Hebron and thirty-three
in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule
was firmly established.
3:3-14
Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of
his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on
the high places. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was
the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt
offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the
night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father
David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart.
You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to
sit on his throne this very day. "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your
servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and
do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the
people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So
give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to
distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great
people of yours?" The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or
wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for
discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will
give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been
anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you
have not asked for--both riches and honour--so that in your lifetime you will
have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes
and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."
Alternate Reading
Proverbs 9 v 1 – 6
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has
prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has
sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. Let
all who are simple come in here! she says to those who lack judgment. Come,
eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you
will live; walk in the way of understanding.
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making
the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on
wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak
to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music
in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for
everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reading John 6:51- 58
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
Post Communion Sentence
God of our pilgrimage, you have willed that the gate of mercy should stand open for those who trust in you: look upon us with your favour that we who follow the path of your will may never wander from the way of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
The ups and downs of our Christian faith
The book of John is alone in the gospels in that is does not contain a
lengthy exposition of the last supper. Instead of which we have John Chapter
6 where Jesus, after feeding the 5000, explains that he is the bread of
life, a passage which led to early Christians being accused of cannibalism
by some parties because of the phrase in the chapter where Jesus declares
that ‘…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you’. For the Jews, it was one of their best known dietary
laws that the drinking of blood, or even eating meat still with the blood in
it, was expressly forbidden. To understand what Jesus means we perhaps need
to go back to the Old Testament.
In 2 Samuel 23 there is an account of David, who is fighting the Philistines
who have their garrison in David’s home town of Bethlehem. David longs for a
drink of water from the well at the gates of Bethlehem and on hearing his
wish, three of his ‘mighty men’ go to the well and bring David a drink of
water back. To everyone’s surprise David refuses to drink the water which
has been so bravely brought to him. ‘Far be it for me’, he says, ‘that I
should drink of the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives’.
David did not want to be seen to profit from the risk of those who put their
lives at risk for him. By the same reasoning, if we want to profit from the
risk Jesus has taken for us we need to ‘eat of his body and drink of his
blood’. Jesus put his own life at risk, and eventually lost it, so that we
could profit from that risk and loss.
And as we read on in the chapter, and the rest of the gospel, it is clear
that John is not just talking about the here and now, the immediate future,
he has an eternal perspective to his writing. John clearly understands the
words of Jesus in this discourse (in a synagogue in Capernaum) to refer to
the Eucharist, the sacrament in which Jesus’ body and blood are offered to
all believers to be eaten and drunk. The Israelites who had eaten manna from
heaven whilst they were in the wilderness survived to tell the tale, but
eventually all had died. Those who in faith partake in the mystery of the
Eucharist and eat and drink of the body and blood of Jesus may not die but
have everlasting life.
Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven so that we could be raised up
on the last day. To the hearers it was radical talk. Many people heard the
message and decided it was not for them and turned away. Many presumably
continued to follow for the miracles and the teaching but in reality were
only going through the motions. Next week we will read that the true
disciples continued to follow Jesus because they understood the life
changing nature of Jesus’ words and that, ultimately, there was no one else
to follow, no where else to go.
As Christians, as we share in the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Holy
Communion, as we eat of the body of Jesus and drink of his blood, we are
reminded in a profound way that as we profit and share in the risk that
Jesus took by the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood, so we
share in His risen life. His is the life that sustains and transforms us,
hour by hour, day by day, week by week. No longer are we limited by the laws
of the Old Testament or the physical restrictions of our human body, through
the Eucharist, and all that it symbolises for each one of us, perhaps in
very different ways, we are raised up with Christ and share in h is eternal
glory both now and in the world to come. Sam Cappleman
Meditation
The book of Proverbs is seen as one of the most representative works of
Israelite wisdom and is made up of two main sections called ‘The proverbs of
Solomon’, Sol 10 v 1 – 22 v 16 and ‘Some more of Solomon’s proverbs’, Sol 22
v 17 – 24 v 22. These sections are followed by some other sayings and closes
with an alphabetical poem in praise of an ideal wife. The book of Proverbs
is not just a book of pithy sayings and maxims to live by, although it does
contain many of these, it’s a book which gives unique insight into the
Israelite faith and the nature of God and His wisdom. The Old Testament
reading today is taken from the 9 chapter long introduction to the book of
Proverbs and models a classic form of Egyptian wisdom literature with the
deep impression of Israelite thought imposed upon it. In this introduction a
father commends wisdom to his child in a discourse where wisdom herself
intervenes. The parable which unfolds in Sol 9 v 1 – 18, of which we have
the first 6 verses today, lays out the 2 paths before an individual, the way
of virtue and the way of vice, from which every human must choose. It echoes
the choice laid out before us by Jesus, God’s wisdom personified, the choice
between the way of the cross and the way of self. And, just as in the times
of Solomon, we too have to make a choice.
Hymns
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O worship the King
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For I’m building a people of power
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The King of love my shepherd is
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Great is thy faithfulness
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian,
if it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die
God our Father, may we love you in all things and above all
things and reach the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our imagining. We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
God of mercy, whose Son Jesus Christ is the bread of life; by the sacrament of
the Holy Communion you make us one with Christ. By becoming more like him on
earth, may we come to share his glory in heaven. Amen
We give thanks for your Son, Jesus, who you raised to new life, and who now
offers himself to us as the bread of heaven, so that all who eat and drink of
him might live forever as one with him. Amen
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, make you perfect in every good work to do His will; and
the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among
you and remain with you always. Amen
Additional Material
Opening Scripture
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts
have good understanding. To them belongs eternal praise. Amen
Alternate readings
First Bible Reading Galatians 3:26-4:7
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were
baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no
different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to
guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were
children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when
the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to
redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because
you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who
calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since
you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God)
Second Reading Luke 15:11-32
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his
father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property
between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a
distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had
spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began
to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country,
who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the
pods that the pigs were eating, but no-one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have
food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my
father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I
am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with
compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I
am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on
him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf
and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and
is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he
heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was
going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the
fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and
pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been
slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a
young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who
has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened
calf for him!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is
yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
Post Communion Prayer
Holy Father, who gathered us here around the table of your Son to share this
meal with the whole household of God: in that new world where you reveal the
fullness of your peace, gather people of every race and language to share in the
eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Commentary: A Glorious Inheritance
Today’s readings talk about sons and sonship. In the sense of Galatians we are
all (both male and female) sons of God, for it was the sons who inherited the
riches of the father. And, as we are all ‘sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus’, we too all inherit the riches of God the Father, through His Son Jesus
Christ. Paul stresses how it makes no difference what our background has been,
we are all ‘heirs according to the promise’ and inheritors of the riches of
God’s grace.
In the gospel reading the younger son had asked His father for his share of his
worldly inheritance and after the son had ‘got together all he had’, which
literally can be translated as ‘turned into cash’, he left for a foreign land
and a so called good time. Eventually the money ran out and he had to turn to
feeding pigs to survive. Under Jewish law this made him so ritually unclean that
he couldn’t even pray to God. For Luke, a non Jew, there could be no further
distance between a person and God. But we see in the story that his loving
father ran out to meet the prodigal son on his return (who by this time had
probably acquired a very chequered background!) and slaughtered the very best
beef for him to celebrate his safe homecoming. Whatever our state, however we
find ourselves Jesus reminds us in this story that we have a loving Father in
heaven who always cares about us, listening for our prayers, no matter how poor,
dirty, lost, hurt, or headstrong we are.
The father ran out to meet the son, met him when he was still far off. He didn’t
wait for him to get right back to the house, he went out to meet his son on his
way back home, where the son did not expect to see or meet him. The son was
probably head down, trudging along still trying to work out exactly what he was
going to say when he met his father and brother! Jesus too sometimes meets us
wherever we happen to be and where we least expect it. Meets us when we’re still
not quite sure what we want to say to Him, but like the prodigal son know that
acknowledging our sin and returning and meeting with Him is our only hope.
Meditation
The elder brother was angry about his father’s kindness. Are
there times when we get angry about God the Father’s compassion and kindness to
others, perhaps shown to those of little or other faith or those we deem to be
criminals and sinners?
How do we become more like the father and less like the elder brother?
Prayers
Grant, Almighty God, that while your Son Jesus Christ is
exalted to the throne of heaven, we may not be weighted down by the things
of earth, but set our affection on the things above, where He is seated at
your right hand, and lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and
for ever. Amen
Blessed are you, Lord God almighty, who gave your Son, Jesus Christ, to be
our redeemer and the author of everlasting life; and exalted Him above all
for ever; that at all times and in all places we might be partakers of His
power and His glory. Amen
The God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith; and the blessing of God
Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain
with you always. Amen