Daily Office

Proper 9, Thursday.

Today's Readings:

• 1 Samuel 16:14-17:11 -- Link to NRSV Text
• Acts 10:17-33 -- Link to NRSV Text
• Luke 24:36-53 -- Link to NRSV Text

The Spirit of the Lord leaves Saul and an evil spirit of the Lord torments him. On advice, Saul sends for David who is known for his skill with the lyre. David's playing soothes Saul. The Philistines start acting up to war again. They send Goliath as their champion. Goliath, an impressive figure from Gath, challenges the Israelites to send their champion.
Peter thinks about his vision. The men that Cornelius has sent come and the Spirit tells Peter to go with them. They leave for Ceasarea. Cornelius worships Peter, but Peter says "I am only a mortal" Peter interprets his vision as a call to preach to all gentiles.
Jesus appears to the gathered disciples. They are frightened and doubtful. Jesus invites them to touch him. Jesus opens their minds to understand the prophets and Moses. Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. He led them to Bethany, where he was carried up to heaven. The disciples return to Jerusalem and worship God in the temple.
This is too wierd. We read three ways in which God is understood, and they are different from one another. In the book of Samuel God is an interfering God who punishes people He doesn't like through direct intervention. To get David, the annointed King, into the seat of power, Saul must be tortured. Saul has repented for his sins, and it isn't good enough. Jesus deals with the doubt that the discples feel over his resurrection. It was, in Luke, a fleshy resurrection. Many Gnostic communities insisted on a dualistic nature to Jesus, that his flesh died but his spirit lived on, visual but immaterial. Despite Jesus telling the discples to preach to all nations, Peter needs to see this in a trance. Okay, maybe my earlier distrust of Peter is making me say that Peter either still didn't get it, so God had to tell him to follow Jesus' last teaching, or Peter needed to have this revelation so he could be the authority.
God is the Only God. That is the definition of Monotheism. The changes we read in the Bible show the development of monotheism, and the adjustment to the realities that monotheism entails, namely, the idea that the One God is God of All, not just any chosen few.

posted by Josh English @ 5:01 PM