Sunday, July 07, 2019

Woeful Lectionary Omissions

This Sunday's reading from Luke 10:1-11,16-20 is remarkable for the verses that get left out.  Verses 12-15 get the ax probably because Jesus uses very harsh language and that is not the picture of Jesus that the lectionary editors want to present to the Sunday pewsitters.
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10 After this the Lord appointed seventy* others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”* 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”*
16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’17 The seventy* returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ 18He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

So, what were the harsh words Jesus had for those unwelcoming towns, places similar to the Samaritan village that would not receive him and that he refused to bring down fire upon in last Sunday's reading?

12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.
The average Sunday pewsitter, if read these verses, would probably deny that Jesus was the speaker.

Woe to you, lectionary editors!

1 comment:

  1. I am a LEM at St. James, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach. We read Luke 10 1 through 20 including verses 12 through 15. I lead the service at a local senior housing facility and during my homily, commented on Capernaum, a town I visited a couple of years ago.

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