2025, September 21 ~ Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 21, 2025
During Pentecost Season 2025, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.
The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Reading
18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.
19 Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”)
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
21 For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?
9:1 O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!
Commentary
After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported many Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e., speaking for YHWH) began around 627 and continued until 586 BCE when he fled to Egypt (Ch. 43) and died there.
Jeremiah was descended from the priestly line of Eli (v.1) – who had presided as the high priest at Shiloh in the early years of Israel’s history in the land (1 Sam. 1-4). Jeremiah was presented as a priest and a prophet and (according to The Jewish Study Bible) his prophesying for 40 years was seen in Rabbinic Tradition as a parallel to the 40 years Moses led the Israelites in the desert.
The call of Jeremiah is said to have been in 627 BCE – “the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah” (v.2) and his prophesying lasted until 587 BCE, the “eleventh year of King Zedekiah” (v.3). The JSB says: “Jeremiah emerges as one of the major figures who grappled with the theological problems posed by the destruction of the nation, and who laid the foundations for the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple in the years following the end of the exile.” He was a constant opponent of King Jehoiakim (608-598) who was an Egyptian sympathizer and of King Zedekiah (597-586), a Babylonian appointee who nevertheless went to war (unsuccessfully) with Babylon in 597 BCE.
Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.
Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, so much so that the English word “jeremiad” is defined as a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes. In the Bible, the Book of Lamentations was placed after the Book of Jeremiah because of the (incorrect) view that Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations.
Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” are thought to have been added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)
One of the consistent themes in Jeremiah was his ongoing battles with the “court” prophets who told the king what the king wanted to hear and who opposed Jeremiah at every turn. In addition, The JSB notes: “Jeremiah challenges prophets who represent the older tradition of Isaiah that Jerusalem was inviolable and would be delivered.”
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary states: “The two predominant themes of his message are precisely to define true Yahwism and to proclaim the imminent wars as punishments of the Judah’s aberrations.”
Today’s reading is in “poetry style” and was structured as an extended lament by the City of Jerusalem over its fate. In verses 19a and 20, the writer quoted the people of Judea (which included Jerusalem) who bemoaned their situation – either in anticipation of the conquest by the Babylonians or after it. In verse 21, “Lady Jerusalem” mourned for all the people of Judea.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that YHWH’s parenthetical interjection in verse 19b about worship of foreign idols was intended to show the disingenuousness of the people’s complaints. The NJBC sees the verse as YHWH’s “explanation” for his departure from Jerusalem.
The NOAB points out that “Balm in Gilead” (v. 22) refers to the medicinal resin of the storax tree found in Gilead, an area east of the Jordan River in what is now modern Jordan. Citing Gen. 37.25, The JSB says: “It was apparently a site where balm and other healing substances could be extracted from local plants.”
The NOAB opines that the “slain of my poor people” (v.9:1) most likely represents a post-destruction perspective. The JSB notes that it introduces a condemnation of the people by YHWH “which recalls earlier traditions in which God proposed to destroy Israel in the wilderness (Ex 32-34) but Moses persuaded God to desist.”
Amos 8:4-7
Reading
4 Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances,
6 buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely, I will never forget any of their deeds.
Commentary
After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had its own king.
The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers. (A three-liter bottle of wine is called a “Jeroboam.”)
Amos was a cattle herder and cared for fig trees in Judea, but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against the evils in Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE.
Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought in Israel about God. He used vivid language and called for justice and righteousness, social equality, and concern for the disadvantaged.
His writings included announcements that the “Day of the LORD” (when YHWH would intervene in human affairs) was imminent and urged that the special covenant with the LORD entailed special ethical responsibilities. Some of his presentations are indictments, some are exhortations, and others are visions.
The JSB points out that Amos (c. 760 BCE) stressed social and political ills in Israel whereas Hosea (740-730 BCE) largely was concerned with improper religious worship.
Today’s reading is a continuing portion of a longer prophetic speech that included Amos’ vision of a basket of fruit (v.1). In this portion of Amos’ prophesy, he criticized the unfair and fraudulent business practices of the wealthy and their impatience for the Holy Days to pass (v.5) so they could resume bilking the poor, enslaving them (v.6), and taking their lands.
An ephah (v.5) was about 21 quarts and making an “ephah small” would be done to cheat the customer. “False balances” (v.5) were scales that were weighted in favor of the seller. “Sweepings of the wheat” (v.8) referred to selling the chaff instead of wheat.
According to The NOAB, “buying the poor… and needy” likely refers to outright slavery as opposed to “selling the righteous” (2:6) into debt slavery.
Amos said that YHWH would remember these misdeeds and punish the evildoers (v.7). In 722 BCE, only 40 years later, Assyria conquered Israel and scattered its wealthy class.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Reading
1 First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all — this was attested at the right time. 7 For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Commentary
The Letters to Timothy and Titus are called “Pastoral Letters” because they concerned the internal life, governance and behavior of the early Christian churches and their members. Most scholars agree they were written in the early Second Century in Paul’s name by some of his followers (Paul died in 63 CE). Writing a document in someone else’s name (pseudepigraphy) was a common practice in the First and Second Centuries. Scholars note that the tone and vocabulary in the Pastoral Letters are different from Paul’s authentic letters. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out, for example, “The Pastorals’ concept of faith (pistis) – a concern for ‘sound teaching’ differs from that in Paul’s undisputed letters where faith is a matter of trust.”
By the time these letters were written, the Jesus Follower Community had become more institutionalized and concerns about “heresy” had arisen. The Pastoral Letters were written to Paul’s “co-workers” but had a broader audience. By the time they were written, Paul was regarded as an authoritative figure of the past. The NJBC advises: “The Pastorals insist that a valid Christian theology must affect behavior in the real world.”
The NOAB observed that although it is not possible to reconstruct entirely the teachings of the author’s opponents, “it appears that they have some connection with Judaism and Torah observance….Recent research has connected the fellow Christians whom this author opposes with those who told and treasured the traditions found in the later apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla which valorizes and authorizes women’s ministries which, in their asceticism and renunciation of marriage, also claimed Paul as their champion.”
In Acts of the Apostles 16:1, Timothy was described as having a Jewish mother and a Greek father. He was one of Paul’s co-missionaries and is described in this letter as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
Today’s reading urged accommodation by the Jesus Followers to worldly authorities for the sake of the peace of the church (v.2). In urging this, the writer did not address the fact that the Roman Emperor claimed to be divine and required to be worshiped. The writer linked salvation with “knowledge of the truth” (v.4). He affirmed that there is “one God” (v.5), a reformulation of the Jewish statement (the “Shema”) found in Deut. 6:4-9.
The idea of Christ Jesus as a “ransom” (v. 6) traces back to Mark 10:45 (“For the Son of Man came … to give his life as a ransom for many”). This idea, in turn, was primarily derived from the Fourth Servant Poem of Isaiah (Is. 52:13 to 53:12) which portrayed Judea as a suffering servant during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).
The verses that follow today’s reading follow what The NJBC calls “commonplace Greco-Roman philosophy.” They forbade women from holding leadership and teaching positions (vv.8-12) and assigned all blame for the disobedience event in Genesis to the woman (v.14). The author also took the position that women will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness with modesty (v.15), a theory of salvation at odds with Paul’s justification by faithfulness.
Luke 16:1-13
Reading
1 Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?’ He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
10 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Commentary
The Gospel According to Luke is generally regarded as having been written around 85 CE. Its author also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Both books were written in elegant and deliberatively crafted Greek and presented Jesus of Nazareth as the universal savior of humanity. Both emphasized the Holy Spirit as the “driving force” for events.
The Gospel followed the same general chronology of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the Gospel of Mark, and more than 40% of Luke’s Gospel was based on Mark. The other portions of Luke include (a) sayings shared with the Gospel According to Matthew but not found in Mark and (b) stories that are unique to Luke such as the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan.
Today’s reading has two parts, the first of which is about the dishonest manager. The second part (vv.10-13) is an admonition about the need to be faithful in small matters and to be faithful and honest with what belongs to another. The verses conclude with the maxim that one cannot serve two masters – God and wealth (“mamōna” in the Greek). The NOAB notes that the Greek word mamōna is the same as an Aramaic word that means “that in which one fully trusts.” In that sense, mammon would be treated as one’s god.
The NOAB describes the first part of the reading as “enigmatic” on a number of levels. In Luke’s Gospel, a “rich man” (v.1) learned of his manager’s “squandering.” Rich men in Luke are typically disfavored because they do not support the poor.
In this story, the “master” (v.8) praised the steward for his shrewdness even though it worked to the master’s disadvantage. In the Christian Scriptures, “shrewdness” is not typically presented as desirable virtue, particularly (as here) because it involved additional cheating of one’s master. The Jewish Annotated New Testament surmises that perhaps the rich man had no choice but to commend the steward (v.8a) because the steward had (by his actions with the debtors) created for the master a reputation for generosity.
In the same verse, Jesus was critical of “children of light” (i.e. persons who are spiritually enlightened) as compared to “the children of this age” (v.8b).
The meaning of verse 9 is difficult. Was Jesus in fact urging people to “make friends by means of dishonest wealth”? This advice seems entirely inconsistent with the values in the second part of the reading (vv.10-13).
One way to read verse 9 is to understand it as ironic. When one’s dishonest wealth is gone because it has been used to make friends, into what kind of “eternal homes” will these “friends” be able to invite those who became their friends “by means of dishonest wealth”? Do these kinds of “friends” even have “eternal homes” into which they could invite a person who ingratiated himself this way? Could Jesus be saying ironically: “Sure, try that dishonesty/ingratiating strategy and see where it gets you in the long run, particularly when you hope for an eternal home when the money is gone. This strategy may work for you in the short run, but it won’t really get you anywhere worthwhile in the long run.”
An alternative understanding of this verse was recently presented by The Rev. Julia Gatta of the School of Theology at Sewanee. Based on a reading of many of the parables about wealth in Luke, including – most particularly – the story of Lazarus and the rich man, she suggested that “they” in this sentence is the poor, and that using one’s wealth to assist the poor will lead to a welcome into eternal homes.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary has an extended – and different – analysis of this parable:
“The legal system presupposed by the parable is a widely attested one and is contrary to the OT ban of usury. The steward was authorized to make binding contracts for his master. The usurious interest on oil and wheat, for example, would not be listed separately in the contract. It would be included in the one lump sum mentioned in the contract. Thus, a person may have obtained only 450 gallons of olive oil, but because of the 100% interest charged, had to have 900 gallons written on his contract (see v 6). There is no evidence that the steward could pocket that interest as his commission; the steward’s job was to make money for his master….
“The master is an absentee landlord and not a beloved figure in Palestinian or Greco-Roman society. [The] charges were brought against the steward with hostile intent: this is the usual, negative meaning of diaballein [the Greek word used for “accused” or “charges” in verse 1]. The master believes the calumny and prepares to dismiss his steward…. In his soliloquy [vv. 3-4], which attracts the reader to identify with him, the unjustly treated steward does not engage in self-pity or some other tactic of indecision. He will act decisively….
“Twice it is mentioned that the sums are owed the master. There is no evidence that the steward is foregoing his commission. The steward is going to get even with his master at the master’s expense [for his unjust dismissal]. He cancels the usurious profit of his master. Surely, the debtors will reciprocate such largess (see v 4)…. [The reference to ‘dishonest steward’ in v.8a] is not a simple repetition of what is implied in vv 1-2, but a reference to the dishonest conduct depicted in vv 5-7….
“[The word translated as “shrewdly” or “prudently” in v 8b] is phronimos [which] refers to practical action aimed at accomplishing some particular end. It does not have anything to do with virtue in the more general sense of justice….
“One way to understand the parable is that it is important to imitate the steward’s shrewdness in the use of possessions (even though these possessions were not his own)….
“Verses 8b-13 present a prime example of Luke’s two-sided thinking: mammon can seduce disciples away from God, yet disciples must use mammon – now – for alms!… Disciples are to convert mammon into heavenly capital by sharing it with others, particularly the needy….If they do not share possessions, they will not be entrusted with the true, heavenly reality.”