TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
OCTOBER 19, 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 31:27-34
Reading
27 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. 29 In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
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.
According to The Jewish Study Bible, Jeremiah was descended from the priestly line of Eli – 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 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” (1:2) and his prophesying lasted until 587 BCE, the “eleventh year of King Zedekiah” (1:3). 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 are 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.)
Today’s reading is in prose and was a late insertion. It has an “eschatological” (end times) tone (“the days are surely coming” in v.27) and affirmed the restoration of the houses of both Judah (the south) and Israel (the north). In the verse preceding today’s reading, Jeremiah was said to be sleeping, and his “vision” is recounted in this reading.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that Chapters 30 and 31 “describe the fulfillment of hopes for the reversal of judgments detailed in earlier portions of the book of Jeremiah.” It suggests that verses 27 and 28 are an “eschatological reversal” and a “recreation of order from the chaos described in a similarly visionary statement in 4.23-26.”
The rejection of the “sour grapes” saying (vv.29 and 30) was a statement that there is personal responsibility for one’s actions and that the “sins of the fathers” will not be borne by the children. This theology is also found in Ezekiel, another prophet of the Exile, particularly in Ezekiel 18:2-4. In Jeremiah, this personal responsibility will be true in the future (“in those days” v.29) but in Ezekiel it is seen as true in his own time (the Exile). The shift from collective responsibility to individual responsibility was an important change in the theology of Ancient Israel.
The writer went on to say that in the “end times” YHWH would make a “new covenant” with Judah and Israel (v.31) to replace the Covenant at Sinai which the people broke. In the New Covenant, the law would be written on their hearts (v.33), and YHWH would forgive their iniquity (v.34). Many Christians have taken the reference to a new covenant as prophesying the New Covenant/Testament through Jesus the Christ.
Regarding the New Covenant, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says: “The newness [of the New Covenant] is not found in the essentials of the covenant but in the realm of its realization and its means….The very inner nature of humanity is created anew… Yahweh has to create a new people. There is a continuity in the essentials of the former and the new covenant, but there is a profound discontinuity in the means given to Israel to fulfill the new one. This extraordinary prophecy had a great influence and found a certain fulfillment in the hands of Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah. They did not speak of a new covenant but of an eternal covenant, one that could not be broken.”
The NJBC also notes that there is a similar idea in Deuteronomy – the LORD would “circumcise” the hearts of the people. (Deut. 30:6).
Genesis 32:22-31
Reading
22 The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
The background to today’s reading includes Jacob’s supplanting his fraternal twin (but older) brother, Esau, by tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing that properly belonged to Esau.
Jacob sought to find his wife Rachel in Haran (the land from which Abraham came) and was tricked into working for his uncle, Laban, for 14 years. Jacob had 12 sons (six by Leah, Rachel’s older sister; two by Bilhah, Rachel’s maid; two by Zilpah, Leah’s maid; and two by Rachel). Ten of these sons (along with Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh), became the 12 tribes of Israel. (Levi and Joseph were not included in the 12 tribes when the lands were later divided.)
Many years had passed, and Jacob was very wealthy. Jacob and his wives, children and flocks traveled from Haran toward Canaan, but had to pass near Edom, the land of his twin brother, Esau. Jacob learned that Esau was coming toward him with 400 men, so he divided all that he had into two groups so that one group might escape and be preserved if Esau attacked him. He prayed to YHWH and sent Esau a substantial gift of livestock (500 animals) in hopes of appeasing him.
Today’s reading was set in the night before Jacob and Esau met. It recounted Jacob’s wrestling with someone identified variously as a man (v.24), a spirit/angel (which would disappear at daybreak, v.26), and as God (v.28). Jacob tried to obtain the wrestler’s name (v.29) which would have given him “control” over the wrestler, but this was refused. Instead, God gave Jacob a new name so that he was no longer Jacob (“supplanter”) but “Israel,” which originally meant “El rules” — but the text says it means “one who strives with God and humans” (v.28).
At the end of the story, Jacob changed the name of this place to Peniel (“face of El”) because he had seen God face to face (v.30). “El” is the most ancient name for God in the Middle East. In Hebrew, the suffix “el” appears in many other names that have meanings “of God” such as
Gabriel (God is my strength), Daniel (God is my judge), Beth-el (House of God), “Peniel” (Face of God), Samuel (Name of God), and the like.
In the remaining chapters of Genesis, the name used for this patriarch will sometimes be “Jacob” and sometimes be “Israel” depending on the source of the story.
The NOAB notes: “An Israelite prohibition against eating the thigh muscle of an animal is cited as testimony to the truth of the story. This prohibition is reflected nowhere else in the Bible.”
The NJBC observes that the story is the source of three etiologies: the names “Israel” and “Peniel,” and the food taboo on eating thigh muscle.
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Reading
14 As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
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.”
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 1 Timothy as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
2 Timothy purported to be written by Paul from prison (v.8) and is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child” (v.2), loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death (4:6). Timothy was presented as a “third generation” Jesus Follower who followed both his grandmother and his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3), although nothing in 2 Timothy hints at Timothy’s Jewish background.
Today’s reading continued the author’s exhortation to follow the teachings of Paul (v.14).
In the early Second Century, there was no codification of the Christian Scriptures, even though some of Paul’s authentic letters were likely in circulation and Jesus Followers may have known of some of the four Gospels that were later included in the Christian Bible. Scholars agree that references to “the sacred writings” (v.15) and “scripture” (v.16) were to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX).
The statement that “all scripture is inspired by God” (v.16) is an expansion of the Greek term “theopneutos” (“pneuma” means “wind” or “breath”) so the phrase literally is that scripture is “God-inspirited” – it is the spirit of God makes the scripture useful (v.16).
The reference in 4:1 to Jesus’ appearing does not seem to be a reference to the life of Jesus of Nazareth on earth, but instead is in connection with his judging the living and the dead at the so-called Second Coming.
The author warns about the danger of turning away from “sound doctrine” (v. 3) (literally, “healthy teaching” according to The JANT) and wandering away to “myths” (v.4).
Luke 18:1-8
Reading
1 Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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 appears only in Luke. The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that the aim of the story about the need to pray (v.1) is carefully stated because the details are incongruous, just as in the story of the master and the unjust steward (16:1-9). Prayer is important in Luke and is emphasized in many of the stories.
The plea of the widow to be granted justice (v.3) is grounded in Deut. 27:19 (“Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.”) – a saying that would have been known to Jesus’ audience. The NJBC points out that widows were generally powerless in the First Century, and are presented in scripture as the image of powerlessness. The JANT points out that the words translated as “grant me justice” (v.3) are literally “avenge me” and the words “wear me out” (v.5) can also be translated as “slap me in the face.”
The thrust of the story is that if even an unjust judge will grant justice, how much more certain one can be that a just judge (God) will grant justice (v.7).
The last part of the concluding verse ties in two thoughts: the Son of Man’s coming is anticipated by Dan. 7:13 (“As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being [bar adam — Son of Man] coming with the clouds of heaven.”). The question “will he find faith on earth?” ties back to the apostles’ request for an increase in “faith” in 17:5.
2025, November 16 ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21: 5-19
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
NOVEMBER 16, 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.
Isaiah 65:17-25
Reading
17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD — and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call, I will answer, while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent — its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is from Third Isaiah and appears to be a late insert into Chapter 65. The first seven verses in the Chapter are a lament by YHWH that the people had not asked for assistance even though YHWH was ready to assist. The Jewish Study Bible points out that the fact that YHWH “spread out My hands” (v.2) meant that YHWH assumed a human-like posture of prayer. Verses 8 to 16 are a statement by YHWH that those who are his servants shall prosper, but those who forsake YHWH and worship foreign gods will perish.
Verses 17 to 25 have an apocalyptic tone – the existing dire situation will be reversed because divine intervention will bring about a profound change. Similar eschatological motifs are found in the so-called “Isaiah Apocalypse” in Chapters 24 to 27.
The reading presents a “new world” (v.17) in which there is no infant mortality and persons will live more than 100 years (v.20). This eschatological vision reversed some of the consequences of the “Disobedience Event” in the Garden of Eden. Endless and sometimes futile toil (Gen. 3:17-18) is changed into “you shall not labor in vain” (v. 23). As in the Garden of Eden before the Disobedience Event (Gen. 1:29-30), no creatures (human or animal) will kill for food (v.25).
The images in verse 25 (“the lion and the lamb shall feed together” and “the lion shall eat straw like the ox”) became integrated into the expected signs of the Messiah’s presence and the Shalom (peace, good order) that the Messiah is expected to bring.
The Jewish Study Bible notes that although the new era will be one in which persons will live to an old age, there is no prediction of eternal life or resurrection in these passages. The JSB also notes that there are passages in Daniel and in the Isaian Apocalypse that did form a basis for Rabbinic Judaism to formulate a belief in the resurrection of all.
Malachi 4:1-2a
Reading
1 See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2a But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
Commentary
The Book of Malachi is the last book of the 12 “Minor” Prophets – so called because these 12 books are much shorter than the three “Major” Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). His name literally means “my messenger” and the book appears to have been written in the 5th Century BCE, after the Second Temple was built in 515 BCE.
Malachi held a high view of the Temple priesthood and its responsibilities and wrote to an audience that was disheartened that the hopes of the “restoration prophets” (Haggai and Zechariah) had not materialized. Malachi asserted that YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) had been true to God’s promises, but that the hopes of the other prophets were not fulfilled because Judah (Judea and Jerusalem) had not been faithful.
Malachi asserted that the “Day of the LORD” was coming soon, and the “messenger” of the Day of the LORD was later identified as Elijah (4:5). In most prophetic books, the Day of the LORD was presented as a time of wrath, darkness, fear, and trembling.
In today’s reading from the last chapter in the book, the author reiterated that the Day of the LORD will be terrible for the arrogant and evildoers, but that those who revere YHWH’s name will rise (v.2). The Jewish Study Bible suggests that a “sun of righteousness” (or “victory” in the Jewish Publication translation) in v.2a is a metaphor for a new “day” – a new era of history. The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that the image of the sun with wings (v.2) is a common motif in ancient Near Eastern art.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Books of the Prophets are in the middle of the Bible and are followed by the Writings. In Christian Bibles, Malachi is the last book of the Hebrew Bible, so that when one turns the page, a prophet much like Elijah (John the Baptist) is encountered in the Gospel According to Matthew.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Reading
6 Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9 This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
Commentary
Thessalonica, a port city in northern Greece, was capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in the First Century. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest part of the Christian Scriptures and was written by Paul before 50 CE, about 20 years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. A principal theme of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians is the return of the Lord Jesus in the end time.
In 2 Thessalonians, however, there was what appears to be a conscious imitation of 1 Thessalonians, an emphasis on living in the present, and warnings about forgeries of Paul’s writings. For these reasons, many scholars conclude that 2 Thessalonians was written by one of Paul’s disciples after Paul’s death in 64 CE. Unlike Paul’s authentic letters, this letter is addressed only to Gentiles and, although the author appears well-grounded in Jewish thought, nothing is said about Jews or Judaism.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that in 1 Thessalonians assumes that the Christ’s reappearance will be a surprise, but that 2 Thessalonians suggests that it will come only after a struggle with evil and an unidentified “lawless one” (2:3) at some future time (2:8). The letter addressed problems perceived at the time: persecutions, disagreements about the end-times, and a refusal to work.
Today’s reading is from the final chapter in the letter and was an exhortation to the entire community. The writer presented his own behavior as the model for the community (v.7) and commanded that those who were able to work must do so (v.10). The NOAB notes that “idleness” (v.6) is sometimes translated as “disorderliness.” The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that the author’s claim (on behalf of Paul) to have a “right” (v.9a) to receive food without paying for it (v.8) is explicated further in 1 Cor. 9:4-15.
The verses that follow today’s reading closed the letter with a wish of peace for the community and an assertion by “Paul” that he wrote the letter with his own hand – a claim that The NOAB observes ironically shows that the author was concerned about the authenticity and authority of the letter.
Luke 21:5-19
Reading
5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and `The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
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.
After the Babylonian Exile (586-539 BCE), a modest Temple in Jerusalem was built in the period from 515 to 505 BCE. This is called the “Second Temple” in recognition of the Biblical account of Solomon’s building a Temple in Jerusalem from 961 to 954 BCE (1 Kings 6). Solomon’s Temple was modest (about 15% of the size of his Palace).
In 37 BCE, Herod the Great became the King of the Jews and he reigned until 4 BCE. Herod had what has been described as an “Edifice Complex” – he greatly enlarged the Temple starting in 19 BCE so that it covered 20% of the area of Jerusalem inside the walls. It was adorned with gold and was a magnificent structure capable of holding 250,000 people at once. He also built the port and amphitheater at Caesarea, and the Fortress at Masada.
Today’s reading is the “foretelling” of the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE during the Jewish-Roman War from 66 to 73 CE. This foretelling is also described in similar detail in Mark 13 and Matt. 24:1-28.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes: “Numerous writers, Jewish and Christian, and also Stoic philosophers, shared the belief that history was headed for some great transforming cataclysm. The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE was seen as the beginning of the end.”
Jesus’ speech used apocalyptic motifs in verses 7 to 11 to caution against over-interpreting any of these conventional apocalyptic events: the Destruction of the Temple (v.6), the claims of false Messiahs (v.7), wars and insurrections (v.9), and earthquakes, famines, and plagues (v.11), each of which were often seen as signs the end is near. Instead, he noted that “the end will not follow immediately” (v.9). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that the text made clear that “Disciples should not confuse the destruction of the Temple with Jesus’ return (as the Son of Man).”
Verses 12 to 17 described the persecution Jesus predicted for the disciples, including being handed over to synagogues (v.12). These are also themes that were developed in Acts of the Apostles. It is difficult to know if these were statements made by the Historical Jesus or were an expression by the gospel writing communities after the Destruction of the Temple noting some of the consequences of the intensifying struggle between two remaining Jewish sects — the Pharisaic Movement and the Jesus Follower Movement — for control of the future of Judaism.
The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes, however: “Localized persecution (e.g., Nero’s persecution in 64-CE in Rome) occurred, but the first empire-wide persecution did not occur until the Decian persecution of 250 CE.”
2025, November 9 ~ Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Job 19:23-27a; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5,13-17; Luke 20:27-38
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
NOVEMBER 9, 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.
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Reading
15b In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, 2:1 the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4 Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
Commentary
Haggai is one the “Minor Prophets” – the 12 prophets whose works are much shorter than those of the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and are found in a single scroll.
The Jewish Study Bible says: “In the Jewish tradition, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are the last prophets; after them, prophecy ceased. According to tradition, they were among the members of the ‘Great Assembly,’ a group that was a precursor of the Sanhedrin, and after their death, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel, though ‘bat kol’ (lit. ‘the daughter of the voice,’ or ‘echo’ remained available to Israel [citing portions of the Talmud]. This ‘echo’ of the voice of God is sometimes available to the Rabbis in their deliberations about legal interpretation (halakhah) but it is not on the same level as prophecy…. As the final representatives of the prophetic tradition, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi represent the link in the transmission of the oral Torah between prophets and sages.”
The Persian King Cyrus defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE, decreed that the captive Judeans were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and encouraged them to rebuild the Temple. Little progress was made on the Temple in the next 18 years, in large measure because of economic conditions in Judea and ongoing hostilities between Persia and Egypt in which Judea was caught in the middle. In 520 BCE, the rebuilding process began in earnest and the Temple was rebuilt by 515 BCE.
Haggai, along with the prophet Zechariah, was primarily responsible for inspiring the Jewish leadership and populace to complete the reconstruction of the Temple. The JSB says: “The main focus of the book as a whole is the Temple, or to be more precise, the necessary character, centrality, and legitimacy of the Second Temple.”
The first verses of Haggai (vv.1-11) were an oracle of judgment against the people for failing to complete the Temple. The leaders and people responded favorably (vv.12-15a). In today’s reading, Haggai encouraged the people in their efforts and stated that YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) would support them.
The JSB also notes that building temples was the prerogative and obligation of kings, and the book recognizes the king at the time was Darius. Haggai’s prophecy is aimed at the high priest and the governor (v.2) as fulfilling the expected role of a king. In addition, because these actions were directed by the word of the LORD (v.1), this lent additional legitimization to the project.
The precise date for this portion of Haggai’s exhortation is October 17, 520 BCE, and he would have spoken during the Festival of Booths (Sukkot), a time of remembering the Exodus (v.5).
It is possible that some of the Judeans present in 520 BCE (“the remnant of the people” vv.2-3) would have remembered the Temple of Solomon that was destroyed in 586 BCE. The New Oxford Annotated Bible also understands the “people of the land” to be “those who had not gone into exile and who resisted the efforts of the returning exiles.”
Haggai told the people that the new Temple would be more splendid than the former and that building it will lead to prosperity (v.9).
The balance of this short book (two chapters) consists of an oracle of salvation, and the promise of an ideal age. This ideal age did not occur, though Judea remained under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians until the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE.
Job 19:23-27a
Reading
23 Job said, “O that my words were written down!
24 O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”
Commentary
The Book of Job is a unique poetic story in the Hebrew Scriptures. The NOAB points out: “Job is part of the Wisdom Literature – along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. As such, it does not focus on the nation Israel or on its great formative historical memories. Instead, Wisdom Literature is a reflection on universal human concerns – especially the understanding of individual experiences and the maintenance of ordered relationships.”
The NOAB goes on to say: “Job denies the inevitability of rewards for living an upright life and decisively refutes the idea that human suffering is always deserved.”
The authors of Job are collectively referred to as “Poet-Job.” They are anonymous and the story contains multiple linguistic and stylistic forms. Accordingly, scholars conclude that the story is an ancient one that was supplemented by multiple authors between the 6th and the 4th Centuries BCE. The book contains numerous allusions to mythological traditions known throughout the Middle East but does not make specific references to Israelite legal or historical traditions. The characters sometimes refer to themes found in the Psalms and Proverbs.
In the opening two chapters, Job was introduced and his good fortune was enumerated. The Satan (the “adversary” or the “accuser”) – not the post-First Century name of the devil) made (in effect) a wager with God that Job was righteous only because Job had health, children, and riches. The Satan (ha-satan in Hebrew) bet God that Job would curse God if he lost his family, health, and wealth.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that God was put in a “no-win” situation: “If God were to refuse the test which the Satan proposes, would it be a sign of fear that human beings serve him only for themselves (and then the Satan is right)? On the other hand, the acceptance of the Satan’s wager makes God almost ‘demonic,’ but we are meant to understand that the Lord trusts those who serve him, and this is Job’s opportunity.”
Satan took everything from Job, but Job did not curse God.
Three of Job’s friends came to “comfort” him and sat with him for seven days in silence (2:11-13). Job then spoke an extended lament and wished he had never been born and prayed for his own death (Chapter 3).
Chapters 4 through 22 are a dialogue between Job and his friends in which his friends relied on the typical Deuteronomic thought that Job’s deprivations must be the result of a sin by him or his forebears. Job denied this reasoning and denied that he had engaged in wrongdoing. The Jewish Study Bible says that the friends are “concerned to safeguard the goodness of the LORD (seen as the cause of all things, good and bad) by arguing that if a person suffers, the suffering must somehow be deserved.”
Job asked for someone to judge whether a God who caused a righteous person to suffer is really a just God and worthy to be called “God” (9:33-35). He asked to confront God face-to-face and for a witness to testify on his behalf (16:19-21).
The JSB interprets today’s reading: “Job is so certain of his innocence that he wants his case to be inscribed on a monumental stele [or on leather in a book] rather than on the more temporary parchment or papyrus used in biblical antiquity.” The NOAB and The JSB explain that the Hebrew word for “Redeemer” (“Vindicator” in the Jewish Publication Society translation and in the translators’ notes in the NRSV) is “go’el,” the legal term for the person in the family responsible for avenging the murder of other members, citing Num. 35 and Deut. 19. The JSB continues: “While the term ‘go’el’ is sometimes applied to God, who is the ‘redeemer’ of Israel, Job is not speaking about God but rather about a future kinsman, who will vindicate him, who will take revenge on God for what God has done to Job.”
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary expands the definition of “go’el” to mean “the next of kin whose obligation it was to rescue from poverty, redeem from slavery, or avenge a death.”
Contrary to the claim in the traditional (King James Version) translation in Jas. 5:11, Job was anything but “patient.” He “endured,” was steadfast and – in some respects, defiant.
Towards the end of the story (Chapters 38-42), God appeared to Job out of a whirlwind, and verbally overwhelmed him by pointing out all that Job did not know. God also criticized the positions taken by Job’s friends that suffering results from some prior immoral act of the sufferer. The JSB observes that “in the LORD’s argument, the reasons for suffering – if there are any – are simply beyond human comprehension.”
In a later-added Epilogue, Job’s riches were restored and he fathered a new family.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Reading
1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Commentary
Thessalonica, a port city in northern Greece, was capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in the First Century. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest part of the Christian Scriptures and was written by Paul before 50 CE, about 20 years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. A principal theme of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians was the return of the Lord Jesus in the end time.
In 2 Thessalonians, however, there was an emphasis on living in the present and warnings about forgeries of Paul’s writings. For these reasons, most scholars conclude that 2 Thessalonians was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century.
The first part of today’s readings discussed what has come to be known as the “Second Coming” of Christ. The idea of a Second Coming arose because many of the understandings about the “Day of the Lord” and the expected effects of the Messiah were not fulfilled either in the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth or in the period soon after his death. For this reason, the early Jesus Follower Community developed ideas about a “Second Coming” when these expectations would be fulfilled. Projections about a Second Coming are also found in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 13, Matt 24 and Luke 21) and the Book of Revelation – all written in the last 30 years of the First Century CE.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary understands the phrase “our being gathered together to him” (v.1) as the fulfillment of Christian life.
Today’s reading emphasized that the Second Coming had not yet occurred and urged rejection of the false claims regarding it. The Jewish Annotated New Testament advises “the author is concerned that congregants, acting as if the end is here, refuse to work or abandon moral strictures.”
The writer of the letter suggested that an unidentified “lawless one” (v.3) would be revealed as an event before the Second Coming/Day of the Lord. The JANT advises that the “lawless one” draws on Jewish apocalyptic literature and may be modelled on foreign oppressors such as Antiochus IV or Pompey, both of whom sought to desecrate the Temple. It also suggests that the “lawless one” may have been an actual person, perhaps a false teacher or Roman emperor claiming divine status.
The second part of today’s reading was a customary thanksgiving for the acceptance by the Jesus Follower Community of the good news (v.14) and an exhortation to hold fast to “Paul’s” teachings (v.15).
Luke 20:27-38
Reading
27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus 28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
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.
The NOAB describes the Sadducees as “the elite class of landed Jerusalem gentry who operated the Temple and wielded power from that religious base of operations.” Sadducees were hereditary priests, and were said to be descended from Zadok, the high priest of David and Solomon. Sadducees did not believe in resurrection because it was not in the Torah.
The scriptural bases for “levirate marriage” are found in Deut. 25:5 and in the story of Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen. 28). The purpose of levirate marriage was to protect widows and to preserve the dead husband’s name and estate.
The NOAB interprets vv.34-36 to mean: “Human relations in marriage do not exist in the same way beyond death. Jesus distinguishes two ages and kinds of existence. Mortals are part of this age by their physical birth and of the age to come by resurrection”.
In interpreting vv. 37-38, The NJBC notes: “Since God is the God of the living, God must have sustained the dead Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in life by resurrecting them.”
2025, November 2 ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Isaiah 1:10-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
NOVEMBER 2, 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.
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Reading
1 The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
4 So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous — therefore judgment comes forth perverted.
2:1 I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
2 Then the LORD answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.
Commentary
Habakkuk is one the “Minor Prophets” – the 12 prophets whose works are much shorter than those of the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) and are found in a single scroll.
After the death of the good King Josiah in 609 BCE, Judea went into a sharp decline, culminating with the Babylonian Exile, the first part of which began in 597 BCE and the second part of which began in 586 and lasted until 539 BCE. Josiah emphasized the Torah, but in the reign of his successors “the law became slack” (v.4). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary raises a question whether the “wicked (1:4) was a group within Judea or the foreign nations surrounding judea (Bablylon and Egypt), or both.
Habakkuk prophesied (spoke for YHWH) from the time Josiah’s death to the first deportation of Judean leaders in 597 BCE. He was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah and his messages are similar to Jeremiah’s. The book of Habakkuk reflected the difficulties that faced Judea during the period from 597 to 586 BCE. Habakkuk lamented the destruction and violence in Judea and the lack of justice.
Today’s readings are part of a long dialogue (1:1-2:20) between YHWH and the prophet. Habakkuk lamented the destruction and violence in Judea and the lack of justice (v.1) and protested that God neither saw nor acted to address human corruption and injustice.
In the verses between today’s readings (vv. 5-17), YHWH said that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) (1:6) would serve as the instrument of God’s justice to punish the Judeans.
In the second part of today’s reading, the prophet said he would be a sentinel (v.2:1), a role also assumed by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. YHWH replied that divine justice will come “at the appointed time” because of the righteous (vv.3-4). Habakkuk was directed (v.2) by the LORD to make a record of the visons presented by the LORD. YHWH responded that there was “still a vision for the appointed time” (v.3), a phrase interpreted in Judaism as referring to a future Messianic time. Christians have also interpreted it as a prophesy of the Messiah.
The Jewish Study Bible observes that verse 2:4 (translated by The Jewish Publication Society as “the righteous man is rewarded with life for his fidelity”) had “an important influence in Christianity, and in particular in the doctrine of justification through faith (see Rom.1.17).”
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that like Jeremiah, Habakkuk contended that an invading foreign power would serve as the divine instrument of judgment against Judah, but that in time Babylon itself would come under divine judgment. Habakkuk affirmed that God is still sovereign and in God’s own way and at the proper time, God would deal with the wicked.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that the prophecies were “in response to the burning theological issue of the time: Will God – indeed, can God – remain faithful to the promise [of the land and the Davidic rule] and deal graciously with Israel, even in the face of the overwhelming power and arrogance of the great empires?”
The JSB has an interesting note on the subsequent history of the book: “A long commentary on the first two chapters of Habakkuk has been preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This commentary, called by scholars Pesher [Interpretation] Habakkuk, understands this prophetic work as being actualized in its author’s own day centuries after Habakkuk was written. Specifically, it identifies Habakkuk’s Chaldeans, a name for the Babylonians, with the Kittim [people from the Mediterranean], almost certainly the Romans. This offers clear proof of how prophetic works were read and studied within a Jewish group that lived in the late Maccabean period as works that contain information about the life of their community of readers rather than arcane reports of past historical periods.”
Isaiah 1:10-18
Reading
10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation — I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. The name “Isaiah” means “YHWH has saved” or “May YHWH save.”
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
The Jewish Study Bible points out that one of major religious issues faced by First Isaiah was the extent to which Judea should attempt to confront its enemies by using military and diplomatic means or, alternatively, the extent it should rely on YHWH to protect them. Isaiah (unlike most of his contemporaries) preferred the latter option.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that two themes dominate the book of Isaiah as it now exists: (1) that YHWH controls all historical events and (2) the centrality of Jerusalem for Israel, both for kingship and for worship.
Today’s reading is from First Isaiah. A later editor inserted verse 1:1 to set the time period for Isaiah as from 740 BCE (the ending years of the reign of Uzziah – also known as Azariah) to the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah (701 BCE – when the Assyrians conquered most of Judea and besieged Jerusalem). This was a time of the ascendancy of the Assyrian Empire which conquered Northern Israel in 722 BCE and threatened Judea during all this time.
Today’s reading is addressed to the “rulers” (v.10). It is a strong prophetic statement condemning worship divorced from social justice (vv.10-17), a theme also found in Amos, Micah and Jeremiah. Sodom and Gomorrah (v.10) – and their destruction — were commonly used symbols for divine judgement on immorality. In Genesis, the evil done by those cities was not showing hospitality (a high value) and threatening to commit sexual violence upon visitors to Lot’s home (Gen.19:5).
The call for purification (v.16) was not presented as a substitute for moral purification, but a sign of the purification that would occur when the people learned to do good and seek justice (v.17).
The verses then shifted from condemnation to a legal argument (v.18) in which YHWH offered forgiveness if Judea repented but said Judea would be “devoured by the sword” (v.20) if it did not repent. Except for a period of Deuteronomic reform under King Josiah (640 to 609 BCE), Jerusalem did not repent and it was conquered by the Babylonians – the successors to the Assyrians – in 597 BCE. The First Exile began in 587 BCE.
The Jewish Publication Society translation takes a different approach to v.18a. Instead of “let us argue it out” as in the NRSV, the JPS translates the phrase as “Come, let us reach an understanding.” Annotations in both The NOAB and The JSB acknowledge that the meaning of the Hebrew is unclear.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Reading
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers, and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
11 To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Commentary
Thessalonica, a port city in northern Greece, was capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in the First Century. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest part of the Christian Scriptures and was written by Paul before 50 CE, about 20 years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.
A principal theme of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians was the return of the Lord Jesus in the end time. The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out that 1 Thessalonians assumes that Christ’s appearance will be a surprise, but 2 Thessalonians “infers that at least we can know that the day of the Lord will not come at once; a dire struggle with evil must take place first, and even this is to be delayed for a time.”
Moreover, in 2 Thessalonians, there was an emphasis on living in the present and warnings about forgeries of Paul’s writings. For these reasons, most scholars conclude that 2 Thessalonians was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century.
In today’s reading, the salutation was identical to 1 Thessalonians, followed by a thanksgiving for the faith of the community. “Love for one another” (v.3) is a statement of their solidarity and separated them from outsiders.
The author referred to “persecutions and afflictions” (v.4), another indication that the letter was written in the late First Century. There is little evidence of major persecutions in the mid-century when Paul was still alive. The Jewish Annotated New Testament observes: “state persecution of Jesus’ followers was sporadic until the empire-wide Decian persecution in 250. Whether the Thessalonians faced state persecution, local ostracism, economic hardship, etc., or whether the reference is conventional or drawing upon 1 Tthessalonians 2.14b-16 cannot be determined.”
The omitted verses (5 -10) asserted that God would afflict the persecutors and work vengeance on those who did not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Today’s reading concluded with an intercessory prayer that God will make the people worthy of God’s call so that the name of the Lord Jesus will be glorified in the believers’ lives. The JANT observes: “The author recalls the believers’ chosenness in order to demand good works and faith. Jewish texts link election with demands for Torah-obedience [citing verses].”
Both The NOAB and The JANT see Isaiah 66:5 as the basis of the idea “the glory of the name of our Lord Jesus” (v. 12) — except that in Isaiah, it is YHWH’s name that is glorified. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary notes that grace is given by both God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 19:1-10
Reading
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
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.
The story of Zacchaeus is found only in Luke. The setting, Jericho, was an important customs center because of its location. As the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus (whose name – ironically — is derived from the Hebrew word for “clean” or “righteous” or “upright”) would have contracted with the Roman overlords to collect these taxes and “tolls” and would have been despised by his neighbors for his active role in the Roman domination system.
The JANT points out that verse 8b literally reads: “if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I do [present tense] pay back four times as much.” The JANT opines that Zacchaeus “is less repenting than he is attesting his righteousness.”
Regarding v.8b, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary states: “There is controversy over the translation of these verbs in the present tense. If one views the present tense as futuristic, then Zaccheus is saying that he is no longer a sinner; he resolves to change his ways. If one views the present tense as iterative or customary, then Zaccheus is arguing that he is not a sinner because it is his customary conduct to be generous and just. In the latter interpretation, Jesus in v 9 vindicates the good reputation of Zacchaeus.The first interpretation is to be preferred. The second interpretation reduces the depth of the soteriological statements of vv 9-10, for it says that Zacchaeus has achieved salvation on his own and makes Jesus extraneous to salvation.”
Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus was presented by Luke as a sharp contrast to story of the “certain ruler” in Luke 18:18 who had asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life but went away sad (18:23) when he was told to sell all he owned and distribute the money to the poor (18:22).
2025, November 2 (All Saints’ Observed) ~ Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
NOVEMBER 2, 2025
ALL SAINTS’ DAY OBSERVED
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Reading
1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17 “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever — for ever and ever.”
Commentary
The Book of Daniel is part of the Prophets in the Christian Bible and is placed after the three Major Prophets and before the 12 Minor Prophets. In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is not included with the Prophets and instead is part of the Writings. It is placed after Esther and before Ezra and Nehemiah (all of which are included among the so-called Historical Books in the Christian Bible). The name Daniel means “My judge is God” or “God has judged.”
The Jewish Study Bible suggests that this different treatment of Daniel arose because the First (and early Second) Century Rabbis were aware that early Christianity saw a prefiguration of the Christ and resurrection in the Book of Daniel. Accordingly, it was not placed with the Prophets.
The Book of Daniel has two distinct parts. Chapters 1 to 6 are six “court legends” – edifying stories of Daniel in the Court of the Babylonian Kings and the Persian Kings before, during and just after the Exile (587-539 BCE). Because these kings are presented as ignorant (but not malevolent), scholars date these six chapters to the time when Judea was under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians (539 to 333 BCE) and the Greeks (333 to 281 BCE).
Chapters 2 to 7 of the Book were written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. (Aramaic was the common language of the Middle East from the time of the Babylonian Exile until the Hellenistic period.) The folktales in these chapters emphasized personal piety and divine intervention and provided encouragement to Jews living under foreign rule. Chapters 8-12 were written in Hebrew.
Chapters 7 to 12 were written later – during the oppression of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE), whose name meant “god manifest” and whose desecration of the Temple led to the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BCE. These chapters contain four apocalyptic visions told in the first person. They depict hostility to foreign governments and presented visions of situations so dire that an external intervention (such as by God) was needed to put things right. Like other apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel used strong images to describe the conflict between good and evil. In the first six chapters, Daniel was an interpreter of dreams, but in the last six chapters he was presented as a visionary himself.
Today’s reading was set in 553 BCE (v.1), and Daniel’s dream “foretold” (with 20-20 hindsight – what The JSB calls “prophesies after the fact”), a vision coming out of “the great sea” (v.2), a symbol of chaos. The dream saw the conquest of Judea by four “beasts” (vv.3 and17) – generally seen Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece/Syria. The mixed natures of the beasts implied uncleanliness as understood in Leviticus – a lion with wings (v.4), a bear with tusks (v.5), a leopard with wings and four heads (v.6), and a beast with 11 horns (v.7).
In the omitted verses, Daniel saw “one like a human being [bar adam] coming with the clouds of heaven” (v.13) – language that developed into the phrase “Son of Man” in 1 Enoch 71:14 (c.100 BCE) and that is used in some of the Gospels.
The “holy ones” (v.18) who received the kingdom are interpreted by The New Oxford Annotated Bible as either the heavenly court or as the Jews persecuted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Ephesians 1:11-23
Reading
11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 his is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Commentary
Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they did not always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower. This letter was intended to unify them.
Because the letter contained many terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. Although the letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus, it was (as The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out) a “circular letter” that spoke to numerous audiences to which it might be circulated. The first three chapters are theological teachings, and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations. As The JANT notes: “For Paul, salvation is a future event, while in Ephesians it is a present experience (2.8).”
The JANT also observes: “Central to Ephesians (along with Colossians upon which Ephesians may rely) is the vision of Christ as the head of the body of which the community/church is the body. The image has significant consequences because it requires Christian society to be ordered according to the model of Christ and the church. With respect to the household, this means that those who are in an inferior position (wife, child, slave) must submit to those who are in the superior (husband, father, master).”
In the verses before today’s reading, the author celebrated his vision of the Church and began working his way up to the main theme of unity. This unity between Jews and Gentiles was stated to be part of God’s eternal plan to unify them through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. He referred to the Christ as eternal and preexisting (“from the foundation of the world” in v.4).
Today’s reading began by noting that Jews “obtained an inheritance” (v.11) and were the first to “set our hope on Christ” (v.12). The focus of letter then becomes Gentile Jesus Followers – “you” in verse 13, and in 2:11 referring to them as uncircumcised and in 3:1 as Gentiles).
The JANT sees “the word of truth” (v.13) as referring to both the gospel and to the Christ (“believed in him”) – just as the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel referred to the Christ as the Logos/Word. The JANT also notes that the “seal of the Holy Spirit ” (v.13) was a sign of ownership.
The author spoke of the love of the Jesus Followers for “all the saints” (v.15). The NJBC notes that the Greek word is “hagioi” and is understood as “holy ones” or those set apart and sanctified by God through faith in the Christ. The author gave thanks for the faith of the community and prayed that the “eyes of their hearts” (the traditional seat of understanding) will be enlightened (v.18). The reference to the Christ at the right hand of God (v.20) is derived from Psalm 110:1.
Luke 6:20-31
Reading
20 Jesus looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
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 is called the Sermon on the Plain (“he stood on a level place”) (v.17) and is comparable to (but different from) Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and Matthew’s Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12). As The New Oxford Annotated Bible points out, the Beatitudes of Luke focus on economic and social conditions, not spiritual states as in Matthew. The two Sermons do not appear in other Gospels and are considered based on “Q” material.
Understanding the Bible notes that “the Lukan Beatitudes are shorter, simpler, and directed at the hearers – you! [“disciples” v.20] Whereas Matthew spiritualizes their meaning ‘blessing those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail,’ Luke gives a bluntly material version…. In a passage unique to his Gospel, Luke concludes the Beatitudes with ‘woes’ (‘alas for you’) in which the ‘rich’ and ‘well fed’ are cursed with future loss and hunger.” The “woes” are the antitheses of the blessings in verses 20-23.
The JANT suggests that the Greek word Makarioi – translated as “Blessed” or “Fortunate” — is itself a translation of an Aramaic word (the language Jesus spoke) that connotes “being on the right path.”
For example, Luke said “Blessed are you who are poor” whereas Matthew’s version said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Both conclude “for yours is the kingdom of heaven (Matt) or God” (Luke). Because Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience, he rarely used the word “God” in the Gospel.
Unlike Matthew who expressed nine “Blessings,” Luke expressed four “Blessings” and four “Woes” which are the antitheses of the Blessings. The NOAB sees the Blessings and Woes eschatologically and says that “the early status of those addressed will be reversed in the divinely determined future.”
Luke again emphasized that the “ancestors” spoke well of false prophets, but treated true prophets badly. He cautioned his listeners that as the followers of the Son of Man they will be excluded, reviled, and defamed (v.23) – most likely a reference by Luke to the difficult relationship between Jesus Followers and the Pharisees in the late First Century.
The reading’s concluding verses (27-31) articulated a Commandment of Love that is similar to the expression in Matt. 5:38-48. It demands love of one’s enemies, non-violent responses to violence, unhesitating charity toward those less fortunate, and an expression of the “Golden Rule” to do to others as you would have them do to you.
The JANT compares Luke’s “Golden Rule” with that of Hillel. Hillel was born (according to tradition) in Babylon c.110 BCE and died in 10 CE in Jerusalem (so he lived 120 years just as Moses did (Deut. 34:7). He was a Jewish religious leader, sage and scholar associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud.
He is popularly known as the author of two sayings: (1) “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” and (2) the expression of the ethic of reciprocity or “Golden Rule”: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; now go and learn.”
2025, October 26 ~ Joel 2:23-32; Sirach 35:12-17; Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18:9-14
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
OCTOBER 26, 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. In Track 2, congregations may choose between the reading from Sirach or from Jeremiah.
The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.
Joel 2:23-32
Reading
23 O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before.
24 The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you.
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
28 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.
Commentary
Joel is one the “Minor Prophets” – the 12 prophets whose works are much shorter than those of the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) and are found in a single scroll.
Joel (whose name means “YHWH is God”) is located in the Bible between Hosea and Amos (two early prophets – in the 700’s BCE) because some of the themes in Joel are similar to those in Amos.
Joel’s prophesy, however, was much later and contained no direct reference to either the Assyrians or Babylonians. It is therefore dated in the Persian Period (539 to 333 BCE) when the Persians ruled over Israel and Judea. The Jewish Study Bible notes that there is no mention in Joel of a king or dateable event, and that the most likely period of its composition is from about 400 BCE to 350 BCE – a time of relative calm under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes: “Joel is not only acquainted with the Temple at Jerusalem, but is so much interested in its priesthood and services that, like Haggai and Zechariah, he can be considered a ‘cultic prophet,’ that is, a prophet who could exercise his ministry within the life of the Temple, even using liturgical forms, and whose message may have been transmitted through priestly circles. As such, Joel helps mark a notable change in prophecy in the Hebrew Bible.”
The NOAB calls the first part of today’s reading (vv. 23-27) an “Oracle of Salvation” in that God promised remission of the plague (vv.20, 25), the return of fertility (vv.21-24), the removal of shame, and the restoration of the covenantal blessing (vv.26-27).
The reference to a prior locust plague (v.25) can be understood literally and can also be seen as the invading Babylonian army that destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Both were understood as a call to repentance and resulted from YHWH’s judgment upon the people.
The Jewish New Year starts in the Autumn, and the “early” rain refers to Autumn rains and the “later” rain (v.23) comes in the Spring. Spring and Autumn are the two rainy seasons in Israel.
The entire community, even slaves, will share the immediacy and intimacy of the relationship with God (vv.28-29). The author of Acts of the Apostles (“Luke”) used a paraphrase of verse 28 as part of Peter’s speech on Pentecost (Acts 2:16-17).
The final verses (30-32) are apocalyptic in tone and describe Judah’s ultimate vindication. The “Day of the Lord” (vv.30-31) turned the agricultural images to cosmic images. Some of the descriptions of the Day of the Lord s (particularly the sun being turned to darkness) (v.31) were adopted by the authors of the Gospels according to Mark, Matthew, and Luke (the “Synoptic Gospels”) to describe the time that Jesus of Nazareth was on the Cross. The images of verse 31 were also used in Rev. 6:12.
Sirach 35:12-17
Reading
12 Give to the Most High as he has given to you, and as generously as you can afford.
13 For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold.
14 Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it
15 and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality.
16 He will not show partiality to the poor; but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
17 He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan, or the widow when she pours out her complaint.
Commentary
The Book of Sirach is not included in the Jewish version of the Hebrew Bible (even though it is sometimes cited in the Talmud) but is included in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox versions of the Bible. Protestants place Sirach in a separate section of the Bible called the “Apocrypha” (which means “hidden books”). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary opines that Sirach is “not included in the Jewish canon probably because the Pharisees who defined that canon near the end of the 1st cent. AD frowned on some of Ben Sira’s theology (e.g., his denial of retribution in the hereafter).”
The book is known by the name of its author, and its full title is “The Wisdom of Jesus [which is Greek for Yeshua or Joshua], son of Sirach.” In the Roman Catholic tradition, the book is known as “Ecclesiasticus” (“the Church’s book”).
It was written between 200 and 180 BCE, during a time when the Seleucids (from Syria) were ruling Judea and trying to impose Greek culture and gods upon the Judeans. Ben Sira described himself as a “scribe” (a person of learning). The NJBC notes that “in Ben Sira’s extensive travels, he came in contact with other cultures and wisdom traditions… and did not hesitate to utilize what he had learned as long as he could make it conformable to his Jewish heritage and tradition (39:1-11).” It goes on to say: “He did not intend to write a systematic polemic against Hellenism which had made its impact felt throughout the Near East. Rather, his purpose was to demonstrate that the Jewish way of life was superior to Hellenistic culture and its blandishments and that true wisdom was to be found primarily in Jerusalem, and not in Athens.”
The Prologue to Sirach (written by Sirach’s grandson after 132 BCE) contains the first reference in Jewish Literature to “the Law and the Prophets and the other books of our ancestors” – the division of the Hebrew Bible into three parts. The book itself primarily consists of “traditional” advice to young men in the Jewish community, consistent with the advice given to young men in the Book of Proverbs.
Today’s reading is part of a chapter in which Sirach urged sincere and cheerful generosity to the Most High (i.e. at the Temple) advising that the Lord will repay sevenfold (v. 13) and will listen to the prayers of those who have been wronged (v. 16). The orphan and the widow (v.17) are to be protected because of their powerlessness and the Most High will hear their supplications.
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Reading
7 Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; our apostasies indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.
8 O hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler turning aside for the night?
9 Why should you be like someone confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot give help? Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us!
10 Thus says the LORD concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace but find no good; for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the iniquity of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you.
21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.
22 Can any idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this.
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.
According to The Jewish Study Bible, Jeremiah was descended from the priestly line of Eli – 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 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” (1:2) and his prophesying lasted until 587 BCE, the “eleventh year of King Zedekiah” (1:3). 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.
The JSB notes: “The book of Jeremiah as a whole suggests that Jeremiah was prophesying in an atmosphere where many prophets suggested that the Babylonians would not conquer Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. This explains the unpopularity of Jeremiah in his period.”
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 are 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.)
Today’s reading is in “poetry style.” It follows a section (vv. 1-6) that described a severe drought that Judah suffered. Jeremiah understood this drought as demonstrating divine judgment against the nation. The JSB points out that because God was portrayed in the Bible as controlling the cosmos, YHWH could cause rain to fall so that the people could grow crops and raise cattle. A drought meant starvation for many.
The first part of today’s reading (vv.7-9) was a lament that confessed Judea’s sins, bemoaned YHWH’s absence, and asked that YHWH not forsake the people (v.9).
In The JSB (but not the NRSV), the next verse is in prose form and its content is Deuteronomic: YHWH said God would punish the people because they “love to wander” (v.10). The NJBC says: “This evil is called a restless wandering, probably an allusion to the multiple idolatrous sanctuaries or to the frequent attempts to enter foreign alliances.”
The omitted verses (11-16) are in prose form, but the last verses in today’s reading (19-22) are in poetry form. Jeremiah criticized the priests and prophets who “ply their trade” (v.18), presented the plight of the Judeans (v.19); acknowledged the people’s wickedness (v.20); appealed to YHWH’s reputation (v.21) and to the “glorious throne” (the Temple or Jerusalem); and prayed that YHWH’s power would bring rain to the land (v.22).
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Reading
6 I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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.”
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 1 Timothy as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
2 Timothy purported to be written by Paul from prison (v.8) and is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child” (v.2), loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death (4:6). Timothy was presented as a “third generation” Jesus Follower who followed both his grandmother and his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3), although nothing in 2 Timothy hints at Timothy’s Jewish background.
Today’s reading is from the last chapter of the letter. “Paul” was portrayed as near death (“the time of my departure”) and stated (v.6) that his life was a sacrifice (a “I am being poured out as a libation”) and an athletic contest (“the good fight”)(v.7). Verse 6 is the same as Phil. 2:17. “Faith” (v.7) is once again presented as a body of beliefs. The NOAB sees the “crown of righteousness” (v.8) as a symbol of positive judgment from the Lord at his Second Coming.
“Paul” asked forgiveness for those who opposed his message (v.16) and praised the Lord for the strength to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles (v.17). The reference to being rescued from the “lion’s mouth” (v. 17) recalled Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:21) and Psalm 22:21.
Luke 18:9-14
Reading
9 Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
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 is called the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and is found only in Luke. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that the story often leads Christian readers to see the Pharisee as a symbol of all Pharisees as “hypocritical, sanctimonious, and legalistic.” This understanding is not only unfair to Pharisees in general, but can urge Christian readers to say, in effect, “thank God I am not like this Pharisee.” In doing this, the parable leads those readers to see themselves as better than someone else – to take the same position they condemn in the Pharisee.
Tax collectors were generally hated by the population because Rome employed them and they kept the excess funds that they were able to extort above the “quota” they were required to deliver to Rome. The JANT also points out the tax collector’s standing “far off” (v.13) was not a sign that he was ostracized or ritually impure – to even enter the Temple in the first place, one had to be ritually pure.
The thrust of the parable is that being “righteous” (v.9) (or in a right relationship with God and others) is not a matter of “good deeds” as recited by the Pharisee (vv.11-12). Instead, being “justified” (v.14) and restored to a right relationship with God requires that one be “humble.” Being humble is not a matter of having a falsely low view of oneself, but also means not being arrogant or having a falsely exalted view of oneself. The etymology of “humble” includes the word “humus” (or earth), and being humble is being grounded in one’s sense of one’s worth and talents.
The JANT also notes that the Greek word (par) translated as “rather than” (v.14) can also be translated as “alongside” – which would mean that both the Pharisee and the tax collector were justified.
2025, October 19 ~ Jeremiah 31:27-34; Genesis 32:22-31; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
OCTOBER 19, 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 31:27-34
Reading
27 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. 29 In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
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.
According to The Jewish Study Bible, Jeremiah was descended from the priestly line of Eli – 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 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” (1:2) and his prophesying lasted until 587 BCE, the “eleventh year of King Zedekiah” (1:3). 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 are 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.)
Today’s reading is in prose and was a late insertion. It has an “eschatological” (end times) tone (“the days are surely coming” in v.27) and affirmed the restoration of the houses of both Judah (the south) and Israel (the north). In the verse preceding today’s reading, Jeremiah was said to be sleeping, and his “vision” is recounted in this reading.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible observes that Chapters 30 and 31 “describe the fulfillment of hopes for the reversal of judgments detailed in earlier portions of the book of Jeremiah.” It suggests that verses 27 and 28 are an “eschatological reversal” and a “recreation of order from the chaos described in a similarly visionary statement in 4.23-26.”
The rejection of the “sour grapes” saying (vv.29 and 30) was a statement that there is personal responsibility for one’s actions and that the “sins of the fathers” will not be borne by the children. This theology is also found in Ezekiel, another prophet of the Exile, particularly in Ezekiel 18:2-4. In Jeremiah, this personal responsibility will be true in the future (“in those days” v.29) but in Ezekiel it is seen as true in his own time (the Exile). The shift from collective responsibility to individual responsibility was an important change in the theology of Ancient Israel.
The writer went on to say that in the “end times” YHWH would make a “new covenant” with Judah and Israel (v.31) to replace the Covenant at Sinai which the people broke. In the New Covenant, the law would be written on their hearts (v.33), and YHWH would forgive their iniquity (v.34). Many Christians have taken the reference to a new covenant as prophesying the New Covenant/Testament through Jesus the Christ.
Regarding the New Covenant, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says: “The newness [of the New Covenant] is not found in the essentials of the covenant but in the realm of its realization and its means….The very inner nature of humanity is created anew… Yahweh has to create a new people. There is a continuity in the essentials of the former and the new covenant, but there is a profound discontinuity in the means given to Israel to fulfill the new one. This extraordinary prophecy had a great influence and found a certain fulfillment in the hands of Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah. They did not speak of a new covenant but of an eternal covenant, one that could not be broken.”
The NJBC also notes that there is a similar idea in Deuteronomy – the LORD would “circumcise” the hearts of the people. (Deut. 30:6).
Genesis 32:22-31
Reading
22 The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Commentary
Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.
The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).
The background to today’s reading includes Jacob’s supplanting his fraternal twin (but older) brother, Esau, by tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing that properly belonged to Esau.
Jacob sought to find his wife Rachel in Haran (the land from which Abraham came) and was tricked into working for his uncle, Laban, for 14 years. Jacob had 12 sons (six by Leah, Rachel’s older sister; two by Bilhah, Rachel’s maid; two by Zilpah, Leah’s maid; and two by Rachel). Ten of these sons (along with Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh), became the 12 tribes of Israel. (Levi and Joseph were not included in the 12 tribes when the lands were later divided.)
Many years had passed, and Jacob was very wealthy. Jacob and his wives, children and flocks traveled from Haran toward Canaan, but had to pass near Edom, the land of his twin brother, Esau. Jacob learned that Esau was coming toward him with 400 men, so he divided all that he had into two groups so that one group might escape and be preserved if Esau attacked him. He prayed to YHWH and sent Esau a substantial gift of livestock (500 animals) in hopes of appeasing him.
Today’s reading was set in the night before Jacob and Esau met. It recounted Jacob’s wrestling with someone identified variously as a man (v.24), a spirit/angel (which would disappear at daybreak, v.26), and as God (v.28). Jacob tried to obtain the wrestler’s name (v.29) which would have given him “control” over the wrestler, but this was refused. Instead, God gave Jacob a new name so that he was no longer Jacob (“supplanter”) but “Israel,” which originally meant “El rules” — but the text says it means “one who strives with God and humans” (v.28).
At the end of the story, Jacob changed the name of this place to Peniel (“face of El”) because he had seen God face to face (v.30). “El” is the most ancient name for God in the Middle East. In Hebrew, the suffix “el” appears in many other names that have meanings “of God” such as
Gabriel (God is my strength), Daniel (God is my judge), Beth-el (House of God), “Peniel” (Face of God), Samuel (Name of God), and the like.
In the remaining chapters of Genesis, the name used for this patriarch will sometimes be “Jacob” and sometimes be “Israel” depending on the source of the story.
The NOAB notes: “An Israelite prohibition against eating the thigh muscle of an animal is cited as testimony to the truth of the story. This prohibition is reflected nowhere else in the Bible.”
The NJBC observes that the story is the source of three etiologies: the names “Israel” and “Peniel,” and the food taboo on eating thigh muscle.
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Reading
14 As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
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.”
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 1 Timothy as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
2 Timothy purported to be written by Paul from prison (v.8) and is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child” (v.2), loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death (4:6). Timothy was presented as a “third generation” Jesus Follower who followed both his grandmother and his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3), although nothing in 2 Timothy hints at Timothy’s Jewish background.
Today’s reading continued the author’s exhortation to follow the teachings of Paul (v.14).
In the early Second Century, there was no codification of the Christian Scriptures, even though some of Paul’s authentic letters were likely in circulation and Jesus Followers may have known of some of the four Gospels that were later included in the Christian Bible. Scholars agree that references to “the sacred writings” (v.15) and “scripture” (v.16) were to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX).
The statement that “all scripture is inspired by God” (v.16) is an expansion of the Greek term “theopneutos” (“pneuma” means “wind” or “breath”) so the phrase literally is that scripture is “God-inspirited” – it is the spirit of God makes the scripture useful (v.16).
The reference in 4:1 to Jesus’ appearing does not seem to be a reference to the life of Jesus of Nazareth on earth, but instead is in connection with his judging the living and the dead at the so-called Second Coming.
The author warns about the danger of turning away from “sound doctrine” (v. 3) (literally, “healthy teaching” according to The JANT) and wandering away to “myths” (v.4).
Luke 18:1-8
Reading
1 Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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 appears only in Luke. The New Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that the aim of the story about the need to pray (v.1) is carefully stated because the details are incongruous, just as in the story of the master and the unjust steward (16:1-9). Prayer is important in Luke and is emphasized in many of the stories.
The plea of the widow to be granted justice (v.3) is grounded in Deut. 27:19 (“Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.”) – a saying that would have been known to Jesus’ audience. The NJBC points out that widows were generally powerless in the First Century, and are presented in scripture as the image of powerlessness. The JANT points out that the words translated as “grant me justice” (v.3) are literally “avenge me” and the words “wear me out” (v.5) can also be translated as “slap me in the face.”
The thrust of the story is that if even an unjust judge will grant justice, how much more certain one can be that a just judge (God) will grant justice (v.7).
The last part of the concluding verse ties in two thoughts: the Son of Man’s coming is anticipated by Dan. 7:13 (“As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being [bar adam — Son of Man] coming with the clouds of heaven.”). The question “will he find faith on earth?” ties back to the apostles’ request for an increase in “faith” in 17:5.
2025, October 12 ~ Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
OCTOBER 12, 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 29:1, 4-7
Reading
1 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; 6 take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
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 part of an extended prose insert in the Book of Jeremiah that begins with Chapter 26. The incidents reported in these four chapters (26-29) represent an early interpretation of the significance of the life and message of Jeremiah and were likely written by the Deuteronomists in 75 years the after the Exile (which ended in 539 BCE).
The “elders among the exiles” (v.1) would have been those leaders sent to Babylon in the first wave of the Exile in 597 BCE. (A larger group was sent in 586 when the Temple was destroyed.)
The “directions” given by YHWH in verses 4 to 7 are what actually – as a matter of history – had happened in Babylon when the Exiles were there. The New Oxford Annotated Bible describes the advice given by Jeremiah (assuming it was given in 597 BCE) was “revolutionary” and was “in contrast to the early return from exile predicted by the other prophets.” The Jewish Study Bible says that verse 7 “is intended to shock – most people would have expected the words ‘and seek the welfare of the city’ to refer to Jerusalem not to Babylon.”
In effect, after the Exile, the Deuteronomists interpreted the behaviors of the Judeans in Babylon during the Exile as reflecting the “will” of YHWH. Later in Chapter 29, the Deuteronomists said that YHWH would “visit” the Judeans only after their seventy years in Babylon (597 to 539 BCE) were completed (v.10).
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Reading
1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my LORD were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, `Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”
Commentary
The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)
After Solomon’s death in 928 BCE, the nation divided in two. The Northern Kingdom consisted of 10 tribes and was called “Israel.” The Southern Kingdom had two tribes, Judah and Benjamin and was called “Judea.” For the most part, the Deuteronomists portrayed the Kings of the North as unfaithful to YHWH, and Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst offenders. His wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.
Consistent with the theological view that YHWH controlled all that occurs, the authors of Kings asserted, somewhat surprisingly, that YHWH gave victory to Naaman, a general of Aram (modern Syria) over Israel around 850 BCE (v. 1). This occurred presumably because King Ahab and his successors did not worship YHWH faithfully.
Elisha, the successor to Elijah, was in Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel at this time. The King of Aram heard from his wife (who learned from an Israeli slave girl) that Elisha was a prophet who could cure Naaman of his leprosy (which could have been any skin ailment). The Jewish Study Bible says that the problem “did not disfigure him or disqualify him from military office or entering temples in his homeland.”
In the omitted verses (4-6), the King sent Naaman to Elisha. He also sent a letter to the King of Israel asking that Naaman be cured of his leprosy and sent along staggeringly generous offerings. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says that the gifts amounted to 750 lbs. of silver and 150 lbs. of gold.
The King of Israel’s reaction to the letter emphasized that YHWH controlled life and death (v.7) and it also showed the foolishness of the Kings of Israel – a consistent Deuteronomic theme. The King refused the gifts and (in his anger and frustration) was about to tell Naaman to return to Aram. (The JSB points out that the King of Israel was not aware of Elisha’s healing powers.) Elisha prevailed on the King of Israel to allow Naaman to come to see that he (Elisha) was a true prophet (speaker for God).
Elisha’s prescription did not involve divine guidance or prayer as Naaman expected (v.13). Instead, Elisha directed Naaman to wash seven times in the River Jordan. After initially refusing to do so, Naaman’s servants convinced him to go there, and he went to the River Jordan and was healed (v.14).
In the concluding verses, Naaman stated that YHWH’s power was not territorially limited to the lands of Israel and Judea – it extended to the whole world (v.15), an important theological message the Deuteronomists sought to convey. Naaman also took some soil from Israel so he could make offerings to YHWH (v.17) because, as The JSB points out, he became convinced that while God is universal, God can only be worshiped on the soil of his chosen land, Israel.
The Jewish Study Bible notes: “One motif of the story is that people of higher status are dependent on people of lower status: Naaman on counsel from his wife reporting information from and Israelite slave girl (vv.2-3); the king of Aram on the king of Israel, and the latter on Elisha (vv.5-8); and Naaman on the advice of his own servants and Elisha (vv.13-15).”
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Reading
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David — that is my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.
14 Remind them of this and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of 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.”
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 1 Timothy as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
2 Timothy purported to be written by Paul from prison (v.8) and is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child” (v.2), loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death (4:6). Timothy was presented as a “third generation” Jesus Follower who followed both his grandmother and his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3), although nothing in 2 Timothy hints at Timothy’s Jewish background.
The JANT observes: “The author is concerned with two major issues: the suffering of believers for the gospel [citing verses] and the preservation of correct apostolic teachings [citing verses].”
Today’s reading includes a synopsis of the “gospel” (good news) that Paul preached in his epistles (e.g. Rom. 1.3). Jesus is the Messiah, was resurrected, and is a royal ruler (v.8). A recitation of his hardships was a common motif in Paul’s epistles and are repeated here (vv.9-10) to emphasize the depth of “Paul’s” faithfulness.
The JANT notes that the use of the word “criminal” (v.9) Is the same word used in the Gospel of Luke for those who were crucified with Jesus (23:32).
The sayings in verses 11 to 13 are likely a quotation from a hymn that would have been used in the Jesus Follower Community early in the Second Century.
Luke 17:11-19
Reading
11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
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 presents a story found only in Luke. Jesus was traveling between the Galilee and Samaria (v.11). The 10 lepers who approached nevertheless “kept their distance” (v.12) as prescribed by Leviticus 13.
Jesus directed the cured lepers to “show themselves to the priests” (v.14), so the “other nine” – presumably Jewish — lepers would have gone to Jerusalem where the priests were at the Temple. As The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out, the Samaritan leper would have been going to Mount Gerizim in Samaria.
The NOAB explains: “Samaritan is a geographical designation used also to name an inhabitant of Samaria, which was originally the capital of the former Northern Kingdom that fell to Assyria ca. 722 BCE. Samaritan became the term for persons living between Judea and Galilee who came to be regarded as a distinct ethnic and religious group. Tensions existed between Samaritans and Jews after the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon and remained in Jesus’ day.”
The background to seeing Samaritans as a distinct ethnic group arose from the intermarriage of Assyrians with persons in Northern Israel after 722. They were also a distinct religious group, in that the holy mountain for Samaritans was Mount Gerizim, and by the first century BCE, the Samaritans had their own version of the Torah – translated into Aramaic and called the Targum.
The NOAB points out that the phrase translated as “made you well” (v.19) is the Greek word “sesōken” which is literally translated as “saved you.”
2025, October 5 ~ Lamentations 1:1-6; Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
OCTOBER 5, 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.
Lamentations 1:1-6
Reading
1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter.
5 Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the LORD has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.
Commentary
In Christian versions of the Bible, Lamentations is included between Jeremiah and Ezekiel because of a tradition that the book was written by Jeremiah (just as the Psalms were incorrectly attributed to David and most Wisdom Literature was wrongly attributed to Solomon). According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Lamentations was likely composed in Palestine, and the author is unknown.
In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is not included with the Prophets, but is situated among the “Writings.” The Jewish Study Bible observes that “Lamentations is the eternal lament for all Jewish catastrophes, past, present, and future.” Accordingly, Lamentations is read in synagogues today on the day commemorating the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE.
Lamentations consists of a sequence of five lyric poems that lament the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the beginning of the Exile in 586 BCE. It was written in the period from 586 BCE to 520 BCE – during the Exile and after the Exile was over and the Temple was being rebuilt. The New Oxford Annotated Bible says that Lamentations contains “some of the Bible’s most violent and brutal pieces of writing.”
The NOAB points out that the first four chapters of Lamentations are written as an acrostic in which the first letter of each successive verse follows the sequence of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. (Other alphabetic acrostics in the Hebrew Bible are Psalm 119 and Proverbs 31:10-31.) It also observes: “Lamentations draws on a variety of literary genres, including communal and individual laments, the funeral dirge, and wisdom traditions, but gets its overarching shape and much of its imagery and subject matter from the city lament, a genre best known from ancient Mesopotamia [citing examples].”
The NOAB notes: “The LORD remains absent and silent throughout, and there is no suggestion of the restoration of Jerusalem or its Temple. The imagery of Lamentations evokes a sense of fragmentation and discontinuity, reflecting the suffering of the past.” At the end of Chapter 5, there is a plea for forgiveness and restoration.
Today’s verses are the opening part of an extended lament over Jerusalem, which has lost its lovers (i.e. allies) (v.2) and now lives among the “nations” (Gentiles) (v.3). For The JSB, the reference to “suffering and hard servitude” (v.3) is a recollection of the time in Egypt so that the time in Babylon is understood as a “second Egyptian enslavement.”
The theology of these verses is consistent with the Deuteronomic belief that if one engages in “bad acts” the consequences will be bad, and YHWH was punishing Jerusalem for its transgressions (v.5). The JSB notes: “The Babylonians are never mentioned by name. It is God who is responsible for the destruction.”
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Reading
1 The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
4 So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous – therefore judgment comes forth perverted.
2:1 I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
2 Then the LORD answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.
4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.
Commentary
After the death of the good King Josiah in 609 BCE, Judea went into a sharp decline, culminating with the Babylonian Exile, the first part of which began in 597 BCE and the second part of which began in 586 and lasted until 539 BCE. Josiah emphasized the Torah, but in the reign of his successors “the law became slack” (v.4).
Habakkuk prophesied (spoke for YHWH) from the time Josiah’s death to the first deportation of Judean leaders in 597 BCE. He was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah and his messages are similar to Jeremiah’s.
Today’s readings are cast as a dialogue between YHWH and the prophet. Habakkuk lamented the destruction and violence in Judea and the lack of justice (v.1) and protested that God neither saw nor acted to address human corruption and injustice.
In the verses between today’s readings (vv. 5-17), YHWH said that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) (1:6) would serve as the instrument of God’s justice to punish the Judeans.
In the second part of today’s reading, the prophet said he would be a sentinel (v.2:1), a role also assumed by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. YHWH replied that divine justice will come “at the appointed time” because of the righteous (vv.3-4). The JSB observes that verse 4 (translated by The Jewish Publication Society as “the righteous man is rewarded with life for his fidelity”) had “an important influence in Christianity, and in particular in the doctrine of justification through faith (see Rom.1.17).”
The NOAB observes that like Jeremiah, Habakkuk contended that an invading foreign power would serve as the divine instrument of judgment against Judah, but that in time Babylon itself would come under divine judgment. Habakkuk affirmed that God is still sovereign and in God’s own way and at the proper time, God would deal with the wicked. The NJBC notes that the prophecies were “in response to the burning theological issue of the time: Will God – indeed, can God – remain faithful to the promise [of the land and the Davidic rule] and deal graciously with Israel, even in the face of the overwhelming power and arrogance of the great empires?”
The JSB has an interesting note on the subsequent history of the book: “A long commentary on the first two chapters of Habakkuk has been preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This commentary, called by scholars Pesher [Interpretation] Habakkuk, understands this prophetic work as being actualized in its author’s own day centuries after Habakkuk was written. Specifically, it identifies Habakkuk’s Chaldeans, a name for the Babylonians, with the Kittim [people from the Mediterranean], almost certainly the Romans. This offers clear proof of how prophetic works were read and studied within a Jewish group that lived in the late Maccabean period as works that contain information about the life of their community of readers rather than arcane reports of past historical periods.”
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Reading
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I am grateful to God — whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did — when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
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.”
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 1 Timothy as Paul’s “loyal child” (1:2).
2 Timothy purported to be written from prison (v.8) and is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child” (v.2), loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death (4:6). Timothy was presented as a “third generation” Jesus Follower who followed both his grandmother and his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3), although nothing in 2 Timothy hints at Timothy’s Jewish background.
The JANT observes: “The author is concerned with two major issues: the suffering of believers for the gospel [citing verses] and the preservation of correct apostolic teachings [citing verses].”
Today’s reading contains a typical “Pauline salutation” followed by a “thanksgiving” for Timothy’s faith (vv. 3-7). “Paul” showed his connection to Judaism in saying that he worshiped “as my ancestors did” (v.3). The NOAB says: “The theme of 2 Timothy is announced in 1.8: that Timothy and all who follow him should not be ashamed of the gospel or its representative, Paul, but should stand in fidelity to them, even to the point of suffering similarly.” The JANT notes that “testifying or witnessing to Jesus’ crucifixion by Roman authorities and Paul’s imprisonment in Rome would suggest that the followers of the gospel were considered the followers of criminals.” Regarding this same verse, The NJBC notes: “Despite this reference to Jesus’ passion, it is Paul and not Jesus who is proposed as the prime model for imitation.”
Speaking as Paul, the author emphasized that his understanding of the gospel is the true one and presented the gospel proclamation in shorthand form in verses 9 and 10.
“Paul” asserted his status as a herald, apostle, teacher, and sufferer (vv. 11-12) as a prelude to criticizing persons who “have turned away from me” (v.15). The NOAB sees the reference to “that day” in verse 12 as showing the growing belief within the Jesus Follower Movement in a Second Coming of Christ when the Kingdom of God would be fulfilled.
Luke 17:5-10
Reading
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8 Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'”
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 distinct thoughts. The first set of verses criticized the apostles for having a lack of “faith” (pistis in Greek and understood better as “faithfulness”). In effect, even a miniscule amount (a mustard seed) of faithfulness could overcome a large tree (v.6). In Matt. 17:20, faith could “move mountains.”
The second part of the reading called for service without a desire for reward, and that doing one’s duty does not bring a reward. The Jewish Annotated New Testament points out that 17:9-10 is at variance with Luke 12:37 (“Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them”).
In commenting on verses 9 and 10, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary observes: “This is the other side of the coin of 12:35-37 [the story of the servants who were ready for the master’s return from the wedding banquet] which underscored God’s unmerited graciousness to disciples. Stressed here is responsible ministry on the part of church officials who till the field of the church and shepherd its flock. The point is not that disciples are not worth anything in themselves or in their work for the Lord. The fact that disciples have done their duty does not empower them to lay a claim upon God that they are worthy of God’s graciousness. That graciousness is and remains sheer gift.”
2025, September 28 ~ Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15; Amos 6:1a, 4-7;1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16: 19-31
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT
SEPTEMBER 28, 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 32:1-3a, 6-15
Reading
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, 3 where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.
6 Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” 8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.
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.
According to The Jewish Study Bible, Jeremiah was descended from the priestly line of Eli – 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 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” (1:2) and his prophesying lasted until 587 BCE, the “eleventh year of King Zedekiah” (1:3). 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 are 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.)
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 a portion of an extended post-Exilic prose insert that begins at Jer. 31:38. The New Oxford Annotated Bible refers to this section as an “Appendix” to the “Book of Consolation” (Chapters 30 and 31) in which the writer said that YHWH would restore Judea after the Exile.
Today’s reading purported to be set in 588 BCE (v.1), just before the Exile began. The NOAB notes that chronologically, this Chapter should follow Chapter 37 “and that its placement here emphasizes the centrality of the restoration of Jerusalem in postexilic expectations for the future.”
In January 588, the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem for a second time to put down another Judean revolt, and King Zedekiah imprisoned Jeremiah. The Jewish Study Bible says that the grounds for Jeremiah’s imprisonment would have been “treason because of his claims that God had given Jerusalem into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.” Jeremiah was able, however, (through Baruch) to arrange the purchase of land even though he was in prison. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that “the sale likely occurred in the summer during an interruption of the siege because Egyptian armies were marching against those of Babylon.”
Jeremiah’s purchase of land was intended to show a faith in the future restoration of Judea that The JSB describes as “a metaphor for God’s promise to restore Jerusalem.” The purchase price of 17 shekels of silver would have been seven ounces of silver (about $150 today) – a price much lower than the prices of other sales recorded in the Bible. The JSB notes that “the low price may be explained by the fact that the sale takes place during a siege.”
The sale of the land to Jeremiah by his cousin Hanamel was consistent with the law in Leviticus 25:25-28 that if a family member has financial difficulties, his land should be sold to a relative. The NOAB characterized this (vv.9-14) as “the most detailed account of a business transaction in the Bible.” Regarding the deeds (v.11), The NOAB explains: “The official copy of the deed, written on papyrus, was rolled up and sealed; the open copy was for easy reference. Similar storage of deeds in earthen jars is known from Elephantine in Egypt.”
Baruch, referred to in v.13, was Jeremiah’s secretary and was said to have recorded portions of what became the “Book of Jeremiah” (see Jer. 36:4).
Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Reading
1 Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall;
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music;
6 who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.
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 (7:14), 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.
In today’s reading, Amos (speaking for YHWH) harshly criticized the conspicuous consumption by the wealthy in both Jerusalem/Zion (v.1) and in Northern Israel and predicted their doom. (The NJBC sees the inclusion of Zion as a later addition because Amos’ prophesy was directed at Israel.) His mention of the “ruin of Joseph” (v.6) was a colloquial reference to the impending destruction of Northern Israel by Assyria in 722 BCE.
The “back story” to this reference to “the ruin of Joseph” is that according to Numbers 18, the Tribe of Levi was not allocated land because they were priests and received tithes from the other tribes. Therefore, there would have been only 11 tribes receiving land. To fix this, Joseph was not counted as one of the 12 tribes, but Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) were both counted among the 12 Tribes of Israel and were allocated land.
Because the Tribe of Ephraim became the largest and most prosperous of the Northern 10 tribes and King Jeroboam was an Ephraimite, the nation of Northern Israel was sometimes referred to as “Ephraim” or “Joseph.”
According to The NOAB, the reference to “beds of ivory” (v.4) is substantiated by archaeological evidence that found over 500 fragments of ivory in Samaria, and that some of the wealthy houses had ivory decorations and inlays.
The reference to David (v.5) reflected the tradition that David was an accomplished musician (1 Sam. 16:23) who played the lyre to soothe King Saul. Later Jewish tradition attributed the authorship of the entire book of Psalms to David.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible notes that the elites will be the first to go into exile, and that the “revelry” that will pass away (v.7) was “marzeah” in Hebrew, a social and funerary ritual banquet of Canaanite origin.
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Reading
6 There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
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.”
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 is most of the last chapter of the letter. The author emphasized contentment (v.6), which The NOAB notes is the translation of the Greek word “autarkeia”) which is a Stoic term meaning “self-sufficiency.” The NJBC refers to this as “stock invective drawn from the polemic of philosophers against their opponents. As in the Platonic dialogues, these latter are regularly depicted as ‘sophists’ who teach for pay and seek to please rather than present to the truth.”
The author cautioned against love of money as a “root of all kinds of evil” (v.10), and encouraged the active “pursuit” of righteousness and “fighting the good fight of the faith” (v.12). The reference to Pontius Pilate in verse 13 is the only mention of him (outside the Gospels and Acts) that appears in the New Testament. The “manifestation” (epiphaneias in Greek) (v.14) is a reference to the Second Coming, a term used in many of the Pastoral Letters.
The references in verses 15 and 16 of God as all-powerful, immortal, and invisible reflect the influence of Greek philosophy on the Jesus Follower Movement.
Luke 16:19-31
Reading
19 Jesus said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house — 28 for I have five brothers — that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”
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 is part of a chapter that deals primarily with the danger of riches. The “rich man” (v.19) in this story has historically been named “Dives” – which is Latin for “rich man.” Being dressed in purple was a sign of wealth. Purple was difficult to produce because it was derived from a specific kind of shellfish. The rich man’s selfishness was shown by his failure to assist the poor man “at his gate” (v.20).
The poor man named “Lazarus” is not to be confused with the brother of Martha and Mary who was raised from the dead by Jesus as recounted in John 11.
The story does not describe Lazarus’ character, but his presence “with Abraham” (v.22) indicated a blessed afterlife condition. The Jewish Annotated New Testament notes that “salvation in the Gospel of Luke is not contingent upon Jesus’ sacrificial death.”
Even in Hades, the rich man maintained his “status” and still saw Lazarus as having a lower station in asking Abraham to send Lazarus to the rich man with a drop of water (v.24) and to send him to “my father’s house” (v.27) to warn his brothers.
Although the reference in the text to someone coming back from the dead was to the poor man (v.28), some commentators see the reference in verse 31 (“someone rising from the dead”) as evoking Jesus’ Resurrection. After the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the primary division between the Jesus Followers and the Pharisees was whether Jesus had been resurrected.
2025, September 21 ~ Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
by Thomas O'BrienTODAY’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.”