I.Theme – Man’s relationship with God and to the world
The lectionary readings are here
The reading from Job continues to speak of God as the transcendent and powerful Creator. And yet, the psalmist knows that this transcendent God searches and knows us, and is always and intimately with us, in every moment of our lives. After all, God knit us together in our mothers’ wombs. And yet, as Paul points out to the Romans, human beings go astray, by claiming to be wiser than God and by worshiping their own idols. Jesus reminds us in the gospel reading that as his followers we are to be salt and light to the world, so that others may see our good works and give glory to God.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Job 38:1-18
The book of Job struggles with the mystery of why good people suffer when they ought to be rewarded for their good. The book was composed by adding poetic dialogue to a familiar folk legend.
The basic story found in the prose sections that begin and end the book (1:1–2:13, 42:7-17) tells of the righteous sufferer, the proverbial ‘patient Job’ (Ezekiel 14:14, 20; James 5:11).
Speaking out of profound faith, Job has asserted his innocence and challenged God to answer him (31:35-40) and account for his suffering.
In today’s reading, the lord speaks from the whirlwind in fulfillment of Job’s longing (13:22, 23:5, 30:20). Although God vindicates Job’s innocence and denounces the dogmatism of his friends (42:7-17), God’s ways are not to be comprehended.
God talks makes the followiong for his side based on deeds. God:
– Lay Foundation of the earth
– Determine measurements, comprehended its expanse
– Laid the cornerstone
– Set the heavens in motion so the”morning stars sangtogether”
– Controlled the sea
– Made the clouds its garment
– Mastered the light in times of day
The result is a kind of stand off. God does not give Job the explanation he wants, and Job does not surrender his own integrity. Rather, Job yields to the lord and is transformed by his experience of confrontation (42:5).
The resolution of the problem of the just person who suffers is hidden in the mystery of the person of God. God is truly free of all human restraints, even beyond the highest human standards of justice and mercy (Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:15). At the furthest extreme, God remains a “hidden God” (Isaiah 45:15) shrouded in unfathomable mystery.
Psalm – – Psalm 139
Psalm 139 is classified as an Individual Hymn of Thanksgiving. This text narrates a religious encounter with God that affirms human worth. Psalm 139 is something of an exception in the Old Testament, speaking strongly and positively about the individual. . But it also questions our rigorous pursuit of and desire for privacy, and whether such a pursuit is ultimately in our best interest. For while Psalm 139 is about the individual and has a very private feel to it, the psalm is even more about the invasion of our privacy – by none other than God. This is a comforting psalm in terms of God’s intimate knowledge of us and care for us.
Psalm 139 exudes overwhelming confidence and trust in God. Something dramatic has happened to the psalmist, and he now dwells comfortably and happily in the light of God. God has found him and brought him through something. The psalmist is overwhelmed with gratitude and satisfaction because God knows him and claims him. Fully known and yet fully loved, he exults in the intimacy of being known and cared for. This is a foretaste of heaven, where we will know as we have been known. Ps. 139 breathes the air of confident intimacy. The author is intoxicated by the God who is with him and will not reject him. He can’t hide anything now. His longings for guidance and for vindication are likewise known to God
In Psalm 139, the psalmist explores their own personal relationship with Yahweh and spells out precisely why Yahweh should respond to the petition in Ps 138:8. Yahweh has a lot invested in the psalmist as an individual. Yahweh’s knowledge of the psalmist is too wonderful, too high for even the psalmist to comprehend (Ps 139:6). With such commitment to searching the psalmist out (vv. 1-4), and with such fearful and wonderful work in forming the psalmist (vv. 13-16), the psalmist is overwhelmed with Yahweh’s care (vv. 17-18). But at the same time it is not possible for the psalmist to escape Yahweh who is all present and all knowing (vv. 7-12)
The psalmist celebrates the creative goodness of God in verses 1-18, and provides a glimpse of the oppression that occasioned the composition of the psalm in verses 19-22. It concludes with a plea to God to search for any ill-feelings towards others, presumably those who have so hurtfully oppressed
Epistle – – Romans 1:18-25
The Roman’s reading speaks to the break in the relationship between God and man.
The fundamental reason God’s wrath comes against man is that he rejects revelation. The underlying principle is that God wants man to know Him. To reject God’s desire to be known causes His wrath. The issue is man’s sin which separates man from God which God condemns since God is righteous and good
Verses 19 and 20 explain why God reveals His wrath. God provides sufficient evidence of Himself through creation—a source of our knowledge, albeit this understanding is limited because it does not give specific information about the gospel
God is everlasting, along with all His attributes. Creation is limited, perishable, and contingent. God is not limited, perishable, or contingent but man has worshiped creation rather than God. God made man to glorify Him since God’s glory is the manifestation of His greatness.
Man withdrew worship from Him. Man has worshiped creation itself creating subsitutes (idols) for God instead of focusing on God. Unbelief produced this action. They should have worshiped Him for providing food, water, beauty in creation, and many other things. Since people had come to a knowledge of God, they should have been thankful for His work of Creation.
Gospel – Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus provided the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 as an instruction manual that directly addressed the Messianic Jews of Antioch, who found themselves deeply embattled by the Pharisees and Sadducees. He exhorted his followers to consider the impact of their everyday living as people of faith on the communities they inhabit and in which they are called to serve and witness.
As Jesus begins, the audience is apparently his closest disciples (5:1); when he ends, the audience is much broader (7:28). The primary theme of the Sermon of the Mount is righteousness or justice (; the content that follows will give the specifics. Jesus’ teaching opens with the beatitudes (5:3-11).
The key meaning is this "..Joy or enduring happiness is discovered when we live outwardly focus on the needs of others”
Marek Zabriskie, the creator of the Bible Challenge has written “The world teaches us to obtain all that we can get for ourselves, to strive to succeed and not to fail, to be strong and not weak, to be aggressive and even to use violence, if others threaten to harm us, and to avoid unjust punishment or persecution.
In the Beatitudes, Jesus, turns the logic of the world on its head. He calls for living a counter-intuitive life with God. "
1 Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth;
When Jesus tells his disciples to "be salt," he is drawing on a number of Old Testament uses for salt. It was used for seasoning, preservation, and purifying (2 Kg. 2:19-22). It was used to ratify covenants (Num 18:29; Chr. 13:5) and in liturgical functions (Ex 30:35; Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24; Ezra 6:9). To eat salt with someone signified a bond of friendship and loyalty (Ezra 4:14; Acts 1:4). Salt scattered on a conquered city reinforced its devastation (Jg 9:45) (Reid, 35).
In rabbinic metaphorical language, salt connoted wisdom (Hill, 115). Today, salt adds flavor to food, cures food, creates traction on icy roads, and can serve as an antiseptic in wounds.
Since salt is a very stable, non-reactive compound, the only way it can lose its flavor is by being diluted with water
There are several ways scholars have suggested the disciples can lose their flavor. It all comes down to submitting to pressure
– Bending under persecution
– Bending under the pressure of the surrounding culture
2 "You are the light of the world.
You are blessed, now go and be a blessing.
In Jesus’ usage, the light is not simply to allow others to see whatever they wish but it is for others to witness the acts of justice that Jesus’ followers perform. Beyond that, it allows the audience to recognize the cause of these actions, the God of heaven.
Scripture scholar John Meier reminds us that there are two facets of the light image: it is meant for all, and it can be smothered only by the disciples’ own failure. In a one-room, windowless house, the lamp would stand in a central place where its rays could extend as far as possible. To extinguish the flame without sparks, the homeowner would place another vessel over the lamp. That thought can prompt self-examination: how do we undercut our own mission? How do we dim our light by lack of confidence, preoccupation with lesser things or a failure to believe?
3."Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill
In 5:17 the emphasis is not on abandoning or abolishing the Jewish faith, but fulfilling and upholding.
Jesus, says Matthew, did not come to lead people away from scripture but to lead them to take it seriously.
The paraphrase might be – Don’t think that my teachings replace or reduce the law and the prophets. And don’t think you can skip the details. Details count. But something more than the details is also needed. You must align your whole self with what God desires – that is what those in Heaven are like.
But he chooses to "fulfill" the law in the sense of interpreting their meaning for contemporary practice.
.. For Matthew there is continuity here. The disciples of Jesus stand in continuity with Israel, are true Israel in what it was called to be. The city on the hill would evoke Zion and the prophecies about peoples coming to worship God and learn of his Law on Zion from all peoples of the earth (as the magi did)
So putting it together
The disciples are to be salt and light by living the commitments and virtues Jesus states lead to blessedness in the Beatitudes (5:1-12). Matthew, out of his Jewish background, is not afraid to speak of the rewards for faithful discipleship (5:12).
Just as "salt" and "light" relate to the functions of Jesus’ faithful followers in the world, so Jesus’ emphasis on the law is about doing good
Salt and light are similar in that they are not useful by themselves – the value comes in application to other things. In Jesus’ usage, the light is not simply to allow others to see whatever they wish but it is for others to witness the acts of justice that Jesus’ followers