This passage, Luke 7:11- 17, was alluded to recently in a passage in Luke 4:25-26 and serves to re-enforce Paul's assertion that the Gospel is for all nations. Elijah could have gone anywhere but God sends him to a non-Jewish Widow in Sidon.
Today's Psalm contains many familiar phrases:
Psa 30:5 His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psa 30:4 Sing praise to the LORD, all his faithful people! Remember what the Holy One has done, and give him thanks!
Today's Epistle is a continuation of last week's. Paul continues to defend his ministry and message. Not certain that this relates in any way to the other 3 lessons.
Today's Gospel is a continuation of last week's as well. In parallel with Elijah in Kings he raises a widow's only son from the dead ensuring her future support for children were a parent's only means of aid in old age and in the case of a widow in the present as well. Documenting such healings is important as a means of legitimizing his messianic activity.
Working Preacher insists on discussing the Gospel first. I always start with the OT Lesson finding nothing in the New that isn't already accessible in the Old. I could have comfortably been Jewish, or at least Reformed Jew. I'll bow to WP.
Isa 35:5 The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear.
Isa 35:6 The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert;
Isa 35:7 the burning sand will become a lake, and dry land will be filled with springs. Where jackals used to live, marsh grass and reeds will grow
As compared with:
Luk 7:22 He answered John's messengers, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.
All these are signs that the messiah has come. The verses quoted, of course are all outside today's lessons.
Working Preacher fails to comment on the Epistle as it has no relevance to the other three lessons unless you wish to harp upon the legitimacy of Paul's ministry and Elijah's actions on behalf of the widow proving his veracity as a Man of God. If you wanted to pursue this vein then Christ's miracles underpin his messiahship.
I would prefer to point out that Elijah truly cares for the plight of the widow just as does Jesus. It is this caring that gains emphasis in both stories, the sons are secondary characters in both cases. The Psalm emphatically re-enforces this message. To quote a soppy old Gospel Hymn:
"His eye is on the Sparrow
And I know he cares for me!"
The OT Lesson sees Elijah going to stay during a famine with the widow of Zarephath. The alternative lesson 1 Kings 17:8-16 tells the story of the cruet of oil which lasted throughout the drought, 17-25 that of the healing of her only son. These events serve to confirm for the widow that this truly is a Man of God. And once more we are reminded that she is not Jewish.
Psalm 30 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. It had never occurred to me before, there are 150 Psalms and 52 weeks in a year, how convenient for a three-year cycle of lessons.
Today's Psalm contains many familiar phrases:
Psa 30:5 His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psa 30:4 Sing praise to the LORD, all his faithful people! Remember what the Holy One has done, and give him thanks!
Today's Epistle is a continuation of last week's. Paul continues to defend his ministry and message. Not certain that this relates in any way to the other 3 lessons.
Today's Gospel is a continuation of last week's as well. In parallel with Elijah in Kings he raises a widow's only son from the dead ensuring her future support for children were a parent's only means of aid in old age and in the case of a widow in the present as well. Documenting such healings is important as a means of legitimizing his messianic activity.
Working Preacher insists on discussing the Gospel first. I always start with the OT Lesson finding nothing in the New that isn't already accessible in the Old. I could have comfortably been Jewish, or at least Reformed Jew. I'll bow to WP.
Isa 35:5 The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear.
Isa 35:6 The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert;
Isa 35:7 the burning sand will become a lake, and dry land will be filled with springs. Where jackals used to live, marsh grass and reeds will grow
As compared with:
Luk 7:22 He answered John's messengers, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.
All these are signs that the messiah has come. The verses quoted, of course are all outside today's lessons.
Working Preacher fails to comment on the Epistle as it has no relevance to the other three lessons unless you wish to harp upon the legitimacy of Paul's ministry and Elijah's actions on behalf of the widow proving his veracity as a Man of God. If you wanted to pursue this vein then Christ's miracles underpin his messiahship.
I would prefer to point out that Elijah truly cares for the plight of the widow just as does Jesus. It is this caring that gains emphasis in both stories, the sons are secondary characters in both cases. The Psalm emphatically re-enforces this message. To quote a soppy old Gospel Hymn:
"His eye is on the Sparrow
And I know he cares for me!"
The OT Lesson sees Elijah going to stay during a famine with the widow of Zarephath. The alternative lesson 1 Kings 17:8-16 tells the story of the cruet of oil which lasted throughout the drought, 17-25 that of the healing of her only son. These events serve to confirm for the widow that this truly is a Man of God. And once more we are reminded that she is not Jewish.
Psalm 30 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. It had never occurred to me before, there are 150 Psalms and 52 weeks in a year, how convenient for a three-year cycle of lessons.
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