First Isaiah Chapters 1-39 are generally attributed to the mid eighth-century prophet Isaiah, who witnessed a rise in Assyrian aggression toward Syria, Israel and Judah that resulted in military invasions through the end of the century and the downfall of Israel (the northern kingdom). In this text, Isaiah is asserting that Israel\u2019s disobedience will lead to a divine rebuke in the form of the Assyrian army. The words \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201cbloodshed,\u201d as well as the words \u201crighteousness\u201d and \u201ccry,\u201d sound similar in Hebrew. See Isaiah 27:2-6 for an intertextual response that anticipates the Lord\u2019s restoration of care for the beloved\u2019s vineyard.<\/p>\n\n
The psalmist\u2019s words immediately call to mind Isaiah\u2019s vineyard imagery, while referring to a current state of desolation. The destruction the prophet promised has occurred, most likely by the hand of the Babylonians in the early sixth century. Now many of Jerusalem\u2019s elite \u2013 royal officials, priests, scribes and the wealthy \u2013 are in exile and trying to make sense of their new lives in Babylon. They struggle to understand what the purpose was of the Lord\u2019s deliverance of their people from Egyptian slavery and their possession of the promised land if the story would suddenly end in divine abandonment and foreign misery. Their call for restoration includes a plea to return to their homeland as well as a renewed spirit so that they \u201cmay never turn away\u201d from the Lord again.<\/p>\n\n
This is an astonishing, and even horrific, listing of the trials endured by Israel\u2019s judges, kings and prophets, made possible by their faith in God. And \u201cyet all these \u2026 did not receive what was promised.\u201d What a breathtaking remark! It recalls the show-stopping ending of Moses\u2019 life on a peak in view of the promised land after all his travails to lead his people home.<\/p>\n\n
Surely our faith and actions wilt in comparison to these saintly figures \u2013 so where does that leave us? For the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, it leaves Christians in sore need of Jesus, \u201cthe pioneer and perfecter of our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The Greek word for \u201cwitness\u201d is the origin of the English word \u201cmartyr.\u201d Christians\u2019 cloud of saints crowds around us to support our often-feeble attempts to continue along the road before us. The Christian life is a marathon that cannot be sprinted for long, nor even run constantly by most. God calls then to perseverance in walking toward our heavenly home.<\/p>\n\n
The theme of judgment that ran through the Old Testament reading and psalm for today continues in this gospel passage. Jesus\u2019 tone is hard, determined, angry and sorrowful. Inevitably, we read (as Luke wrote) these lines in light of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion and resurrection, and so it appears reasonable to understand Jesus\u2019 \u201cbaptism\u201d as that of the Passion. But this self-referential statement does not easily release the wider world from the fire and division to come. Verse 53 alludes to Micah 7:6, in which the prophet upbraids the people for their perversion of justice so that even one\u2019s household is the site of conflict.<\/p>\n\n
How do we interpret the present time? How is Jesus calling each of us, the church, and the world to repentance?<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Isaiah 5:1-7 First Isaiah Chapters 1-39 are generally attributed to the mid eighth-century prophet Isaiah, who witnessed a rise in Assyrian aggression toward Syria, Israel and Judah that resulted in military invasions through the end of the century and the downfall of Israel (the northern kingdom). In this text, Isaiah is asserting that Israel\u2019s disobedience…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[340],"class_list":["post-766731","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-15c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":340,"label":"Proper 15C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952130,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766731\/revisions\/952130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}