{"id":767054,"date":"2014-07-06T21:08:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T01:08:28","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:00:11","slug":"bible-study-proper-9-a-2014","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-proper-9-a-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 9 (A) &#8211; 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><hr>\n<h4><strong>Zechariah 9:9-12<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Writing after the return from exile, the prophet Zechariah expresses the vision for the restoration of the Kingdom. In the case of today\u2019s passage, the vision is one of God as the Divine Warrior \u201ctriumphant and victorious\u201d as he protects Jerusalem from invaders, brings peace and reigns \u201cto the ends of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>The passage is notable however for verse 9: \u201cLo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.\u201d This is, of course, the image and text picked up by the gospel writers of Matthew and John when they describe Jesus\u2019 entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. God is paradoxically both humble and the ruler of the world.<\/p>\n\n<p>Verses 11-12 remind us that God also remembers God\u2019s covenant, and because of that promise will set prisoners free and \u201crestore to you double.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>The image of Jesus riding on the donkey into Jerusalem is so familiar because of the Palm Sunday liturgy. In what ways is God both humble and powerful?<\/li>\n\t<li>What does the wonderful turn of phrase \u201cO, prisoners of hope\u201d in verse 12 suggest? In what ways are you a prisoner of hope?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Psalm 145:8-15<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Coming near the end of the psalter, this hymn of great praise recalls in verse 8 the passage from Exodus 34:6, which proclaims, \u201cThe Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.\u201d Because God is \u201cgood to all,\u201d all things in creation \u2013 people, trees, animals \u2013are to give thanks and tell of God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>How do you praise God?<\/li>\n\t<li>Does patriotism interfere with our praise of God as sovereign? How do we balance love of country and love of God? What does this psalm suggest?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Romans 7:15-25a<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>This reading contains Paul\u2019s famous explanation of the human conundrum: \u201cI do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate!\u201d A universal experience for human beings, we cannot \u201cwill our way\u201d to righteousness. Even when we know what is right, too often desires overtake us and we behave in ways we would not choose in a perfect world.<\/p>\n\n<p>But that is Paul\u2019s point; we are not living in a perfect world, but rather in a world filled with sin. Paul asks, \u201cWho will rescue me?\u201d and answers his own question: \u201cThanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!\u201d Jesus is the One who rescues us from sin and \u201cthis body of death.\u201d We have no power in ourselves alone. We must rely on God and God\u2019s saving action through Jesus Christ. Nothing else can save us.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Can you relate to Paul\u2019s dilemma?<\/li>\n\t<li>How does Christ \u201crescue\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Jesus is speaking to a crowd and laments the ways they have not understood both John the Baptist\u2019s ministry and Jesus\u2019 own ministry. They have accused John of \u201chaving a demon\u201d because he fasted, and criticized Jesus for eating with \u201ctax collectors and sinners.\u201d The messages of each were lost in the face of criticism about what and with whom they ate! Jesus says that \u201cwisdom is vindicated by her deeds,\u201d suggesting that His actions, miracles and healings, which many people had witnessed, were much more important than the petty criticism about who his dinner companions were.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>How often do we focus on details of a situation or a person and miss the greater message?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>In the last part of today\u2019s gospel, we have Jesus\u2019 invitation: \u201cCome to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.\u201d Thank goodness! In spite of our petty inclinations, and in spite of our blindness to God\u2019s truth so much of the time, Jesus shows us again and again God\u2019s \u201csteadfast love.\u201d He knows that all of us are weary and carrying heavy burdens; this is a wide-open invitation to all of us to \u201cyoke\u201d ourselves to Christ and finally find \u201crest for [our] souls.\u201d Jesus does not promise that our burdens will be gone, but rather that he will walk next to us, sharing the weight of them as we walk together.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Think about the image of a pair of oxen pulling weight that neither could possibly do on their own. What burdens are you carrying that might be lighter if you were yoked to Christ?<\/li>\n\t<li>The other meaning of \u201cyoked\u201d is to be like the one you are yoked to, as a student is to a teacher. Jesus says \u201cI am gentle and humble in heart.\u201d In what ways are you gentle and humble as you seek to be more like Jesus?<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zechariah 9:9-12 Writing after the return from exile, the prophet Zechariah expresses the vision for the restoration of the Kingdom. In the case of today\u2019s passage, the vision is one of God as the Divine Warrior \u201ctriumphant and victorious\u201d as he protects Jerusalem from invaders, brings peace and reigns \u201cto the ends of the earth.\u201d&#8230;<\/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":[93],"class_list":["post-767054","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-9a"],"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":93,"label":"Proper 9A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/767054","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\/767054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952356,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/767054\/revisions\/952356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}