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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIsaiah 42:1-4 is known as one of the Songs of the Suffering Servant, based on a figure who appears again in Isaiah in chapters 49, 50, 52 and 53. In the Christian tradition, interpreters have read this passage as predicting Jesus, but this kind of reading can be harmful, as it often erases Jewish interpretation of a Jewish text. The figure of the suffering servant has been interpreted in Jewish tradition as a king or a prophet, but most often as the nation of Israel as a whole. Israel will suffer because its people work for God\u2019s justice and righteousness, but they will ultimately be rewarded and redeemed by God for this work. In this passage, after a description of the leadership of the suffering servant, God reinforces the covenant with Israel, describing taking the nation by the hand and giving Israel as a \u201clight to the nations\u201d who will do God\u2019s work of setting free those who are imprisoned and oppressed. God loves Israel and has chosen them for this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Jesus was Jewish, and as a member of God\u2019s beloved nation of Israel, he was called to the work of servant leadership for justice and righteousness. Jesus calls his followers to this same work. When and how have you felt called to work for justice on behalf of others? What was that experience like for you? How was it difficult? How was it rewarding?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 36:5-11<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
While in our Gospel reading, Mary shows extravagant love for Jesus, here our psalmist rejoices in God\u2019s extravagant love for us. God\u2019s hospitality and love are not reserved for people in a particular group or community or religion. The \u201cabundance\u201d of God\u2019s \u201chouse,\u201d God\u2019s steadfast love and the refuge of God\u2019s wings are for all people. Our psalmist further reminds us that our Creator\u2019s boundless love and care extend not just to humans, but to all of creation: \u201cYou save both man and beast, O Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- How have you witnessed or felt God\u2019s love in your life or in the lives of others?<\/li>
- When was a time it was difficult to feel God\u2019s love? What are the implications of God\u2019s love being not only for humans but for all living creatures?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Hebrews 9:11-15<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The author of the letter to the Hebrews presents Christ as a royal high priest, who instead of sacrificing offerings of grain or animals as earthly priests did in the temple, sacrifices himself on behalf of humanity. Christ\u2019s loving self-sacrifice on the cross and God\u2019s final word of love in the resurrection have been interpreted by some theologians as God\u2019s \u201cno\u201d to violent sacrifice. During Jesus\u2019 life, his words and actions amplify the message that God delivers throughout the Bible\u2019s prophetic literature: \u201cI desire mercy, not sacrifice\u201d (Hosea 6:6; Matt. 9:13). In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus opens God\u2019s covenant of mercy and love to all. Another way theologians have approached atonement is as \u201cat-one-ment\u201d: Jesus\u2019s self-giving life and ministry, his death, and his resurrection all serve to destroy sin and death and unify us with God and with God\u2019s love for us. Through this unification, to return to the words of the author of Hebrews, we are moved to respond and \u201cworship the living God,\u201d who offers us this \u201cpromised eternal inheritance\u201d of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- What would it mean to you to think of Jesus\u2019s death and resurrection as God\u2019s \u201cno\u201d to all violent sacrifice? As God\u2019s \u201cat-one-ment\u201d with us?<\/li>
- The author of Hebrews writes that worship of God is one appropriate response to Jesus\u2019s self-sacrifice. How might you respond to Jesus\u2019s self-giving love in your own life?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
John 12:1-11<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
John\u2019s Gospel tells us that before he rides into Jerusalem on the path that will lead to the cross, Jesus returns to the house of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Jesus loves his three friends (John 11:5), and it is clear that they love him in return, as they offer the hospitality of their home and table. Mary\u2019s anointing of Jesus\u2019s feet is an extravagant gesture of this love. Offering hospitality was an important practice of Jesus\u2019s time period, and part of good hospitality was washing the feet of one\u2019s guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary goes above and beyond, anointing Jesus\u2019s feet with richly fragrant oil, and drying his feet, not with a towel, but with her own hair. Is this love out of gratitude for Jesus\u2019s own extravagant act of love in bringing Lazarus back from the dead? Is this love not only of friendship but of worship because Mary, like her sister Martha (John 11:27), knows her friend to be the Son of God? Is this love out of sorrow and grief for Jesus\u2019s impending death? Oil was (and still is) used not only for burial but also for healing. Does Mary lovingly anoint Jesus not only as preparation for his death but also as a way to give healing to him in his time of suffering? Perhaps Mary acts out of all of these places of love, a love beyond what can be said\u2014a love expressed not with words but with her hands, her hair, her whole body, and the strong, memory-making scent of fragrant oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Imagine yourself in the scene of Mary anointing Jesus\u2019s feet. Read the passage slowly several times. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What emotions do you feel?<\/li>
- Mary shows her love for Jesus without words. What are some ways we might show our love for Jesus today, with or without words?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
This Bible study, written by Melissa Howell, originally ran for Monday in Holy Week in 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bible-Study-English-Monday-in-Holy-Week-2020<\/strong><\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\nBible-Study-English-Monday-in-Holy-Week-2020<\/strong><\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Isaiah 42:1-9 Isaiah 42:1-4 is known as one of the Songs of the Suffering Servant, based on a figure who appears again in Isaiah in chapters 49, 50, 52 and 53. In the Christian tradition, interpreters have read this passage as predicting Jesus, but this kind of reading can be harmful, as it often erases…<\/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":[23,36,52,3],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-768228","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-holy-week","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-monday-in-holy-week"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":36,"label":"Holy Week"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":133,"label":"Monday in Holy Week"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/768228","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\/768228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952016,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/768228\/revisions\/952016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}