Readings for March 23rd

Psalm 118:1-2

1 Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:

“His faithful love endures forever.”[1]

. . .

14 Adonai is my strength and my song;

he has given me victory.[2]

15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.

The strong right arm of Adonai has done glorious things!

16 The strong right arm of Adonai is raised in triumph.

The strong right arm of Adonai has done glorious things!

17 I will not die; instead, I will live

to tell what Adonai has done.

18 Adonai has punished me severely,

but he did not let me die.[3]

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,

and I will go in and thank Adonai.[4]

20 These gates lead to the presence of Adonai,

and the godly enter there.

21 I thank you for answering my prayer

and giving me victory!

22 The stone that the builders rejected

has now become the cornerstone.

23 This is Adonai’s doing,

and it is wonderful to see.

24 This is the day Adonai has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.[5]

Jeremiah 31

“On that day,”[6] says Adonai, “I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they will be my people.[7] 2 This is what Adonai says:

“Those who survive the coming destruction

will, even in the barren land, find blessings,

for I will give the people of Israel rest.”

3 Long ago Adonai said to Israel:

“My people I have loved you, with an everlasting love.

I have drawn you to me with unfailing love.

4 I will rebuild you,

Israel, my maiden.

You will again be happy and with your tambourines you will dance joyfully.

5 Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria

and eat there from your own gardens.

6 The day will come when a shout will come from the watchmen,

from the hill country of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion

to worship Adonai our God.’”[8]

John 20

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”[9]

3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings[10] lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside.[11] He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.[12]

11 Mary[13] was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus,[14] but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Ma’am,[15] why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”)[16].

17 “Don’t cling to me,[17]” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go[18] find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Colossians 3

1 Since you have been raised to new life[19] with Christ, keep your eyes on the realities of heaven,[20] where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Concentrate the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory

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[1][1] Response from the people was a common feature of ancient religious songs. This is probably literal, “okay everyone, I say ‘give thanks to the Lord for he is good,’ you say, ‘his love endures forever.” Both parts probably had trained singers: part one would be the director, part two would be the choir.

[2] One of the musical forms this Psalm is mimicking is a war chant.

[3] This verse indicates the setting is after a battle where they won at great cost. There were probably heavy losses and those who lived are now thanking God to be alive.

[4] What do you do when you win a battle? You go to the temple to thank God

[5] As much as it would be nice if this was a general statement, this seems to actually be about rejoicing even though you had severe losses in battle.

[6] “That day” is a common way of referring to an ideal time in the future, as well as a time of destruction. This concept would be worked out in the Apocalyptic writings like Revelation.

[7] This implies that they are not all his people at the present time; perhaps a reference to idoltry.

[8] Instead of seeing danger, they see Adonai coming for them.

[9] Who does she think took him? Romans? Jewish leaders? Does she think that someone stole the body to desecrate it? To use Jesus as a martyr? Or does she just think that they have moved him from this tomb, that does not belong to the family, to a permanent resting place without telling her?

[10] Jesus had been wrapped in strips of cloth glued together with about seventy pounds of burial perfumes and spices.

[11] Did he wait for fear of what he would find? Did he think that armed men might be waiting?

[12] This seems like an odd anticlimax; also, why didn’t they bother to tell poor Mary?

[13] Still Magdalene

[14] Is it any wonder that people wanted to know more about Mary Magdalene since Jesus chose to appear to her before anyone else?

[15] Literally “woman,” or γυναι which is a common way of addressing a woman, but also seems to carry an undertone of affection for Jesus, who uses the term to refer to his mother. Γυναι can mean either “woman” or “wife,” which may have led to the much later tradition that she was his wife. That someone might cover up such a marriage early on is a silly idea since it was completely unimportant theologically that he was single until the catholic church began to view sex as inherently sinful. This happened by the second century, I think, due to the fact that the Greeks misunderstood both the Hebrew distain for extra-marital sex/ prostitution and the story of the virgin birth, which was important only as a miracle and as the fulfillment of the prophetic word when it happened, but later led to the Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary (see The Protoevangelium of James), which is in obvious violation of the biblical text, which mentions Jesus’ brothers and sisters. They have to do rather questionable logical acrobatics to try to get there, and I suspect that only a change in worldview and the support of the Roman church allowed them to get away with such a leap.

[16] “of The Language of the Hebrews” is a more accurate description, since this is Syriac (Aramaic), not Hebrew.

[17] This is not an admonition not to touch him, but rather, Jesus is telling her to let him go so that he can complete his task. It may also be his warning that he will never be the same, that the old Jesus is transformed and will never again be just a wandering teacher.

[18] In effect, and from a linguistic point of view, Mary Magdalene has become the first actual evangelist, or apostle (which means missionary) of the Gospel of Jesus’ resurrection when she fulfills this task, thus the title “the apostle to the apostles,” which is of ancient origin and is still used today by Orthodox and Catholic leaders.

[19] Note that Paul believes that, through baptism, salvation has already happened, even to the point of resurrection. This does not mean that he sees this as the whole of salvation. No, the verb indicates that the process of being raised may have already happened, but the results keep on continuing.

[20] This is more Platonic/ Pythagorean language.