Rev Chris Roth

Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10;  Psalm 19;  1 Corithians 12: 12-31;  Luke 4: 14-21 There is an interesting thematic thread running through most of our readings today. In Nehemiah, the people have been returning from Exile, under the leading of Nehemiah as their governor and the priest Ezra. They gather the people and read from the Torah, the Law of Moses. And as they read they give interpretation, which is to say they were preaching on what they were reading, so people could understand what the Torah was saying. The people seemed to have been largely uneducated regarding the Law, and they begin weeping, presumably because of the ways their people had failed to keep the Law and have now endured the consequences by being taken into exile in Babylon. … And perhaps they weep because of the faithfulness of God in light of their own people’s rebellion. … But, instead of weeping, they are told to celebrate with rich food and wine. Their leaders, Nehemiah and Ezra, urged them to tr...

John 11:17-27 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus[ a ] had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles[ b ] away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ 23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ 24 Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ 25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.[ c ] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ 27 She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,[ d ] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’ Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ...

Isaiah 62: 1-5; Psalm 36: 5-10; 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11; John 2: 1-11 The coming of the Messiah is sometimes described as the Messianic Banquet, or the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. It is the time when the Messiah and his bride (God’s people) are finally unified. It is a fulfillment of the hopes of the prophets, who sometimes use marriage as a metaphor for the people’s relationship with God, though this is often in a negative sense. As in, the people are not living faithfully. The longing of the prophets is for a faithful marriage. Near the end of the book of Revelation, in chapter 19 it says,  “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (19:7). Isaiah prophesies to the people in chapter 62,  “For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is 62:5). The Messianic banquet is often described...

  Isaiah43: 1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8: 14-17; Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 The beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is marked by his Baptism. Two of the Gospels talk about the birth of Jesus, but all four speak about his baptism by John in the Jordan River. That says something about how important this event was. This event marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. That is the event we are celebrating today. We celebrated the feast of the Epiphany last week, and we remembered the visitation of the Magi to the child Jesus, and their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is a kind of revealing of who Jesus is. These people who aren’t Jewish, come and kneel before this child. It is symbolic of the nations recognizing Jesus as king. Technically speaking, Epiphany is a feast day and not a season, but the readings can lean towards us thinking about this as a season too. The baptism of Jesus is a kind of revealing. The English word "Epiphany" comes from a Greek word that has the imp...