Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 24.1-10 and John 9.1-17
Both passages for today have a relationship with the law
given in Exodus 23. The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20:1-17. The verses and two chapters that follow it provide
additional guidance.
The passage from Jeremiah mentions two baskets of figs given
as “first fruits” and uses them as a parable. Exodus 23:19 says, “Bring the
best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.” Stanley
Brice Frost explains that the two baskets of figs that Jeremiah sees in front
of the temple are two offerings of “first fruits” One of the baskets contains good fruit. The other contains fruit from either a very
bad crop or a very poor selection from the crop. (Remember that the priests depended upon
these offerings for their food!) The
contrast strikes Jeremiah forcibly; having brooded upon the worthy men being carried
off to Babylon and the poor leadership left behind; he sees the fruit as a parable
– an expression of the divine word. He states
a judgment that the future of Israel is with the exiles in Babylon. “My eyes will watch over them for their
good… for they will return to me with all their heart.”
The
image of the two baskets of figs is perhaps a good one for meditation. For your
centering thought, ask the question, “What kind of fruit am I setting before
God?”
The passage from John also relates to Exodus 23,
specifically the forbidding of work on the Sabbath, but the main focus is on
blindness – both physical and spiritual. Throughout the book of John, the
writer makes use of the contrast between light and darkness, sight and
blindness. The question of the disciples illustrates their spiritual blindness,
as they presume that in this man a punishment has been rendered: Is this man’s blindness the result of his sin
or is it the residual punishment of an ancestor? They were interested in
assigning blame. Did they not have
compassion for the man, or did it not occur to them that he could be healed? It
would, after all, be a miracle.
The religious authorities demonstrate their own blindness by
trying to find an excuse to discredit Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. They, too, were concerned with assigning blame
and cared nothing of the blind man. Exodus 23:12 enjoins the people to do no
work on the Sabbath that their animals and servants may rest; it is a recap of
the fourth commandment, Exodus 20:8-11. The
commandment is merciful toward those who labor.
Could Jesus have waited another day to heal the man? Sure.
Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. writes “to Jesus the Sabbath is a sign of the
new age of God’s work of re-creation; not a mere day of rest, closed by the ‘night…
when no one can work.’ (vs. 4)” This
implies a sense of urgency borne out by the rest of the gospel account. Night
cometh.
Jesus has come as light into the darkness to bring site to
the blind. “As long as I AM in the world, I AM the light of the world” (vs. 5, emphasis added). He is God among us, the great I AM. Jesus sees the man as a subject and not an
object, as a person in need of healing and not as a case study in the law.
Gracious God,
Help me this day to
see others as you see them and to love them as you love them.
Amen.
Allen Mabry, Early Class member, 6th Grade Sunday school teacher, Disciple Bible Study leader, Chancel Choir and DLC Oversight Board member
Allen Mabry, Early Class member, 6th Grade Sunday school teacher, Disciple Bible Study leader, Chancel Choir and DLC Oversight Board member
