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7th SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
This week, the first lesson and gospel passage share the theme of forgiveness. Also,
both passages express a caring attitude, the first on God's part for God's people and the
gospel on account of four faithful men who lower their paralytic friend through a hole
they dug through the roof in the hope for a miracle.
Isaiah 43:18-25-Streams in the Desert
Powerful words with the potential to uproot lethargy and unclog faithlessness break
through the first lesson. God says, "I am going to do a new thing" (v. 19). The
new thing is one of deliverance the awesomeness of which will overshadow even memories of
the exodus (v. 18). The words are especially remarkable considering they come from within
Babylon to a community of exiles. As God made a path through the sea for Israel’s
deliverance from Pharaoh, so God will make a way in the wilderness. Like flowing rivers
that promise new life to an arid landscape, God’s faithfulness will bring new life to
Israel.
2 Corinthians 1:18-22-God’s Yes
Ambivalence-the limping between yes and no-has no place in God’s promises embodied
in Jesus Christ. This startling statement from the 2nd lesson makes one wonder within what
context they could possibly have been uttered. The immediate background (vs. 15-17; 23)
suggests that Paul had change of plans on his missionary tour ("I made plans at first
to visit you . . . [but] I decided not to go to Corinth"). Such changes in travel
plans were viewed by some at Corinth Paul as a serious flaw of integrity. Paul defends his
plans and at the same time shifts to a theological parallel. As Paul is not fickle,
neither is God fickle. No limping here: Jesus is God’s Yes . . . to all of the
promises, who sets us apart, places God’s mark of ownership on us, and confers the
Spirit as the guarantee of what God has waiting for us in the future.
Mark 2:1-12-Faith Looking Down
News about Jesus continues to spread throughout Galilee as Jesus and his followers
return to Capernaum. Have they returned to Peter’s house? They’re assembled in
the house when, for the second time in Mark’s story, many crowd about the door (1:33;
2:2)-so much so that the entrance is blocked. Unlike the first house crowd, this time
Jesus is teaching, not healing or exorcising demons. At loggerheads about getting to Jesus
due to the swelling crowds, four friends manage to hoist a sick man atop the house and
tear the tiles off the roof to lower the man. Jesus delights in such faith and utters a
word of forgiveness to the man; teachers of the law take issue with such forthright
audacity. Jesus however, defends his words with another question and then demonstrating
his authority to save people from their sin/sickness.
