Judgment and Grace

2 Kings 22:14-23:3
When King Josiah inquired of the Lord through the prophetess Huldah he was told that Judah would be punished according to its sins, just as the book of Deuteronomy described. But because Josiah was faithful and had set his heart on worshiping and following God according to the law, he would not live to see the disaster that God would bring against Jerusalem. In this way Josiah strikes me as a counterpoint to Moses who, because of his actions, was not allowed to enter the promised land but only allowed to glimpse it from a nearby mountain. Moses did not live to see Israel established in its new home. Josiah would not live to see its final downfall, all based on God’s judgment.

1 Corinthians 11:23-34
In verses 23-26 Paul relates to his readers in Corinth the words of Jesus during the last supper and how they guide the practice of communion. In verse 26 Paul writes, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” According to the Oxford Annotated Study Bible “the celebration (of communion) is a sermon on ‘Christ crucified.’” In other words our actions in the practice of communion help to elucidate the crucifixion and its meaning for the world. This reminds me of an adage that is used in playwriting circles. When you want to convey information in a play, “show me, don’t tell me.” The act of communion is inherently dramatic, and one of its purposes is to “show us” the truth of the crucifixion in ways that we could not be told.

Matthew 9:9-17
In verse 13c Jesus says, “For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” This really has to do with perception, I think. Because of their mindset and attitudes the Pharisees were not in sync with God’s will, yet they believed themselves to be righteous, and in a very narrow interpretation they were—at least according to the details of the law. The ones that Jesus called sinners knew that they were not righteous, and in many cases had given up trying. This self-understanding made them receptive to the good news that Jesus had to share, while the attitude of the Pharisees kept them from seeing who Jesus was and what he had to offer.