Lectionary 3C Gospel - Luke 4:14-21

After being tempted in the wilderness and still in the power of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee. News about him spread throughout the surrounding region, for his teachings in their synagogues were praised by all.

When Jesus went to Nazareth, his hometown, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, like he usually did, and stood up to read. He was given a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which he opened and read:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

who has anointed for this purpose:

to bring good news to the poor, he sent me,

to proclaim release to the captives

and to the blind recover of sight,

to send the oppressed freedom,

to announce a time which is pleasing to the Lord."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant, and sat down with every eye in the synagogue watching him. And he said to them, "Today this scripture y'all just heard is fulfilled."

Lectionary 2C Gospel - John 2:1-11

Three days after John the Baptist publicly announced Jesus' primacy there was a wedding in Cana of Calilee, and Jesus, his mother, and his disciples were invited. When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." Jesus replied, "So what? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever he says to you, do it."

In the all there were six stone water jars for the Jewish cleansing rituals each of which held about twenty-five gallons of water. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill those jars with water." So they filled them to the very top. Then he said to them, "Now take some and give it to the head steward." So they did. And when the head steward tasted the water, it had become wine! But he did not know where it came from. Only the servants who brought the water knew. So the head steward called the bridegroom over and said to him, "Everyone else puts out just enough good wine for the guests to get drunk and then brings out the cheaper stuff. But you have hidden the best wine until now!?"

This was the first of Jesus' signs in Cana of Galilee revealing his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

The Baptism of Our Lord C Gospel - Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

The people expected much from John and were pondering in their hearts whether he was the Christ. John told them, "I baptize y'all with water, but one who's more important than me is coming. I am not worthy to take off his shoes! He'll baptize y'all with the Holy Spirit and fire, for he's bringing his combine and swather to clean up his field. He will gather the grain and put it in his elevator, but the straw he will burn with an unstoppable fire."

While all the people were coming to John to be baptized, Jesus also came. After he was baptized and was praying, heaven tore open and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven: "You are by beloved son, with you I am well pleased."

Notes on this Passage

For city folk:

Combines are the large machines used to harvest grains. The harvest is moved from the combine into a grain truck and then taken into the elevator.

Swathers are the pull-behinds used to pile the stalks in rows before they get rolled into hay bails.

The descent of the Spirit was a violent action.

In this account, only Jesus hears the voice from heaven, which happens after he's baptized by John and off praying. As a result, John doesn't know who he's baptized.

Christmas 2A, 2B, 2C Gospel - John 1:[1-9]10-18

[In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word existed from the beginning with God. Everything was created through the Word, and nothing was created without the Word. What came from the Word was life - the life that is the light of humanity - and the light appears and shines in the darkness, and the darkness can neither understand it nor overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him. But he wasn't the light, he only bore witness to the light. The true light which gives light to all humanity was coming into the creation.]

The light was in the creation, and the creation existed because of the light, but the creation did not recognize the light. He came to his own, and his own did not welcome him. But to any who welcome him, he gives the power to become children of God - to any who believe in his name - who aren't born from the desires of flesh or man, but are born from the will of God. And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent in our midst, and we see his glory - the glory as of a father's only son - full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about the Word, calling out, "This is the one of whom I said, 'Though he comes after me, he came before me,' for he is greater than me because in his fullness we all receive grace upon grace." For the Law was given through Moses, but the grace and the truth are given through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God. It is only God the Son who has seen the heart of the Father and makes it fully known.

Notes on this Passage

The prologue to John is filled with double entendres:

In the Greek, "the word," "the light," and "the life" are all tied together by the use of pronouns. This is very hard to translate into English, so I've simply replaced most of the pronouns with one of the three references as seemed appropriate.

The verbs for "shine" and "overcome" have alternate translation possibilities which I've simply incorporated into the translation. They DO matter, so don't just write them off. Jesus' appearance and shinning are mutual. Understanding and overcoming are both necessary for success - and yes, this has direct implications for how much we can (or can't) understand God.

I use "creation" instead of "world" in recognition of the unique action God has taken in Jesus and to deepen the reinterpretation of Genesis 1 which John raises up earlier.

What I've translated as "desire" and "will" is the same Greek word, but I see enough of a difference to support this translation. Here's the argument:

If you want to use "the desire of God," it makes a good talking point and is also supportable as it raises up the difference between our desires and God's desire. What is not supportable is "the will of the flesh" and "the will of man." Given the birth idea here and again in John 3, it makes more sense to talk about "the desire of the flesh" and "the desire of man" (which here is clearly "man") since what's being lifted up is the difference between the human or masculine desire for sex and God's desire for us. Am I nit-picking? Probably, but don't hide that John is referring to our desire for sex as compared to God's desire for us - that's the whole point.

I prefer the literal translation of "pitched his tent" because of the direct allusions to the wandering in the wilderness of the Pentateuch.

I extended John the Baptizer's recognition of Jesus' position because it makes more sense to me with John's roll as the Witness instead of the Baptizer in this gospel. He knows why Jesus is more important, but the particular interpretation I give to the author.

What Jesus has seen is not just the presence of God as Moses saw on the mountain, but the very heart of God which he shows to us.