2023-Aug-13 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 2023-Aug-13: The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

 

1 Kings 19:9-18

Ahab was a ninth-century king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He married a Phoenician princess named Jezebel and joined her in worshipping Baal. Elijah appeared as the champion of the Lord (Yahweh), announcing a drought. Following the contest between Yahweh and Baal at Mt. Carmel, which the Lord won, Elijah orchestrated the slaughter of the prophets of Baal. Jezebel was displeased and sent word to Elijah that she was going to have him killed. He fled for his life, going into Judah, and so hopefully beyond Ahab and Jezebel’s reach. He travels forty days and nights through the wilderness until he reaches Mt. Horeb. There, Elijah has an encounter with God.
As our text opens, Elijah is in a cave on Mt. Horeb. The “word of the Lord” (1 Kings 19:9b) comes to him. The Lord poses a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” The short answer would be, “Running away from Jezebel,”
God responds to Elijah’s answer by telling him, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by” (1 Kings 19:11a). Like Moses meeting Yahweh in the burning bush at the top of Mt Sinai where he is told to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of bondage, here too Elijah is given orders to go to a hostile country on a special mission. The LORD said to him [Elijah], “Go back by the way you came, and on to the wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king of Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to succeed you as a prophet. Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael shall be slain by Jehu, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu shall be slain by Elisha. I will leave in Israel only seven thousand — every knee that has not knelt to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:15-18) 

Psalm 85:9-14

Psalm 85 is a communal prayer for help and can be divided into three sections or stanzas, 
verses 1-3: function as the call to confession 
verses 4-7: are a cry to God for restoration now and 
verses 8-13: are a warning within a wish for the future giving us a glimpse of God’s kingdom

Romans 9:1-5
This week’s epistle reminds us that the work we are called to do is hard work and it often takes a toll on our relationships. Paul seems to be defending himself against the charge that his law-free mission to the Gentiles entails a callous rejection of his own people and the laws of Israel (circumcision and food laws). But Paul has compassion for his own people who for some reason have not yet accepted Jesus Christ even though God has incarnated in Jesus Christ as one of them.

Matthew 14:22-33
In the preceding narrative, Jesus retreats to an isolated place to pray by himself, perhaps needing space to grieve the murder of John the Baptist, but after his spirit, mind, and body were rejuvenated, Jesus arose early in the morning (the fourth watch is between 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.) while still dark to help the Apostles caught in a stormy sea.
A ship was one of the earliest symbols for Christianity, and this story indicates why it was attractive: when surrounded by adversity, safety and salvation are experienced in the church with Jesus in its midst
Jesus walking on the water signifies that God the Father has given Jesus authority over the created order. Christ’s words to his worried students underscore his divine identity saying, "Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid." The common English translation of “it is me” obscures what the Greek really says, which is “I am” (egō eimi)—the same thing God says to Moses at the burning bush. 
Then like in an earlier passage Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus commands the storm to stop and it does. Again endorsing his power over all of God's creation. According to Job 9:8, God alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea. In Psalm 89:9, the psalmist exalts the Lord, “You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.” 
This leads the Apostle to exclaim, “Truly you are the Son of God. (14:33)” - a phrase we hear the Centurion say at the Crucifixion, "Truly this was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54)”. This centurion would probably have presided over the deaths of numerous criminals, and none of those individuals deaths was marked by the things that accompanied the death of Jesus. The moment Jesus died, there was a great earthquake—so great that rocks were splitting and tombs were opened. It is remarkable that the centurion recognized Jesus’ true identity and that he did so when Jesus died. Some refused to recognize Jesus as the Son of God even after He was raised from the dead.