Second Sunday after the Epiphany
God can be found in the most unexpected of places.
and
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found
Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now
Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
“We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote,
Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael
said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him,
“Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw
Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in
whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael
asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under
the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael
replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I
told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than
these.” 51And he said to him,
“Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1:43-51
Philip
the Apostle
LA
TOUR, Georges du Mesnil de
1625
Chrysler
Museum of Art
Norfolk,
Virginia
This oil on
canvas painting depicts Saint Philip as a “rugged man of the people."
His head is
bowed and hands are in prayer. A plain wooden cross-staff leans against his
shoulder.
with like-minded others and have
little or no contact with people with different opinions.
~ Ralph Bellah
The information which formulates our narratives
might be true, partially true, or even false.
When peoples’ understandings only run parallel to the
narratives of others,
there is no possible means for discussion.
Growth and healing require interaction.
~ William Galston
Rotary Peace Team Meeting at Starbucks
Rowdy Rotarians at the Wild Game
Gabriel Wilson gave instructions for
Line Dancing.
Kimberly and Chuck Adams, our president.
Great training for our upcoming Denim and Diamonds
fund-raising event!
(I just ate and took pictures. <gr>)
Harley has lost a little bit of weight!
CONGRATULATIONS ANNE!
Anne Vickstrom’s new book has FINALLY been released!!!
Actively reflect on how your own partisanship
hurts your ability to see the full truth.
~ Tom Fuerst
January 14, 2024 Second Sunday after the
Epiphany Year B
Previous OPQs may be found at:
12“All things
are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful
for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food
is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both
one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and
the Lord for the body. 14And God
raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are
members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them
members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do
you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her?
For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But
anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person
commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are
not your own? 20For you were
bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Agnus
Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with
the permission of www.agnusday.org
Agnus Day appears with
the permission of www.agnusday.org
Martin Luther King, Jr.
LECTIONARY
1 Samuel 3:1–10 (11–20)
Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18
1 Corinthians 6:12–20
John 1:43–51
Summary
Jesus, revealing himself, calls his servants to him. Nathanael’s response to that call is particularly poignant for people in our age of isolation who are seeking identity: “How do you know me?” The Fathers’ opinion of Nathanael as a learned man, versed in the Scriptures, cuts an even more striking parallel to modern people. Nathanael is famous for his skepticism of how the Messiah could come from Nazareth.
But far from making him out to be a doubter like Thomas, John Chrysostom (in his Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily XX) praises Nathanael for not being taken in so easily. His inquiry of how anything good could come from Nazareth reveals his attentiveness to the Scriptures—since Bethlehem, not Nazareth, is named by the prophets as the homeland of the Messiah. But still he follows Phillip’s invitation to “come and see” for himself, revealing that he is not so blinkered as to think that nothing unexpected could be true. This is an invitation to intellectually inclined modern people, both to praise the use of their minds to search the Scriptures for the truth, but also an invitation to go and directly experience the risen Lord.
Jesus also reveals that he knew Nathanael even before he got up to follow him. St. Augustine saw the fig tree spread over Nathanael as a reference to the dominion of sin. Jesus’ selection of him shows how the Lord seeks us out, by prevenient grace, to turn us to him before we could even know how (Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VII).
https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/
THE WORD:
After the beautiful Prologue to his Gospel, the evangelist John recounts a series of brief scenes that serve as an introduction to his “Book of Signs.” In the course of four days, Jesus organizes his ministry in a series of encounters with John the Baptist (day one and two), Andrew and Simon (day three), and, in today’s reading, Philip and Nathanael (day four). Each of these encounters provides a testimonial to the divinity of this Jesus: Lamb of God, Messiah, Son of God, King of Israel. The evangelist seeks to impress this Christology in the minds of his readers as he begins his narrative.
In today’s pericope, Philip, who has been called by Jesus, approaches Nathanael. Nathanael provides a bit of vinegar to the story with his caustic remark, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael’s gibe (probably reflecting the rivalry typical between towns and regions) might also be included by John as a preview of the later rejection of Jesus by the Jewish establishment because of his origins.
Nathanael also serves as the model of the “true Israelite,” part of the “remnant” who have faithfully awaited the fulfillment of God’s reign in the coming of the Messiah and now see that hope fulfilled in Jesus.
(Some scholars believe that Nathanael continued in Jesus’ company as one of the Twelve. They suggest, though there is no conclusive evidence, that Nathanael is the apostle identified as “Bartholomew” in several New Testament lists of the apostles because Bartholomew’s name follows that of Philip.)
First Reading 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under
Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2At
that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see,
was lying down in his room; 3the
lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of
the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then
the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for
you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and
lay down. 6The Lord called again,
“Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called
me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and
the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time.
And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then
Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore
Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his
place.
10Now
the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel
said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11Then
the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will
make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On
that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his
house, from beginning to end. 13For
I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity
that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain
them. 14Therefore I swear to the
house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by
sacrifice or offering forever.”
15Samuel
lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.
Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But
Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli said, “What was it that he told you?
Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide
anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So
Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the
Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
19As
Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the
ground. 20And all Israel from Dan
to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
1 O
LORD, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit
down and when I rise up;
you discern my
thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my
path and my lying down,
and are acquainted
with all my ways.
4 Even before a word
is on my tongue,
O LORD, you know it
completely.
5 You hem me in,
behind and before,
and lay your hand
upon me.
6 Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me;
it is so high that
I cannot attain it.
13 For it
was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me
together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your
works;
that I know very well.
15 My
frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven
in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my
unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that
were formed for me,
when none of them
as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are
your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum
of them!
18 I try to count them —
they are more than the sand;
I come to the end —
I am still with you.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are
beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by
anything. 13“Food is meant for
the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the
other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for
the body. 14And God raised the
Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do
you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take
the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to
a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one
flesh.” 17But anyone united to
the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun
fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the
fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or
do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which
you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For
you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found
Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now
Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
“We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote,
Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael
said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him,
“Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw
Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in
whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael
asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under
the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael
replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I
told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than
these.” 51And he said to him,
“Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”