Sunday 26th November 2023 (’02) : OUR LORD JESUS UNIVERSAL KING : A
1. EZEK34:11-12, 15-17 (What about the warm vv13-14?)
* Read 34:1-31! Yahweh’s passionate diatribe against TheOfficialShepherds!
* Why has this critique been bla-bla-ed, as if it applied, only to Israel’sShepherds?
* Or is it impossible to hear biblical oracles&stories as having any impact nowadays?
Apart from the occasional deemed worthy of authoritative&authentic interpretation!
* Is EZEK34:1-31 being carefully weighed&explored by each ‘pastoral council’?
* In this excerpt, what are the priorities&aptitudes of a ‘true shepherd’?
* ‘Yahweh’ says, I will do this&that! But who will courageously embody it?
* What aspects of this excerpt is my local neglectfull of?
2. THE PSALM : 22:1-3, 5-6 (Verse 4, arguably the best, omitted!)
* Read 22(23):1-6! ‘Yahweh’, VersatileShepherd! RestorationNurtureGuidance!
* For which situations in my local church is ‘Yahweh’sShepherding’ crucial?
* ‘YahwehNourisherProtectorGuideBenefactor!’: Better than ‘YahwehKing’?
* Tho’ perhaps the ‘king-metaphor’ suits&sits better than ‘nourisher&friend’!
* If I were a ‘sheep’ in the ‘flock’ which is the local church, how’d I describe it?
* NothingShallIWant(WithYahweh)!
What are The20Resources of my local church?
What are My15Needs as an adult disciple?
Which resources are ignored, which needs are unfulfilled?
3. 1COR15:20-26, 28 (What’s the problem with v27?)
* Read 15:1-58! His truly-courageous exploration of ‘Christ’sDeath’!
* To what extent have I been intimately familiarised with this great poem?
* HisMetaphors! SelfShowing/FeetOnTheVanquished/FirstFruits/DeathOfSeed/
AppropriateBodies/BearingTheImageOf/PuttingOn/Sting/Victory!
* How can I explore more deeply the relatedness of ‘Christ&Adam’? Has Paul perhaps
simplified the ‘causality’ of each of these? &What of ‘Eve’? &’Mary’?
* Can he be sure ‘ChristKing’ will ‘put all enemies, especially Death, under HisFeet’?
* Is his mythological perspective over-tentative? Or just biblical?
4. MT25:21-46
* What have I been told about this shallowly-explored JesusStory?
* What is the narrative-relation between ‘TheSon-of-Man’ & ‘TheKing’?
* ‘TheKingdom!’: That ‘Yahweh-in-Jesus Behaviour’, that consists in
seeing ‘TheChrist’ in TheHungryThirstyStrangerSickPrisoned! &responding-in-love!
* ‘OnHisLeftHand!’: But if these had never been diligently-catechised, so as to value
&embody the succouring of ‘ThePoor’, as if it were the succouring of ‘TheChrist’?
* Because the underlying presumptions here, (namely, that recognition-of&responses-to
‘ThePoor’ are also to ‘TheChrist’), are worlds away from ‘normality’!
5. The presence&action of TheBlessedOne, is it like this?
‘Sir, something I’ve always wondered…’ ‘Friend, never conceal wish or query or comment from your friend!’ ‘Well, a previous thought! Which, your hidden dignity or your narrative-making or your struggle-to-heal or certain much-quoted sayings of yours to ones like Kephas or Magdalene, which was the most important aspect…’ ‘Friend, all&everything was the most important at every moment! To be present &awake&going-out-to-others in whatever ways I could! But what I loved&lived in a particular way was storytelling!’ ‘Sir, I would have thought that the struggle-to-heal…’ ‘My storytelling was central to that! Not as impressive, perhaps, as curing the sick, &healing the lame & the blind…’ ‘Yes, TheOneWhoBringsOutFromEgypt…’ ‘But in my stories, TheOneWhoSentMe was present, I was present, those who listened were unusually present, &we moved amongst&within them in an ordinary but extraordinary weaving, thread by thread, of a new seeing&touching-for-good, all people, rich&poor, holy&unholy, men&women&children, Jews&foreigners!’ ‘Sir, I’m so moved! I never thought of such a richness of divine wisdom!’ ‘Friend, ultimately only one story is needed, this is the one pearl! Remember the words of TheKing, “Embracing or repulsing anyone with any need whatever, you embrace or repulse Me!!”…’
6. RIDDLE But who is TheKing?
TheTrueShepherd of the neglected sheep?
TheDefeater of all enemies, including Death?
TheOne hidden in the ubiquitous poor?
Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie