Revised Common Lectionary
1 Kings 19:4-8 or
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 34:1-8 or Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51
Reflection and Response
Prayer Starter

Today's readings continue the theme of God's sustenance through Jesus who gives himself for us. In Deuteronomy (BCP), we learn that we do not live by bread alone, but by the will of God. In 1 Kings (RCL), God nourishes Elijah for a journey that takes forty days and forty nights. In 2 Samuel (alternative RCL) David mourns the death of his rebellious son Absalom. The psalmist invites us to praise the goodness of the Lord. Paul encourages Christians to be as loving as Christ to one another. Jesus promises that he will save all who come to him.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (BCP)
The book of Deuteronomy, written as Moses' farewell address to the Israelites, is a reinterpretation of Mosaic teaching in the light of later history. The eighth chapter interweaves the themes of remembering and forgetting, of wilderness and the promised land. Moses calls on the people to remember the discipline of the Lord imposed on them in the wilderness to test their will to obey God.

The people have learned to rely upon the Lord alone. God is the basic source of life; God's word carried within it the promise of provision for God's people. As God's grace set the demand for obedience, so also God's grace supplies, in the manna, the means of obedience. The manna, seen in Exodus 16 as a simple feeding miracle and in Psalm 78 as the "bread of angels" (78:25) is here interpreted as a sign of the sustenance given by the commandments.

The details in 8:4 are not recounted in the narratives of Exodus and Numbers, but are repeated in Nehemiah 9:21. Now God's grace provides a yet more abundant support for their lives; the Israelites are on the verge of entering the land promised long before (1:8; Genesis 15). They are called to move from the time of adolescent tutelage into maturity. The promised land, described in idyllic terms will, however, present the temptation to forget the true source of their prosperity (8:17-18).
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
This entire commandment
that I command you today
you must diligently observe,
so that you may live and increase,
and go in and occupy the land
that the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors.
Remember the long way
that the LORD your God has led you
these forty years in the wilderness,
in order to humble you,
testing you to know what was in your heart,
whether or not you would keep his commandments.
He humbled you by letting you hunger,
then by feeding you with manna,
with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted,
in order to make you understand
that one does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
The clothes on your back did not wear out
and your feet did not swell these forty years.
Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child
so the LORD your God disciplines you.
Therefore keep the commandments of the LORD your God,
by walking in his ways and by fearing him.
For the LORD your God
is bringing you into a good land,
a land with flowing streams,
with springs and underground waters
welling up in valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley,
of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of olive trees and honey,
a land where you may eat bread without scarcity,
where you will lack nothing,
a land whose stones are iron
and from whose hills you may mine copper.
You shall eat your fill
and bless the LORD your God
for the good land that he has given you.

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:4-8 (RCL)
Today's reading is from the Elijah cycle of stories. Elijah was a prophet to Israel, sent to call the unfaithful kings back to the covenant. Elijah confronts King Ahab's endorsement and even sponsorship of Baal worship. Baal was believed to be the god of fertility, particularly in the forces of rain and harvest. Elijah comes in judgment on this infidelity to the covenant and prophesies a drought, powerfully demonstrating God's sovereignty (17:1).

The drought ends at God's command, as demonstrated through Elijah's defeat of the Baal priests. Ahab's wife, Jezebel, seeks vengeance on the prophet, who flees for his life in utter despair.

Elijah's exhaustion and hunger drive him to the brink of collapse, at which point an angel feeds him, touches him and encourages him on his journey to Horeb, the mountain of God (also called Mt. Sinai). The story acknowledges the depression and despair that can come on the heels of great successes and points, in the end, to the presence of God as the only source of strength.
1 Kings 19:4-8
Elijah went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die:
"It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree
and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat."
He looked, and there at his head
was a cake baked on hot stones,
and a jar of water.
He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the LORD came a second time,
touched him, and said,
"Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that
food forty days and forty nights
to Horeb the mount of God.

Psalm: Psalm 34:1-8
This psalm of thanksgiving has a strong didactic element similar to the wisdom teachings. It is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalmist first gives thanks for deliverance, then testifies to God's goodness, calling upon the other worshipers to share the fruits of his experience. Finally, the psalmist elaborates upon the meaning of "the fear of the Lord" and its consequences.
Psalm 34:1-8
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.

Alternative First Reading: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 (RCL)
Today's reading describes the results foreshadowed by the prophet Nathan's words to David after his murder of Uriah and marriage to Bathsheba. Strife, indeed, plagued his household and his son Absalom participated in a bloody uprising against him.

Despite David's orders to "deal gently" with Absalom and thus lessen the expected harsh consequences of a son who would take up arms against a father, Absalom dies anyway as the result of a freak accident in which he was caught up by the hair in the branches of a tree, and thus easily killed.

Again we are reminded that our actions bring about consequences that we often cannot imagine and certainly do not want. As Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us, the long arc of God's providence bends inexorably toward justice.
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
The king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying,
"Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom."
And all the people heard when the king gave orders
to all the commanders concerning Absalom.
So the army went out into the field against Israel;
and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
The men of Israel were defeated there
by the servants of David,
and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.
The battle spread over the face of all the country;
and the forest claimed more victims that day
than the sword.
Absalom happened to meet the servants of David.
Absalom was riding on his mule,
and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak.
His head caught fast in the oak,
and he was left hanging between heaven and earth,
while the mule that was under him went on.
And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers,
surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.
Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said,
"Good tidings for my lord the king!
For the LORD has vindicated you this day,
delivering you from the power
of all who rose up against you."
The king said to the Cushite,
"Is it well with the young man Absalom?"
The Cushite answered,
"May the enemies of my lord the king,
and all who rise up to do you harm,
be like that young man."
The king was deeply moved,
and went up to the chamber over the gate,
and wept;
and as he went, he said,
"O my son Absalom, my son,
my son Absalom!
Would I had died instead of you,
O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Alternative Psalm: Psalm 130 (RCL)
This thanksgiving for healing was probably composed and sung in fulfillment of a vow. Both sickness and health are regarded as coming from the Lord--illness as a probable sign of sin while restoration to health would show innocence. Sickness brings the psalmist closer to the realm of Sheol, the grave, from which the Lord rescues him.
Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the LORD,
my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Today's reading continues the ethical exhortation of the previous two weeks. The new life of the baptized is to be lived out in specific ways. Old patterns of behavior must be replaced with new ones.

All discourse and behavior should build up the life of the community. Thus all Christians participate in the unifying work of the Spirit in the Church (4:3). They are to imitate God's work of forgiveness and love shown in Christ's self-offering (Colossians 3:12-13). The phrase, "a fragrant offering" (5:2) is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament to describe the burnt offering (Exodus 29:18; Leviticus 2:9; 3:5), and later applied to the people themselves (Ezekiel 20:41). This whole section is based on the belief that Christian living is an integral corollary of Christian doctrine.
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
So then, putting away falsehood,
let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,
for we are members of one another.
Be angry but do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and do not make room for the devil.
Thieves must give up stealing;
rather let them labor
and work honestly with their own hands,
so as to have something to share with the needy.
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is useful for building up,
as there is need,
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
And Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were marked
with a seal for the day of redemption.
Put away from you all bitterness
and wrath and anger
and wrangling and slander,
together with all malice,
and be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Therefore be imitators of God,
as beloved children,
and live in love,
as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Gospel: John 6:35, 37-51
This section of the discourse on the bread of life combines the themes of bread as the revelation of God in word and wisdom and bread as the revelation of God in the Eucharist. Various Old Testament parallels would prepare the hearer for understanding bread as the symbol of God's word. Amos describes a famine not of bread but of hearing the Lord's words (Amos 8:11); the image of wisdom giving "the bread of understanding" (Proverbs 9:5; Sirach 15:3); the word of the Lord giving sustenance like bread (Isaiah 55:10-11).
For Jesus' hearers, this bread would have meant the Torah. Jesus is that revelation of God. He does the Father's will, not his own. Those who really see him (6:40-the verb for "see" used here indicates, for John, true spiritual insight in contrast to the verb used in 6:36) will have eternal life in the present and participate in the resurrection "at the last day" (v. 40).

In reaction, "the Jews" (or more specifically for John "the Judeans" in Jerusalem and now in Galilee who oppose Jesus) murmur at Jesus, like the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16:2, 7). The skepticism about Jesus' physical origins (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55; Luke 4:22) is answered on a theological level. As in rabbinic writing (Hosea 11:4), God draws people to the Torah and is their teacher (Isaiah 54:13), so here the Father draws all who have learned from God to Jesus (12:32).

Jesus' identification as the bread of life indicates his relationship to humanity, that of nourishment. In verses 45-50 the same argument is made as in 4:13-14 The Torah is without life-giving power. This leads naturally into the more specifically eucharistic discussion on "eating the bread." The descriptions of the bread of life also echo the problems of the humans in the garden of Eden: "I will never drive away" (6:37; Genesis 3:24); "one may eat of it and not die" (6:50; Genesis 2:17, 3:3); "Whoever eats of this bread he will live forever" (6:51; Genesis 3:22).
John 6:35, 37-51
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
But I said to you that you have seen me
and yet do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away;
for I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me,
that I should lose nothing
of all that he has given me,
but raise it up on the last day.
This is indeed the will of my Father,
that all who see the Son and believe in him
may have eternal life;
and I will raise them up on the last day."
Then the Jews began to complain about him
because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven."
They were saying,
"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know?
How can he now say,
'I have come down from heaven'?"
Jesus answered them,
"Do not complain among yourselves.
No one can come to me
unless drawn by the Father who sent me;
and I will raise that person up on the last day.
It is written in the prophets,
'And they shall all be taught by God.'
Everyone who has heard
and learned from the Father comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Very truly, I tell you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give for the life of the world
is my flesh."

Reflection and Response
At times, the Old Testament seems to present long life and material prosperity as the invariable signs of holiness. Thank goodness, a careful reading reveals more than this, for the spiritual lessons connected with God's providence are hammered home in the Bible. When adversity strikes, we still have a tendency to ask, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" But in Psalm 34, the righteous also cry for help, for they are afflicted, broken-hearted and crushed in spirit.

When the author of Ephesians says, "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us," he reminds us of God's providence. Christ's extraordinary sacrifice on our behalf manifested God's love and power once again and gave us safe passage into a new life with God. These acts demand a response from us. We are challenged as much by God's gifts as we are by the lack of them. Our conduct toward each other must reflect God's outpouring of love toward us.

Jesus points out that the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness and they died. He is reminding the people that people do not live by bread alone-true life comes from the word of God. Jesus identifies himself with God. Those "taught by God" will come to Jesus to be fed the living bread for eternal life in that long-promised land where there will never be scarcity. Anyone who tastes this bread will never die.

We come to the unsearchable mystery of the eucharist with a joyful hush of thanksgiving in our hearts. Jesus sustains our souls with his life now and forever.

Quietly consider:
How can I imitate Jesus example of total, selfless giving?

Prayer Starter
Come, Jesus, and be my source of life...