Now that's heavy... We wade into the giving of the Law in Exodus, and after all those Woe's to the Pharisees in Matthew, come upon his apocalyptic narrative... Well, thank goodness for Psalm 24!

We're getting into some text in which it can be helpful to have some more resources handy-- at least to help us understand the context, which might make more sense of what we are reading... slaves, gored oxen,and such... eyes for an eye and so much more... and one angry Jesus who's had it with the Pharisees et al who've been at him... followed immediately by Jesus' discourse on the end times.

This reference might be useful. It's on my favorite sermon preparation website-- a clearinghouse of all sorts of resources. And this scriptural index --if you click on the link that is the scriptural passage itself, it will take you to a page with countless resources for the same.

You'll find references about the passages in Exodus, and Matthew, including what John Wesley or Martin Luther's commentaries had to say as well as contemporary scholars.

A little bit from Paige...

 It's good to remember two things about the legal texts in the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Torah). First, that when travelling through the wilderness, the children of Israel had no access to a Prison Industrial Complex. There was nowhere to safely secure a person who was a danger to others.  Second, almost everything was life-or-death in their context. Third, when this part of the Torah was being redacted (edited and pieced together) by the Priestly redactors in exile in Babylon, they believed that the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation and exile that followed was a direct result of the people's (and monarch's) ritual uncleanliness. These Priestly redactors were determined to ensure that nothing like this every happened again, the result being the 613 laws (mitzvot, commandments) in the Torah.

And regarding apocalyptic literature, like we find in Matthew 25... This literature is written to a people in deep and devastating pain and trauma. The message is that while things may get worse-- really really worse-- if they hold on, and keep the faith, they will be saved...   This apocalyptic passage in Matthew expands on Mark's "little apocalypse" in Mark 13, which we heard the first Sunday of Advent last November.  Using the Scripture Index to search either of these passages will lead you to all sorts of resources on apocalyptic literature, should you want to dive in deeper. 

And thank goodness for Psalm 24. It's a lovely Psalm in its own right... but... and here's where things get silly... it always recalls my favorite Stephen Colbert video.... Best known as a Comedy Central comedian, Stephen Colbert is also a committed Christian, and Sunday School Teacher. And this video is of Stephen singing "Who is this King of Glory" for his Sunday School class. Whenever  we read or sing Psalm 24 in church, (I confess) this silliness comes to mind.  It's some welcome levity in the midst of Law and Apocalypse...

My favorite Colbert Quote: "If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we have to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it."   He's a challenging guy, Colbert, but challenge is good for us.  So is laughter. Enjoy King of Glory, and a little silliness, on this Saturday.