February 7, 2021
Isaiah 40:21–31, Psalm 147:1–11, 20c, 1 Corinthians 9:16–23, Mark 1:29–39
A theme across all our readings for today is that God is God over all. A God for the powerless in Isaiah, over all creation in our Psalm, over Jews and Gentiles, and God of the sick and demon-possessed in every village in our gospel passage. God is over all and for all, especially the weak, poor, and destitute of the world. God cares for those whom the religious ought to have, revealing God to be the God of the oppressed.
But, the psalm for today specifically mentions Israel/Jerusalem, Isaiah writes of God as Israel’s God, and Jesus in Mark’s passage is going throughout villages specifically in Galilee. What are we to do with the particularity of the Bible being a Jewish text, and what are we to do with Jesus being a Jew for the Jewish people in several texts?
The good news of Jesus, to most of us who are non-Jews at least, rests in the fact that salvation and the life of the ages is made possible through this Jewish Messiah. The story of the Hebrew Scriptures from the beginning has been for all people. Abram was chosen to be blessed, so that he might be a blessing for all, and Israel was chosen as a kingdom of priests for the benefit of all, and Jesus fulfills these promises as the Messiah, bringing all things, things on heaven and on earth into reconciliation with God.
Jesus died for all, so all have died, so that we may live for Jesus in newness of life now in anticipation of the fulfillment of all things.
