On the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand using 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, and its variations, appear six times in the NT gospels and incorporates a wide variety of imagery from Scripture, as well as the Jewish and Christian traditions. The imagery inlcudes
- the wilderness setting for the people of God en route from captivity to the promised land;
- recalcitrant Israelites / disciples, who doubt that food can be provided in the wilderness;
- God leads the people who are like sheep without a shepherd as the narrative calls to mind Ps 23 and its green grass;
- the giving of manna in the desert during the Exodus; and
- Elisha’s miraculous provision of food (2 Kings 4:42-44) in which there are provisions left over.
All this casts Jesus as the “new Moses” leading the people to the banquet. And we are not even to the Eucharistic foreshadowing in the details of the event. This is a lot going on in this simple text.
The Story of Creation
Folks are familiar with the story of Creation told in the first chapters of Genesis. But there is a larger narrative than “7 days of creation.” It is a story of God’s ideal vision for the cosmos, establishing His divine rule and our role in partnering to bring His purpose. In this series of video we’ll consider how various Biblical authors repeat and amplify that narrative, all leading to the story of Jesus whose mission is to bring all things to God’s good purpose and end. Watch video #3 of 5.
Psalm 148
In this video, we explore Psalm 148 and its call on the whole cosmos, above and below, to praise God. All of God’s creatures should join in the chorus, for God created and sustains them all. The author of the psalm understood the story of Genesis and it forms the framework for his writing.
Psalm 148 is a call for the whole cosmos to praise God. In the climactic conclusion of Psalm 148, we read that Israel should praise God because he has raised a horn for them. But what’s the deal with this horn? And why is God lifting it up? In this video, we explore how Psalm 148 fits into the overall story of the book of Psalms—the story of God’s promise to raise up a king who will bring victory to Israel and rescue the world.
Previous Videos in the Series: