Description
Lectionary reflections - Year A
Ordinary Time
Proper 16
Isaiah 51.1–6
Romans 12.1–8
Matthew 16.13–20
There seems to be a bit of a break in the argument at this point in Romans. Chapters 9––11 are Paul’s attempt to give some kind of coherent shape to God’s activity in choosing first Israel and then all who believe through Christ. Now Paul is back to practical-sounding advice to the Christian community in Rome. Given the way in which ancient letters were written (dictated to a secretary) and preserved – read aloud and continually copied and recopied for wider distribution – it is hardly surprising that they don’t always flow naturally from one paragraph to the next.
But actually the break is not complete. There is a logical progression from what Paul has been discussing in the last few chapters to this presentation of Christian ethics. The problem Paul identified with the law is that people put their trust in that rather than in God, and they believe that they can stand or fall by their own efforts. That attitude is not associated solely with the old covenant. On the contrary, it is the fall-back position of all humans in relation to God...
Taken from Lectionary reflections year A by Jane Williams - Published by SPCK