The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A

The Last Sunday After Trinity

Deuteronomy 34.1–12
1 Thessalonians 2.1–8
Matthew 22.34–46

Like a bored videotape-watcher, the lectionary suddenly presses the fast-forward button, skipping three-fifths of the Pentateuch and stopping only just in time for the death of the hero.

Moses’ lack of known burial place is spoken of with awe, almost shock. There is nowhere for family to gather, nowhere to serve as a memorial. In some traditions he is not buried at all, but, like Elijah, ascends straight to heaven. But however we read it, he remains among the greatest of Israelites, his story all the more powerful for its poignant end, so near and yet so far. He symbolizes the importance and yet the limitations of the Law which is linked with his name: as Paul might say, it will get you to the brink of the Jordan, but you will need someone else to shepherd you across. And that someone will be called Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus...

Taken from Twelve Months of Sundays Year A by N T Wright

Published by SPCK