All of my tenants (as well as Sandy) are riding out the hurricane by watching TV in their respective rooms. I'm sitting in the dining room flipping through my Greek lexicon trying to translate 1 John from Greek into English in preparation for next week's daily translation quizzes. A small part of me is hoping that the power goes out so that I can continue by candlelight for that authentic early second century experience.
This sermon was delivered at Yale Divinity School in 2020 for the class Sacred Moments in African-American Preaching. I begin with a simple observation. Of the four canonical gospels, Matthew is the only one that ends with the words of Jesus. Mark, Luke, and John all end in the narrator’s voice, but Matthew closes with the words of Jesus. Mark ends at the tomb, with the women fleeing in terror and amazement. Luke ends with the disciples in Jerusalem, praising at the temple. John ends on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, with a dialogue between Jesus and Peter. And here Matthew ends with the disciples in Galilee, meeting Jesus at the mountain where he had directed them. Matthew gives Jesus the last word. But before we get to those last words, there are three other words in this passage that I call to our attention because I find them astonishing. Let me read verse 17 once more. “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some do...

I love reading these. Enjoy your quest. Scofield out.
ReplyDeleteWait, are you still in summer session?
ReplyDelete@Toe-mas: For a second, I thought you were my mother [shakes head to clear image from brain], who comments under "Anonymous." Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete@Peter: I finish this Friday. We have translation quizzes (1 John) every day this week. I also have the Bible Content Exam on Friday.