Engaging with Scripture and God this Week Readings (Epiphany 6)
Jeremiah 17:5-10. These verses echo the Jewish tradition of wisdom teaching (such as the book of Proverbs) which guided the people in leading a rewarding life. The verses are very similar to Psalm 1 and may have influenced its composition. They contrast the two basic responses – trust in God or trust in human power – and the consequent rewards or punishments that will follow.
Psalm 1, with its call to a righteous life based on knowledge of “the law the Lord,” serves as a fitting introduction to all the Psalms. It springs from the Wisdom tradition, which emphasized how to live in both material and spiritual prosperity.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20. Apparently, the Corinthians did not make a direct connection between the resurrection of Christ, in which they believed, and the resurrection of ordinary human beings. Paul claims that to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the saving effect of Christ’s own resurrection, through which Christians are a “new creation”.
Luke 6:17-26. Today's gospel reading is the first part of Luke's Sermon on the Plain. It parallels much of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Both begin with the beatitudes and end with the parable of the builders, and both have the same general sequence and content.