Day 1 (Monday)
God Calls Moses at the Burning Bush
Last time, we saw Moses born, raised in the house of Pharaoh, and then at age 40 or so, he went out to see his fellow Hebrews. When he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of them, he killed the Egyptian and hid the body, but the next day, when he tried to intervene between two quarreling Hebrews, one of them accused him of killing the Egyptian, and realizing that what he had done was known, he fled to Midian, where he took refuge with Reuel/Jethro and married one of his daughters. This time, we will see what happened some 40 years later, as Moses is herding sheep near a mountain in the wilderness.
Moses at the Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid′ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites.
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.”
The Divine Name Revealed
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am the One Who Is.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘He Who Is has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord He-Who-Is, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord He-Who-Is, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt; 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
Reading 3
604 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note elements of the questions/answers below in the discussion, but especially the following point, that we have adjusted the RSV here, to reflect and explain for the first time a trend that will continue through the Bible. While God gives His Name in verse 14 as “I Am Who I Am,” He is speaking in the first person: “I Am.” What He tells Moses to say to the Israelites in verse 15 is in the 3rd person, “He Is.” So, more literally translated, what He says in verse 15 is “He Who Is, the God of your ancestors, has sent me to you.” In Hebrew, “He Who Is” is Yahweh, and in Greek, it is “Ὁ Ὤν”. Throughout the Old Testament, however, most English translations render the Hebrew “Yahweh,” as “The LORD,” because the Hebrew people at the time of Christ did the same, replacing “Yahweh” with “Adonai” (which means Lord) when they read the Scripture. So any time we see God referred to as “The LORD,” it is likely that this is actually the Name of God, Yahweh, Ὁ Ὤν, He Who Is.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Additional Discussion questions:
1) What was strange about the Burning Bush that made Moses turn aside to go see it? (It was burning, but it wasn’t burning up).
2) Who does it say appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush? (The text says that it was the Angel of the Lord.)
3) Who spoke to Moses, then? (The text says that it was God, the Lord).
4) What did God tell Moses to do? How did He identify Himself (He told Moses to take off his sandals, because it was holy ground, and He told him that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the god of his ancestors).
5) Did God tell Moses what job He was going to give him? (He told him that he, Moses, was going to bring the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land.)
6) What did Moses ask God? (He asked God to tell him His Name).
7) What does God say that His Name is? (He doesn’t – He tells Moses that He Is Who He Is, or perhaps that He is The One Who Is, Who Exists, and Who Brings All Things Into Existence. That’s not so much a name as a theological statement)
8) Do any of you know where in the Church we show this Name of God? Hint: It’s in the icons, and in the services too. (It’s in the icons of Christ, in the letters around His Head and it’s all over the place in the services, both when we address God as LORD, and every time we talk about Him as the God Who Exists, and brought everything that is into being.).
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Epitaph of St. Averkios
This Thursday, October 22nd, the Church celebrates the feast-day of St. Averkios, who was the bishop of Hieropolis in Asia Minor during the middle of the 2nd century. He fell asleep in the Lord in A.D. 167. During his life, he preached the Gospel in his own city, but also travelled west to Rome, and then east to Syria, and then back to his own city. When he got back, before he died, he wrote the story of his life on a monument, and many years later, that monument was found. What he says is written in a sort of code, so only Christians will know what he’s talking about. It is one of the earliest surviving artifacts of the life of the Christian Church in the 2nd century.
Epitaph of Averkios
It reads as follows:
“I am a citizen of a special city, and I made this monument while I was still alive, so that when I died there would be a resting place for my body.
My name is Averkios, and I am a disciple of a holy shepherd, who feeds flocks of sheep on both mountains and plains. He has great eyes that see everywhere, and this shepherd taught me that the book of life can be trusted.
He sent me to Rome to see majesty, and there I saw a queen with golden robe and golden sandals, and a people who bore a bright sign.
Then I saw the land of Syria, and all its cities; I saw Nisibis when I passed over the Euphrates River. And everywhere I went, I had fellowship with those that had been called together by Paul. Faith led me forward everywhere, and everywhere I went, Faith gave me the same food, a perfect fish of great size, which a holy virgin drew with her hands from a fountain. It is this fish that Faith gives her friends to eat, together with a wine of great virtue, which Faith gives to her friends, mingled with bread.
I was a witness of these things, and I had them written here, when I was in the middle of my 72nd year of life. I ask everyone who understands these things, who is in one accord with me, to pray for me, for Averkios.”
Explanation of the Text
Now – what this Averkios is saying, in more plain language, is this. He is a disciple of Jesus Christ, Who is the Good Shepherd, and Jesus taught Him to trust in the Gospel, the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The Lord sent him to visit Rome, where he spent time with the Christian community there, holy and glorious like a queen, sealed with the Holy Spirit after baptism.
After that, he traveled east to Syria, and in all the cities there he found Christians, brothers and sisters among the Gentiles, such as those Paul preached to, and while he was with them, he was nourished with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior (ΙΧΘΥΣ), Who came into the world through the Virgin Mary, and this nourishment came in the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist.
Finally, he asks anyone who understands what he is talking about and shares in the same Communion of the Church, to pray for him.”
This shows that there were a fair number of Christians more or less hiding in plain sight in Roman society in the late 2nd century, and that they used certain symbols to recognize one another. One of these was the fish symbol, since the Greek word for fish (ἰχθῦς) is an acronym for the name of Jesus. Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱος, Σωτήρ, which means Jesus Christ, of God the Son, the Savior. We can, of course, still see the Fish symbol on the bumper of cars these days…but a long time ago, the Christians used it as a symbol to recognize one another.
The other things this passage shows is that the Church was united, even though it was scattered through the whole world, and that a Christian who traveled could find brothers and sisters everywhere. Finally, it shows that was Christians did was the same everywhere: they celebrated the Eucharist, and they believed then, as we do now, that the Eucharist, the Bread and Wine, are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Besides that, they honored the Virgin Mary, and they showed their love for those who had died by praying for them. We can see all of these things are still what we do in the Church, every Sunday.
Here we can see a cast of the reconstructed monument, and here as well is a link to the Wikipedia article providing more information and background on the fish as a Christian symbol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys
Discussion questions:
1) Who was Averkios? (He was a bishop in the 2nd century, born before AD 100)
2) What did he do before he died? (He had a monument made and wrote down the story of his life).
3) Did he write the story so anyone could understand it? (No – he wrote it so only other Christians could understand what he was talking about)
4) What were some of the Christian things he talked about in code? (Jesus as the good shepherd, the seal of Chrismation/Baptism, visiting other Christians, the Fish symbol for Jesus, Holy Communion, the Virgin Mary, and the Church’s prayer for the dead)
5) Which of those things he talks about do we still do in the Church? (All of them – but it might be good to ask the kids which ones they have seen)
6) What do you think Averkios was doing when he traveled to Syria? (This is a bonus question – he was preaching and baptizing people. He brought so many people into the Church that he is called an Equal-to-the-Apostles).
Day 3 (Friday)
Luke 4:14-30
Last time, we saw John’s continued preaching, and his assurance to his listeners and disciples that he himself was not the Christ, but that the Messiah was the one coming after him…and then we saw John baptized Jesus, and the voice of the Father and the descent of the Spirit confirm the word of the Forerunner. Then the Lord went into the wilderness for 40 days, where He was tempted by the devil, but answered nothing but the words of Scripture. This time, we will see Him begin His ministry; it is striking where Luke sets this beginning.
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; 17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
[He has sent Me to [a]heal the brokenhearted,]
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The Rest of Isaiah 61
[And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.]
Jesus’s Sermon, the Synagogue’s Response
20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Caper′na-um, do here also in your own country.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli′jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and Eli′jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar′ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli′sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na′aman the Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But passing through the midst of them he went away.
Reading 8
728 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note elements of the questions/answers below in the discussion, but especially the following point, that what Jesus reads is simply the beginning of Isaiah 61. It’s possible, and perhaps even probable, that He read more than St. Luke quotes, as the beginning of a passage functioned much like the “address” does for us today, as a shorthand reference for what was quoted. Regardless, the remainder of the chapter would have been in the minds of all who heard Him, and it is good that we should see and reflect on what was prophesied of this Anointed One, as Jesus proclaims Himself to be in this passage.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Additional Discussion Questions
1) Where did Jesus go when He went back to Nazareth? (He went to the synagogue, the place where the people assembled on the Sabbath Day to read the Scripture)
2) What did He do there? (He read aloud from the prophecy of Isaiah, the prophecy of the Messiah, the Anointed One, God’s Chosen Christ – it is important to remind everyone that Messiah and Christ both mean “Anointed One.” One is the Hebrew word, the other is the Greek word, but both of them are talking about anointing, having oil poured on your head as a sign that God has chosen you to do an important job for him, like be a priest or a king or a savior.)
3) What did that prophecy say the Messiah was going to do? (To bring good news to the poor, to give sight to the blind, to give freedom to those who were enslaved or oppressed, and to announce the time of God’s favor on His people).
4) What did Jesus say when He had finished reading? (He told them that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy He had just read).
5) What did the people Jesus had grown up with say when they heard this? (First they said that He spoke very well, but then they started wondering what gave Him the right to say things like that, since He was just the son of the local carpenter, and a lot of them had known Him when He was just a child.)
6) What did Jesus say about this? (He quoted an old saying about how a prophet is never welcome in his own country, and then mentioned two stories from the Old Testament in which God’s blessings were given to strangers and foreigners, instead of to the Hebrew people. The point here, you might point out, is that Jesus is telling them that, as they question Him and try to put Him back in the box where they thought He fit, they are cutting themselves off from the blessings that He comes to give, and that those blessings will be given instead to foreigners and strangers).
7) What did the hometown crowd think of this? What did they do? (They were very angry, and tried to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff).
8) How did Jesus escape? (He just walked through the crowd and left. We are to understand that this was a miracle, that He showed His power as God, that they were not able to hurt Him or even hold on to Him. This reminds us, as well, that Jesus could have escaped the Crucifixion at any time, had He decided to do so. That He did not escape then, as He does now, lets us see that He was there by choice, doing what He had come to do, in order to save us).
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