Advent 2B
December 4, 2011
Isaiah 40:1-11
- Golding, Thomas A., "The Imagery of Shepherding in the Bible, Part 1," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006. Part 2.
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EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Golding, Thomas A., "The Imagery of Shepherding in the Bible, Part 2," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006.
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“In ancient Near Eastern literature the ideal king was the shepherd of his god's people. He promoted justice within the flock while at the same protecting it from predators without. The fact that the shepherd image occurs so widely throughout the ancient world suggests that it reflects innate longing in the human heart.”
- Limburg, James, "An Exposition of Isaiah 40:1-11," Interpretation, 1975.
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“If preaching is going to be relevant, it has to be directed to questions raised by people of our time. We can not afford the luxury of providing answers to questions no one is really asking, even if those answers are correct ones!”
Van Seters, Arthur, "Isaiah 40:1-11," Interpretation, 1981.
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“This was indeed a surprising message for a suppressed people. It was also profoundly comforting. According to this Advent theology, the way through the desert of human existence does not focus on the people as those who journey, but on their God who commands, enables, and becomes present once again to them. Their humanity is apparent, their sinfulness alluded to. Their faith or struggle is not even mentioned. Their position is covenantal by the grace of God who continues to choose them and speaks of himself in relation to them.”
2 Peter 3:8-15
- González, Catherine Gunsalus, "Advent and Eschatology," Journal for Preachers, 2005.
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“This Advent will find the preacher again looking at the lectionary texts and wondering how to use them without sounding like a Left Behind survivor or trying to preach the text away rather than deal with it. Advent is more than an ecclesiastical way of counting the shopping days to Christmas: it is in its own right the time when we are presented with texts about the Second Coming of Christ and other equally unusual passages.”
Mark 1:1-8
- Boring, M. Eugene, "Mark 1:1-15 and the Beginning of the Gospel," Semeia, 1990.
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Abstract: “The thesis advocated in this paper is that the Gospel of Mark is a narrative structured with some care, divided into a bipartite outline determined by the author's Christology, and provided with a title and introduction carefully composed in a manner appropriate to introduce the narrative as a whole. The variety of textual readings and syntactical options, as well as Mark's purpose, are best understood by construing Mark 1:1 as the title to the whole narrative, with the introduction extending through 1:15. The introduction is itself carefully structured into two sections paralleling John and Jesus, while simultaneously subordinating John to Jesus. The introduction functions to introduce the main characters, introduce the main themes of the narrative as a whole, to focalize the narrative, and to relate the time of the Gospel to that of the readers, i.e. to contemporize the message of the narrative set in another time and place.”
- Perrin, Nicholas, "Where to Begin with the Gospel of Mark," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2008.
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“As should be clear by now, it was never Marks intention simply to say a few interesting things about Jesus, what he said and did. Rather Mark's message, centering around the themes of movement, messiah and mission poses a sharp challenge for the church today. But how might we distill that challenge?”