March 25,2018
Texts: Psalm 31:9-16
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Mark 15:1-47
Philippians 2:5-11
Following Emily’s lead in her teaching last week, I would like to acknowledge our first-nation people in this region, the Anacostia tribe who were members of the Piscataways. In like manner, I would like to remember the enslaved African people who worked in the fields along this portion of the Potomac River.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, God says
…consider my servant Job? There is no one like him in all the earth ….
and in the Christian scriptures, God says about Jesus
….You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.
Both Job and Jesus were well-regarded by God: Job as trusted servant and Jesus as a beloved son. The stories of these two people have captured the imagination and attention of the people of faith for over two millennia. Pain, and especially undeserved suffering, occupies many of pages of our Bible.