The Crucifixion by Carl Bloch, 1869, oil on copper at Frederiksborg Slot  (Denmark - Hillerod)

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, November 20, are from Lectionary Year C, Last Sunday after Pentecost - Christ the King - Jeremiah 23:1-6; Canticle 16 or Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43. The text is from the New International Version *

Jeremiah 23:1-6

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. ² Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD. ³ “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴ I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. ⁵ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.

Canticle 16 - The Song of Zechariah

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
     because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
     in the house of his servant David

⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
⁷¹ salvation from our enemies
     and from the hand of all who hate us—

⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors
     and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³ the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
    ⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear
     ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness
       before him all our days.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
     for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation
     through the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
     by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,
     to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
     as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

or Psalm 46

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
     an ever-present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
     and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam
     and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
     the holy place where the Most High dwells.

⁵ God is within her,
     she will not fall;
     God will help her at break of day.

⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
     he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
     the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
     the desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹ He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
     He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
     he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
     I will be exalted among the nations,
     I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
     the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Colossians 1:11-20

¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

   The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Luke 23:33-43

³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ” ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.