Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ Before Pilate Again, 1308-11, Tempera on wood, at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

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 25, are from Lectionary Year Two, Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King, Proper 29-B, 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13, (14-19); Revelation 1:4b-8 and John 18:33-37. The text is from the New Revised Standard Version. *

2 Samuel 23:1-7

¹Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favourite of the Strong One of Israel:

² The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,
his word is upon my tongue.
³ The God of Israel has spoken,
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,
⁴ is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

⁵ Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
⁶ But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away;
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
⁷ to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.

Psalm 132:1-13, (14-19)

A Song of Ascents.

¹ O Lord, remember in David’s favour
all the hardships he endured;
² how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
³ ‘I will not enter my house
or get into my bed;
⁴ I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
⁵ until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.’

⁶ We heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
⁷ ‘Let us go to his dwelling-place;
let us worship at his footstool.’

⁸ Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting-place,
you and the ark of your might.
⁹ Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your faithful shout for joy.
¹⁰ For your servant David’s sake
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

¹¹ The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
‘One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.
¹² If your sons keep my covenant
and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
shall sit on your throne.’

¹³ For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation:
¹⁴ ‘This is my resting-place for ever;
here I will reside, for I have desired it.
¹⁵ I will abundantly bless its provisions;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.
¹⁶ Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
and its faithful will shout for joy.
¹⁷ There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
¹⁸ His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
but on him, his crown will gleam.’

Revelation 1:4b-8

^4bGrace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
⁷ Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.

⁸ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37

³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ ³⁴Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ ³⁵Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ ³⁶Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ ³⁷Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

NRSV