Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss sacrificial practice, identity markers, and imagined history in Exodus 12:1-14. The text is appointed for Maundy Thursday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
A Retrojected Festival (Maundy Thursday)
Voiceover Voice:
What the blood in the story is doing, is not the beginning of something, it’s the creation of something in the past to explain the present.
Helena Martin:
This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. Join us each week as two Yale Divinity School professors look at an upcoming text from the Revised Common Lectionary.
Holy Week is here. For many of you, this coming week is one of the busiest of your whole year. We’ll be here, each of the next few days, with episodes for Holy Week: Maundy Thursday today, Good Friday tomorrow, then Holy Saturday, and then our episode for Easter Sunday will be here next Monday as usual.
To kick off this year’s Holy Week series, we have Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Director of the Center for Continuing Education, and Sarah Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale.
They’re discussing Exodus 12:1-14, which is appointed for Maundy Thursday in Years A, B, and C. Here’s the text.
[Exodus 12:1-14]
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
Joel Baden:
Sarah, I realize that the story of the first Exodus in Egypt and the moment where God says, this is how you’re going to do this, and you’re going to prepare your lamb, and you’re going to take the blood, and you’re going to put it on the doorpost, is obviously a major moment in the text and a major moment in tradition, and is the beginning obviously of sort of the whole Passover tradition, at least narratively. But I find these verses, as a thing to read, boring. [Laughter]
Sarah Drummond:
Joel, that’s very deep. That’s a very deep, deep interpretation. And I just wish that you could get a little bit more down to earth as we look at this passage, which in the tradition from which you hail.
Joel Baden:
You can’t keep going like I’m not audibly laughing. If you had laughed, I wouldn’t have laughed.
Sarah Drummond:
That’s a very deep interpretation from my Old Testament colleague who’s supposed to be able to help me to understand all of these details.
Joel Baden:
I’m here to help you understand.
Sarah Drummond:
Yes.
Joel Baden:
But I mean, we can simply admit that the details of things like, which day you have to keep watch over the lamb, ah, whatever. It’s not super compelling reading, even as it’s incredibly important reading. That’s all I’m saying. But you, wait, you have questions?
Sarah Drummond:
Oh, I have so many questions because I have to assume that every one of these details has some deep spiritual meaning, because I look at the institution of the first Passover and then it’s connection to what the Christians around here call the Last Supper, as imbued with significance with every single detail along the way. So, I want to be able to win at Bible trivia by having somebody explain to me some of these details.
So, for example, the neighbor thing. The idea that you’re not supposed to get a whole lamb if your family’s really small. I then go on and wonder, does that have something to do with the way we’re supposed to love our neighbor or care about our neighbor and think more expansively about neighbor than the person who just happens to live in the house next door? Is that what’s happening here?
Joel Baden:
No, I like the second thing you said. It’s just, this is a case of, and there’s nothing wrong with this, this is a case of the text is being totally down to earth about a thing. The communal aspect of is everyone needs to participate. Everyone.
Now, what if you’re poor? Or you’re an elderly couple and you don’t have a lamb? And actually, a lamb feels like an outrageous sort of expense for you. Or you can’t eat a whole lamb by yourself. What are you supposed to do? But you have to participate, and it’s not meant to be onerous. So, you get together with your neighbors, and you share. And that way everybody participates even sort of vicariously through someone else’s lamb, but everybody gets included. That’s the, if you want to make a spiritual thing out of it, it’s got to do with everybody is required and included.
And I think, at least in the text that we have, it has less to do with something where I think you were going on the more spiritual reading. But that said, there’s nothing wrong with that as a spiritual reading of the definition of one’s neighbor and loving one’s neighbor. Who’s going to object to that, really? I’m not sure that’s what’s going on here.
Sarah Drummond:
And I’m not sure if it needs to be what’s going on for it to be a really meaningful text. I’ve often been described as somebody who’s religious, but not spiritual. I am very quick to go to the more practical meaning, because I think the practical meaning in its own way is beautiful. That idea that everybody’s got to participate. So, what needs to happen in order for everybody to participate? That’s enough for me. I mean, you might find it quite boring.
Joel Baden:
No, no, it’s better. No, I see what you did there. No, see it’s better than just enough. For me at least, I think that, truly, the notion of the spiritual meaning is not inherent in the biblical text itself for the most part. The Hebrew Bible is almost entirely about community and community formation and identity.
And so exactly what you are seeing here is like, oh, this isn’t really about sort of deeper spiritual meaning for an individual, certainly. But it’s really about what does it mean to be in community? What does it mean to be part of God’s people? And in this case, there’s a ritualized aspect to this. What does it mean to be God’s people? We ritually participate in a thing together. Everyone. And if it seems like it would be tough for you, we got a system to make sure that it’s not so tough for you. We want you to be involved because the Passover is, throughout the Bible and in much of a Jewish tradition, Passover and circumcision, those are the two big identity markers. You know, the other ones accrue over the years. Sabbath observance becomes an easy one. Kosher law has become an easy one. But in the Bible itself, it’s circumcision and Passover. That’s like the individual thing and the communal thing, and those are the big ones.
Sarah Drummond:
And they’re really important. And they’re really important.
Tell me about a Jewish perspective or perhaps just a Hebrew Bible perspective. What’s the deal with the blood? Why that marker on the door? Why not just yard sign, a pink Flamingo on the lawn? Like why is blood really important here? And the reason I ask is because many Christians look to the notion of Jesus as the paschal lamb. Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. And then some even talk about being washed in the blood of Jesus to be made clean, which comes from the Epistles but it’s also been lifted up as something to celebrate, even hymnity I don’t like singing about blood, but I also am really curious if that practice is rooted here first.
Joel Baden:
A little bit.
Sarah Drummond:
Okay
Joel Baden:
That is to say, it’s rooted here first in kind of a conceptual way, if not an actual historical way. In a sense, when we look at the Passover, this Passover moment, one of the things to remember is they’re describing this moment in Egypt when they’re all in their houses in Egypt and they’re doing this. They’re killing an animal and they’re manipulating its blood in a certain way to achieve a certain end. And then they’re eating some of the meat. And that’s the ritual that is, or the action that’s being described as taking place in ancient Egypt. But what they clearly have in mind is the more standard sacrificial ritual of the author’s present day.
Sarah Drummond:
Ok.
Joel Baden:
So, they’re looking at their practices to celebrate Passover. What does everyone do? People bring their lamb to the sanctuary, and they slaughter it, and they apply the blood to the alter in sort of the standard, like the stuff no one reads in Leviticus. So, they apply the blood and that sort of achieves a ritual sacrificial end, and then they get some of the meat back and then they eat it. That’s how festivals worked in ancient Israel.
So that’s sort of what they’re describing here, back in Egypt, but of course there is no temple and there is no formal sacrifice. So, what does it look like if you sort of transfer our big festival that we celebrate today and retrojected it into the historical circumstances that I’m saying it came from?
Sarah Drummond:
Okay.
Joel Baden:
What would it look like?
Sarah Drummond:
Mm-hmm.
Joel Baden:
The best description sort of analogy of this I remember hearing is, it’s like we celebrate Thanksgiving and how do we then sort of create this? Well, what we do is we sit around the table and we eat Turkey and we give thanks for stuff. And so, when I retroject that into like the first Thanksgiving, what do I imagine? Oh, I suppose it was probably like the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sitting around eating turkey and saying, “Hey, thanks for helping us out. Hey, thanks for giving us Smallpox.” Whatever. You know, that was the thing that they were doing, but of course that’s not historically accurate. It’s kind of like this it’s this like legendary thing that we’ve culturally made up to explain what we’re doing now.
Sarah Drummond:
Mm-hmm. So the notion of what you’re saying is that the notion of taking blood from a sacrificed animal and using it for home decor was something that originated with this story? Or was superimposed back on this story? Or was already going on before this story?
Joel Baden:
So, I like that you used the word, story. We’re going to keep it in the realm of story. When this text, when this story of Israel’s sort of originary Passover was created, conceived, composed, Israel was already living in Canaan with a temple offering blood sacrifices. Bloody sacrifices.
So, when they were like, how did we end up doing this Passover thing? Oh, back in Egypt, we killed an animal, and we did a thing with its blood just like we do today.
Sarah Drummond:
Ahh. Got it.
Joel Baden:
So, in a sense, what the blood in the story is doing is not moving, is not like the beginning of something. It’s the creation of something in the past to explain the present. But as a, again, as a means of imagining a continuity. We’ve always done this into the beginning. This is the way it’s always been. This is who we are. This is what we do.
But, what makes this episode for me, having said at the beginning of this that I find it boring to read and I do. I find the details not particularly interesting. But at the same time, one of the things, one of the reasons I think they’re not interesting is because they remind me so much of all the laws in Leviticus. Which I should say, I actually deeply love, but I understand that they’re empirically boring.
When you see things like, here’s how you eat it. Here’s how many days you watch over it. Here’s how you share it. Here’s what you do with the blood. Even things like, don’t leave any of it over until the next morning. That’s a law that, why in the context of Egypt does that make any sense?
It doesn’t really. But if you know the law for, in Leviticus, for how you treat festival sacrifices is you offer it at the festival and you get the meat back and you have to eat the meat within a certain time span. Oh, well, okay, now I understand why that law is here.
The Passover ritual in Egypt that we think of because it comes first in the story as the first, like, this is the beginning of the thing, is actually just a reflection of the ongoing, standard Leviticus- style cult. Which is in part why I think there’s such a tendency to spiritualize its interpretation. Because for most interpreters, certainly most Christian interpreters, stuff that looks like Leviticus has to be about something more. Because that all the sacrificial ritual stuff is like, we’re not keeping that, right?
Helena Martin:
Thanks for listening. And thank you, Professor Baden and Dean Drummond, for giving us a different perspective for Maundy Thursday.
For more resources for Holy Week, visit YaleBibleStudy.org. And please take a minute to rate and subscribe to this podcast to help other people find us. Thank you for all your support!
Chapter, Verse, and Season is a production of the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. It’s produced by: Creator and Managing Editor, Joel Baden; Production Manager, Kelly Morrissey; Associate Producer, Aidan Stoddart; and I’m your Host and Executive Producer, Helena Martin. Mixing on today’s episode, and our theme music, are by Calvin Linderman.
We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Exodus
Subjects:
Exodus
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss praise, transaction, and God’s action in history in Psalm 105:1-11. The text is appointed for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss the messages of dreams and mundane reality in Genesis 28:10-19a. The text is appointed for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11) in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Bill Goettler and Joanne Jennings discuss applying the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23) to our own dynamic lives of faith. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss environmental justice, co-creation, and the kingdom of God in Psalm 145:8-14. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9) in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Bill Goettler and Joanne Jennings discuss hard truths and be in-dwelled by Christ in Romans 6:12–23. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss Jesus’ scarier proclamations in Matthew 10:24-39. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hospitality, laughter, and the complexity of Sarah as a character in Genesis 18:1-15. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, doubt, shame, and mystic union in Romans 4:13-25. The text is appointed for the second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss rest, reveling, and revelation in Genesis 1:1–2:4a The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss diversity, reversal, and the power of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-21 and John 20:19-23. The text is appointed for the Day of Pentecost in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss righteousness, liberation, and vulnerability in Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss suffering, meaning, and unjust power structures in 1 Peter 3:13-22. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss prophecy, interfaith reading, and incarnation in John 14:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss paradox, poetry, and life beyond death in Psalm 23. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss divine encounter and human conversation in Luke 24:13-35. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss interfaith perspectives on the story of Easter in conversation with John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss power, peace and healing in Acts 10:34-43. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the problem of suffering, the impact of loss, and the resilience of human nature in Job 14:1-14 and 1 Peter 4:1-8. The text is appointed for Holy Saturday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christology, glory, and exclusion in John 18:1–19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss crucifixion, suffering, obedience, and solidarity in Philippians 2:5-11. The text is appointed for the Liturgy of the Passion (Palm Sunday), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss miracles, healing, and grief in John 11:1-45. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the role of Joseph, the divine potential of dreams, and membership in the Holy Family in Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss life in the wilderness for the Israelites, being tested and testing God in Exodus 17:1-7. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessing, migration, and the inspiring legacy of Abraham across religious traditions in Genesis 12:1-4a. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss seduction, curiosity, craftiness, and misogyny in Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss leadership, inherited stories, and transfiguring moments in Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9. The texts are appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss pedagogy, mixed metaphors, ageism, and spiritual growth in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss hypocrisy, reward systems, righteousness, and religious performance in Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12). The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessedness, poverty, consolation, and the dangers of transactional theology in Matthew 5:1-12. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss living with both faith and fear in Psalm 27:1, 4-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the story of John the Baptist, a wild and perhaps uncertain character, in John 1:29-42. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Messianism, prophetic gentleness, and hermeneutical approaches in Isaiah 42:1-9. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Vasileios Marinis and Volker Leppin discuss human nature, sovereignty over creation, and preacherly responsibility with reference to Psalm 8. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss the spirit of children, the multiplicity of interpretation, and pastoral responsibility at Christmas, with reference to Luke 2:1-14 (15-20). The text is appointed for Christmas Eve in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christian and Muslim interpretations of the Nativty of Jesus, with special reference to Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss patience, endurance of suffering, and the challenges of family conflict in James 5:7-10. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the imagined future of the glorious kingdom in Isaiah 11:1-10 and Romans 15:4-13. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
AndrewMcGowan and Ned Parker discuss the holiness of divine absence and the anticipation of things to come in Matthew 24:36-44. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss colonial narratives, indigenous theology, and the downsides of going to a “Promised Land” in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The text is appointed for Thanksgiving Day (USA), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss Hebrew vocabulary, shepherd imagery, and the legacy of King David in Jeremiah 23:1-6. The text is appointed for the Feast of Christ the King (Proper 29), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss eschatology, aspiration, and ancient Near Eastern curse formulations in Isaiah 65:17-25. The text is appointed for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss poverty, apocalyptic imagery, and economic justice in reference to Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Luke 6:20-31. The text is appointed for All Saints’ Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Greg Sterling discuss redemption, the proper use of wealth, and the strange company Jesus keeps in Luke 19:1-10. The text is appointed for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss shame, redemption, and rehabilitation in Joel 2:23-32. The text is appointed for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 25, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss punishment, free will, and the dangers of metaphor in Jeremiah 31:27-34. The text is appointed for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss joy, salvation history, and chicken guts in Psalm 66:1-12. The text is appointed for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 23, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss trauma, hope, and poetic Hebrew in Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26. The text is appointed for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss faith, ritual performance, and divine blessing in Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16. The text is appointed for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss capitalism, shrewdness, and the logic of parables in Luke 16:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the undoing of creation, fidelity, and false prophets in Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28. The text is appointed for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss precarity, God as creator and destroyer, and the potter metaphor in Jeremiah 18:1-11. The text is appointed for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss humility, reversing the status quo, speaking truth to power in Sirach 10:12-18. The text is appointed for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Christian Wiman and Jacqueline Vayntrub discuss justice, prayer and action, and getting God's attention in Isaiah 58:9b-14. The text is appointed for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss faith heroes through history, triumphant faith, and the role of sin in Hebrews 11:29-12:2. The text is appointed for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Greg Sterling and Harry Attridge discuss women in early Christian communities, eschatology, and faith as a matter of the heart in Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16. The text is appointed for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss possession, wealth, and covetousness in Luke 12:13-21. The text is appointed for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss bargaining, God and Abraham's new relationship, and the righteous of Sodom and Gamorrah in Genesis 18:20-32. The text is appointed for Track 2 on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss Mary and Martha, extroversion, and authenticity in Luke 10:38-42. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss poverty, God's expectations, and our responsibilities to one another in Psalm 82. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss kings, skin diseases, and prophetic power in 2 Kings 5:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss prophetic leadership, sudden loss, and mentorship in 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss gender identity, ethnic dynamics, and changes of the heart in Galatians 3:23-29. The text is appointed for Proper 7, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss joy, multiculturalism, and feminine language in Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss signs and wonders, Hebrew Bible connections, the promise of salvation, and more in Acts 2:1-21. The text is appointed for Pentecost, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss love-songs, community, and connection in reference to John 17:20-26. The text is appointed for the Feast of the Ascension, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss social justice, human failure, and heavenly hope in Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss poetic structure, creation language, and the mechanics of praise in Psalm 148. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss whiteness, danger, and comfort in Revelation 7:9-17. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Gregory Sterling discuss Resurrection encounters and calls to action in Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss doubt, trauma, and the value of “Doubting Thomas” in John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harry Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, uncertainty, and the power of emotion in John 20:1-18. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss the construction of stories, Christian supersessionism, and the legacy of Christian storytelling in relation to Genesis 22:1-18. The text is appointed for the Easter Vigil, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judy Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss the innocence of Jesus, divine kingship, and more in John 18:1-19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss enslavement imagery, Passover liberation, and models of service in Exodus 12:1-14 and John 13:1-17. The texts are appointed for Maundy Thursday, in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss community, sacrament, and suffering in Luke 22:14-23:56. The text is appointed for the Palm Sunday, the Liturgy of the Passion, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss divine violence, colonialism, and the notion of “wilderness” in Isaiah 43:16-21. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss reconciliation, spiritual role-models, and what it means to “become the righteousness of God” with reference to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. The text is appointed for the 4th Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss repentance, leniency, and divine warnings in Luke 13:1-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss inheritance, offspring, and the promises of God in Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss the possibility of being in relationship with God in Romans 10:8b-13. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, March 6, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the healing and transforming power of God in Luke 9:28-43. The text is appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss forgiveness and the sibling dynamics at work in Genesis 45:3-11,15. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss Jesus’ blessings and warnings in Luke 6:17-26. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss the difference between verse and prose in Isaiah 6:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss reluctant prophets and God’s will in Jeremiah 1:4-10. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloe Starr discuss the church universal and love as the basis for the exercise of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss recognizing God in the midst of community and the diversity of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the power of God in Psalm 29. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss the mystery, language and lyricism in John 1:1-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Gregory Sterling and Harold Attridge discuss the humanity of young Jesus and the role of Mary as mother in Luke 2:41-52. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss birth, kingship and signs of God’s redemption in Isaiah 9:2-7. The text is appointed for Christmas (Proper 1), December 24, Years A, B, and C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the Magnificat and our understanding of Mary through the ages in relation to Luke 1:46b-55. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Advent 4), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hope, apathy, and why the context of prophecy matters in Zephaniah 3:14-20. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent 3), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss disaster and hope, glory, and reversal in Baruch 5:1-9. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent 2), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss messianic prophecy, timelessness, and historic context in Jeremiah 33:14-16. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent (Advent 1), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Chapter, Verse, and Season gives listeners the opportunity to overhear the kinds of conversations that take place in the halls of Yale Divinity School. Each week, professors from different theological disciplines chat about biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. They bring their own interests to the table and hopefully spark new insights into the scripture appointed for each Sunday.