Isaiah 43:16-21

The first few verses of this chapter (before this Lectionary) might be familiar to some. They are those comforting statements about God being with you. This passage begins with an introduction of the Big Guy, explaining that he is the God who parted the Red Sea and dealt with Pharaoh's army. Then, he switches to doing a "new thing". A bit unusual for a prophet, usually they want you to remember the past, honor it, and follow those ancient laws. There will plenty of that in the coming chapters. What they are about to do is cross the desert from where they have been in captivity to their home back in Israel. They will see jackals and ostriches and not much water.

Also new, in the next chapter we will hear the first definitive statement on monotheism, "I am the first and I am the last". Up to now, there have been statements on being a "a jealous god" and competing gods like Baal. That's pretty done with from here on out.

Philippians 3:4b-14

We continue with the explanation of who Jesus is to Paul. This is one of the places he specifically states his association with the Pharisees. They are the antagonists of the gospels. Paul takes the role of the one who switches allegiances. He goes on at length saying his goal is to gain power and be righteous but is short on describing those in detail. He uses the mystery religion technique of saying you have to always be working toward the end but you'll never get there.

John 12:1-8

Again in the book of John, we see the obnoxiously arrogant Christ who is unambiguous about his own importance. Maybe that wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for how Christians today use the phrase "you will always have the poor". This story is in all four gospels, with variations of course. The gospel of John puts Mary, sister of Martha in it. This makes it an expression of gratitude for raising their brother Lazarus. Note Jesus didn't ask for the anointing, it was a gift. It is a celebration of life. In the next chapter, Jesus goes on to wash the feet of his disciples, celebrating them, instead of himself. These are not instructions on how to worship Jesus, but rather to love and care for each other.

There is another aspect to the story, with the introduction of Judas, the betrayer. He asks a question that on the surface is valid, about spending resources appropriately. This is much more delicate than it seems however, and I won't go into detail for fear of not handling it well, but you might want to look into it. It is another conservative tradition of shaming those who lack resources. You would think that since it is Judas doing it, it would be obvious that he's doing something wrong, but, no. His words take a complex discussion of economic justice and turn it into a simple statement of how to correctly do philanthropy. The rich can afford to have that discussion of return on investment; some can even include how they sacrificed when they were younger to get what they have now. Those who are kept in poverty by an unjust system don't have those options. Their economy is always passing money through their hands. Their savings accounts are in the community, when one person has excess, it is shared with all.