Today''s Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 18 January 2021

Been a bit busy today.  Got the call from next-door niece, they needed us to come over to "watch" the kids.  The older one, the great- niece, didn't even have the on-line / "remote" school today, as it's a legal holiday, MLK Day.  And the 3-year-old great-nephew is a handful always.  Their dad worked last night, another 12-hour shift, so he really needed to get some sleep.  And their mom's work had her in the office for a while today.  So we had the joy.  It was nice, and we enjoy being a presence in all their lives, but it takes some involvement.  So there was that.

Got home from that and had all the day's "usual chores" still undone, so off to that.

And then, while eating a dinner of warmed-over leftovers, got the news that one of the local Catholic churches, just a few blocks from our church, was on fire.  The fire crews from the town were getting assistance from numerous local departments.  When they have to start cutting holes in the roof, it's not good.  At one time in my life, I was at all too many fire scenes, sometimes while the crews were there and sometimes the morning after.  You never really get used to it, and the memory of the smell never leaves you.  Especially if there was a casualty in the fire before the trucks arrived:  I know that one all too well.  So that will be an issue and the diocese will have some things to deal with.  Since the diocese has a brand-new bishop, just installed last week, it'll be a learning experience for him.

And then I "get" to make a trek in the morning,  Got to get some "labs" done in preparation for a doctor visit next week.  I'm more than a bit nervous:  the A1C has been creeping up and they're starting to take about the diabetes routines.  NOT what I want to hear, so I've been cutting WAY back on the carbs and sweets.  A guy like me with Dutch and German ancestry denied potatoes, and Wife's Austrian and Sicilian roots denied pasta and potatoes, ain't great.  So we shall see.

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GENESIS 42

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,  he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other? 2Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.”  3So 10 of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”

5The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.  7When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from? ” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9Joseph remembered his dreams about them  and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness  of the land.”

10“No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said. 11“We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.”

12“No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

13But they replied, “We, your servants, were 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now  with our father, and one is no longer living.”

14Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken:  ‘You are spies! ’ 15This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies! ” 17So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

18On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God  — do this and you will live. 19If you are honest, let one of you  be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

21Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.” 

22But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy?  But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood! ” 

23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24He turned away from them and wept. Then he turned back and spoke to them. He took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. 25Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s money to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. 26They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

The Brothers Return Home

27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his money there at the top of the bag. 28He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us? ”

29When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: 30“The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31But we told him: We are honest and not spies. 32We were 12 brothers, sons of the same  father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now  with our father in the land of Canaan. 33The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’ ”

35As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of money! When they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid.

36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me! ”

37Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care,  and I will return him to you.”

38But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left.  If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.” 

GENESIS 43

Decision to Return to Egypt

1Now the famine in the land was severe.  2When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us some food.”

3But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us: ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ” 

6“Why did you cause me so much trouble? ” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother? ”

7They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother? ’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’? ”

8Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die — neither we, nor you, nor our children. 9I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable!  If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.  10If we had not wasted time, we could have come back twice by now.”

11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift — some balsam and some honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.  12Take twice as much money with you. Return the money that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. 14May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.” 

The Return to Egypt

15The men took this gift, double the amount of money, and Benjamin. They made their way down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward,  “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” 17The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house.

18But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” 19So they approached Joseph’s steward  and spoke to him at the doorway of the house.

20They said, “Sir, we really did come down here the first time only to buy food. 21When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one’s money was at the top of his bag!  It was the full amount of our money, and we have brought it back with us. 22We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in the bags.”

23Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24The steward brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet,  and got feed for their donkeys. 25Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon. 26When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him.

27He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive? ”

28They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.

29When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about? ” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room to weep. 31Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure,  he said, “Serve the meal.”

32They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is abhorrent to them.  33They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. 34Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs.  They drank, and they got intoxicated with Joseph.

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MATTHEW 13

33He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds  of flour until it spread through all of it.”  

Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy

34Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,  35so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

I will open My mouth in parables;

I will declare things kept secret

from the foundation of the world.  

Jesus Interprets the Wheat and the Weeds

36Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.” 

37He replied: “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,  39and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.  40Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin  and those guilty of lawlessness.   42They will throw them into the blazing furnace  where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears  should listen! 

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Priceless Pearl

44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 

45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46When he found one priceless  pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it. 

The Parable of the Net

47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,  48and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,  50and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

The Storehouse of Truth

51“Have you understood all these things? ” 

“Yes,” they told Him.

52“Therefore,” He said to them, “every student of Scripture  instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who brings out of his storeroom what is new and what is old.”  53When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.

Rejection at Nazareth

54He went to His hometown  and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?  55Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t His mother called Mary, and His brothers James,  Joseph,  Simon, and Judas?  56And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things? ” 57And they were offended by Him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”  58And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.