Queerying 22nd after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Job said in reply to the Becoming One:
I know that You can do everything,
That nothing You propose is impossible for You.
Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?
Indeed, I spoke without understanding
Of things beyond me, which I did not know.
Hear now, and I will speak;
I will ask, and You will inform me.
I had heard You with my ears,
But now I see You with my eyes;
Therefore, I recant and relent,
Being but dust and ashes.

[...]

The Becoming One restored Job’s fortunes when he prayed on behalf of his friends, and the Becoming One gave Job twice what he had before. All his brothers and sisters and all his former friends came to him and had a meal with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the misfortune that the Becoming One had brought upon him. Each gave him some money and each one gold ring. Thus the Becoming One blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the former. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand she-asses. He also had seven sons and three daughters. The first he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. Nowhere in the land were women as beautiful as Job’s daughters to be found. Their father gave them estates together with their brothers. Afterward, Job lived one hundred and forty years to see four generations of children and grandchildren. So Job died old and contented.

Queeries for the text:
What is missing from this text?
If nothing is impossible, what is possible?
What does it mean to be dust and ashes?
How much money did they give? What does the book of Job say about suffering?
Why is Job's Daughter's appearances important?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
⁴⁶They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his chosen family and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Descendant of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many sternly ordered Bartimaeus to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Descendant of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, “Call that one here.”

And they called the blind one, saying to Bartimaeus, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

⁵¹Then Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind one said to Jesus, “My teacher, let me see again.”

⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

Queeries for the text:
What else happened in Jericho?
Why is Jesus named the Descendant of David?
Who do we order to be quiet?
What do we throw off to encounter Jesus?
Why did Jesus ask Bartimaeus what he wanted?
What makes us well?

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying 19th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Job 1:1, 2:1-10
There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

[...]

One day the divine beings presented themselves before the Becoming One. The Adversary came along with them to present himself before the Becoming One. The Becoming One said to the Adversary, “Where have you been?”

The Adversary answered the Becoming One, “I have been roaming all over the earth.”

The Becoming One said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil. He still keeps his integrity; so you have incited me against him to destroy him for no good reason.”

The Adversary answered the Becomig One, "Skin for skin—all that a human man has he will give up for his life. But lay a hand on his bones and his flesh, and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.”

So the Becoming One said to the Adversary, “See, Job is in your power; only spare his life.”

The Adversary departed from the presence of the Becomig One and inflicted a severe inflammation on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He took a potsherd to scratch himself as he sat in ashes.

His wife said to him, “You still keep your integrity! Blaspheme God and die!”

But he said to her, “You talk as any shameless woman might talk! Should we accept only good from God and not accept evil?” For all that, Job said nothing sinful.

Queeries for the text:
What is missing from the text?
How is theodicy apparent?
What does shameless mean?
Where else is shameless used in the Tanakh?
How is shameless a good thing?
How is this text problematic?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
²Some religious authorities came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³Jesus answered them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “Moses allowed a human man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”

⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made humanity with many and no genders.’ ⁷‘For this reason a person shall leave their parents and be joined to their spouse, ⁸and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer distinct persons, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰Then in the house the disciples asked Jesus again about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, “Whichever husband divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the reign of God belongs. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the reign of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And Jesus took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Queeries for the text:
Where were they?
Why do we test Jesus?
What's the difference between what is lawful and what is right?
Where is the power?
What happens with divorce?
What counts as adultery? What doesn't?
How do children receive the reign of God?
How have children been discarded?

What are your queeries?