Queerying Lent 1A

River Needham M.A., queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

The Becoming God took the human and placed them in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. Then the Becoming God commanded the human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that the Becoming God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

Queeries for the text:
How big would the garden of Eden need to be to support two humans today?
What are your favorite dangerous plants?
What gets omitted in this pericope?
How does this text speak to human biases in picking and translating texts?
Can serpents talk or reason?
How is good and bad decided?
What is wrong with being naked?
How are fig leaves sewn together?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards was famished. ³The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Child of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴But Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶saying to him, “If you are the Child of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘God will command Their angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus said to the tempter, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Becoming One your God to the test.’”

⁸Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹and the devil said to Jesus, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Becoming One your God, and serve only Them.’” ¹¹Then the devil left Jesus, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Queeries for the text:
Why would the Spirit lead to temptation?
What comes from the mouth of God?
What is visible from the pinnacle today?
What would you trade for food?
What would you trade for proof?
What would you trade for power?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 2nd after Epiphany A

River Needham, M.A., queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen, O coastlands, to me, and give heed, O nations afar: the Becoming One appointed me before I was born, She named me while I was in my parent’s womb. She made my mouth like a sharpened blade, She hid me in the shadow of Her hand, and She made me like a polished arrow; She concealed me in Her quiver. She said to me, “You are my servant, Israel in whom I glory.” I thought, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for empty breath.” But my case rested with the Becoming One, my recompense was in the hands of my God.

Now the Becoming One has resolved—She who formed me in the womb to be Her servant—to bring back Jacob to Herself, that Israel may be restored to Her. I have been honored in the sight of the Becoming One, my God has been my strength. For She has said: “It is too little that you should be my servant in that I raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel: I will also make you a light of nations, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

Thus said the Becoming One, the Redeemer of Israel, her Holy One, to the despised one, to the abhorred nations, to the slave of rulers: kings shall see and stand up; nobles, and they shall prostrate themselves—to the honor of the Becoming One, who is faithful, to the Holy One of Israel who chose you.

Queeries for the text:
What naming customs might the Becoming One use?
Who else does God hide with her hand?
What else is in God's quiver? What might be a different metaphor for use today?
What might it mean to labor in vain?
Who might be restored today? Who are the survivors today?
Who or what is the darkness of the nations? How is darkness a gift?
What other scripture passages does this text bring up in your mind?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 1:29-42

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who ranks ahead of me because they were before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that this one might be revealed to Israel.”

³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I myself did not know this one, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Child of God.”

³⁵The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard John say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They said to Jesus, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

³⁹Jesus said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where Jesus was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹Andrew first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).

⁴²He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).


Queeries for the text:
The next day after what?
Why did John not know Jesus?
What do we testify to?
Is John trying to get rid of followers?
Was where Jesus was staying really that enticing?
Why does the time of day matter?
Why do we use Peter's translated name and not "Anointed" for Messiah?

What are your queeries?