Bible Study Leftover
We talked about the reading for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, B Cycle, Jeremiah 23:, 1-6, Psalm 23: 1-6, Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 2:13-18, and Mark 6:30-34. I had it in my mind to mention something about the various ways I saw Paul’s words about “you who were far off and you who were near” were interpreted in different things I read. One meaning ascribed to them was the the Gentiles were the ones who were far off, and the Israelites were those who were near. Another take on it was that the Isrealites taken to Babylon were those far off, and those remaining in their own land with Jeremiah were those addressed as being near. A third sense was that those living in Jeremiah’s time were the near, and people living sometime in the future such as ourselves might be the ones ‘far off.’
Until I read these views, I thought he was referring to those distant spiritually from God, versus those spiritually close to Him. Or maybe he meant … … just kidding!
