Reading Plan for June 14 - 20
June 14, 2026 | Matthew 23:13-28
Reflection:
The word “hypocrite” is a word that is brought over into English from the New Testament Greek; it originally meant “someone acting on a stage,” but came to describe someone who wears a figurative mask—pretending to be someone they are not or saying one thing while doing the exact opposite. The earliest English translations of the Gospel of Matthew use the Anglo-Saxon word līċettere, which meant “to feign or play act.” By the late 1300s, the word “hypoctrite” was used then and thereafter in our English Bibles. As you read this passage, see how many times Jesus calls people “hypocrites.” How are these folks “play acting” and why is this so upsetting to Jesus? We are each called to examine our own behaviors and cease to feign or pretend to be more righteous than we are. What then are we called to do? [PS. You may notice that there is no verse 14 here. It is not found in the earliest of Greek manuscripts, and it is not in the earliest English translations. This is the verse that is now most often omitted: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely." ]
June 15, 2026 | Matthew 23:29-39
Reflection:
Today, we have more “woe” for the hypocrites. These “woes” are a call for repentance, a turning away from the path that is self-destructive, and a turning toward a path that is constructive for ourselves and others. Do these calls to the way of righteousness fall on deaf ears? It seems that the core message of the good news that Jesus proclaims is missed by a lot of folks. Too often, it appears that people live the structure of faith without allowing the substance of faith to shape their lives and their living. Jesus ends this set of “woes” with a foretelling of his coming again, and the people who see him and understand who he is will cry out, “Blessed!” (Remember that Jesus calls us all to bless others. The Apostle Paul says to the Christians in Rome, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” [12:14] )
June 16, 2026 | Matthew 24:1-14
Reflection:
We have a very similar passage to today’s in Mark 13, often called “The Little Apocalypse” because it mirrors the imagery of the “big Apocalypse,” the book of Revelation. Apocalyptic writing is concerned with what will come “soon” as a consequence of what is going on now. And what is going on? Injustice, corruption, falseness (hypocrisy), and “the increase of lawlessness, where the love of many will grow cold.” Jesus calls each of us to stay faithful and trusting through all that is coming, because the big stuff is out of our hands. God is in control. We are called to “endure to the end” (that is, “be faithful, trusting and loving”). We will be “saved” (that is, freed, emancipated, rescued, delivered, and made whole). Jesus also speaks of “false prophets”; how are we to discern who speaks in godly ways and points us in the right direction? Jesus basically says, “Look at their behavior. Are they play-acting as good, kind, and loving?” Follow the Jesus we meet in scripture, who loves us to the end.
June 17, 2026 | Matthew 24:15-28
Reflection:
Jesus seems to speak in riddles, but much of what he was saying could have made sense to his hearers. The “desolating sacrilege” he mentions harkens back to the prophet Daniel. Now parts of the book of Daniel were probably written at a time when Greek invaders were controlling Jerusalem, and their ruler, Antiochus IV, had set up a statue and altar to Zeus in the Hebrew temple. These Greeks were sacrificing unclean animals, such as pigs, to Zeus. This was a great offense to the local Judeans. Actions like this by the Greeks caused the locals to revolt in a bloody conflict. Jesus has been speaking of “end times” happenings, and the need to be watchful and aware. He calls people to a core sense of what it means to be faithful in turbulent and “irreligious” times. Jesus is aware that governmental systems can become corrupt and oppressive. Jesus says too that people of faith should not be drawn to spectacles of seeming faith. Identify the core values of living in times of oppression and hypocrisy: love your neighbors and love God. Trust, believe, and have faith in the goodness of God and those who serve God.
June 18, 2026 | Matthew 24:29-35
Reflection:
Jesus’ apocalyptic words continue in today’s reading. Jesus draws from the book of Joel (2:31), “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.” Jesus uses the powerfully poetic words of the prophet to speak of the end of all earthly things, by drawing on the deep memory of the prophetic voices of long before. Throughout the New Testament, such words are meant to startle the imagination and call people to a greater awareness of what’s going on around them and to a deeper trust in God, who is ultimately in control. One way to look at Jesus’ words here is as the ultimate love song, like the Gershwin tune, “Love is Here to Stay.”
But, oh my dear,
Our love is here to stay.
Together we're going a long, long way.
In time, the Rockies may crumble,
Gibraltar may tumble;
They're only made of clay,
But our love is here to stay.
Imagine Jesus, instead of Ella Fitzgerald, singing, “My love is here to stay, though all else pass away.” It is God’s love in Jesus Christ in which we are to put and keep our trust.
June 19, 2026 | Matthew 24:36-44
Reflection:
Clearly, we cannot stay awake all night long, every night. It’s not physically possible. We would die. The longest time possible to do so is about 11 days, but severe psychological damage can begin to happen after 72 hours. Jesus is calling us not to sleepfulness, but to a conscious and conscientious awareness of what is happening. It is not a fearful watchfulness, either, even though the idea of “one will be taken and one will remain” sounds pretty ominous. Jesus speaks parabolically, using big and startling images to call us to a consistent faithfulness, the marks of which, we will see in Matthew 25, is the care of one’s neighbors in life sustaining and transforming ways.
June 20, 2026 | Matthew 24:45-51
Reflection:
Again, we return to “hypocrites.” Did you notice? They come into this story at the end. Remember, this is a story, a parable. Parables aren’t about something; they do something. A parable such as this, with good and bad slaves, captures and shapes our imagination. As with our previous day’s reading, such a parable is a calling to loving faithfulness. “Be ethical in all your dealings, not just because ‘God is watching’; be good to one another, because this is your true calling.” We are in the midst of multiple stories that seem to be about watching out for “the end of things”; see how you respond to each. How do you want to live this faith life, as you read about "watchfulness"?