Daily Readings - Thu Oct 13 2022

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love⁵he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight⁹making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Luke

Chapter 11

⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.⁴⁸So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.⁴⁹Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'⁵⁰so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.⁵²Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."⁵³As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

Sermon

In today's readings, we hear from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians and from Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Paul writes about the abundant blessings and spiritual gifts God has bestowed upon us, emphasizing that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. He speaks of our adoption as sons and daughters of God, the redemption we have through Christ’s blood, and the wisdom and understanding God has shared with us. This passage is a beautiful expression of God’s love and plan for us, inviting us to live in gratitude and awe of His grace. In the Gospel, Jesus addresses the Pharisees and scholars of the law, criticizing them for honoring the prophets with tombs while rejecting the message of the prophets—and even persecuting those sent by God. Jesus points out the irony that while they build monuments to the prophets their fathers killed, they themselves fail to listen to the prophets and even prevent others from doing so. This passage serves as a warning against hypocrisy and spiritual blindness, urging us to examine how we respond to God’s word and messengers in our own lives. Both readings remind us of the great gift of faith and the responsibility that comes with it. Paul’s letter calls us to live in a way that reflects the holiness and love we’ve received from God, while Jesus’ words challenge us to be honest about our own spiritual state. Let us ask ourselves: Are we truly living as children of God, or are we like the Pharisees, more concerned with appearances than with the truth? May we embrace the wisdom and grace God offers, and may our lives bear fruit in accordance with His will.