Daily Readings - Fri Nov 20 2020
Revelation
8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."10I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.11Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Luke
45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling.46"It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Sermon
The readings today present us with powerful images of divine truth and the challenges of living out that truth in the world. In the first reading from Revelation, John is given a scroll by an angel and told to eat it. The scroll is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. This symbolizes the Word of God, which brings joy and nourishment to our spirits but also challenges us to confront the difficulties and sins of the world. John’s act of eating the scroll prepares him to prophesy again, emphasizing the call to share God’s message even when it is hard.
In the Gospel, Jesus enters the temple and drives out those who are exploiting it for profit. He reminds them that the temple is meant to be a house of prayer, not a place of greed. This action angers the religious leaders, who begin to plot against him. Yet, despite the growing opposition, Jesus continues to teach the people, who listen to him with great attention. This passage shows Jesus’ authority and his commitment to purifying the places where God is worshiped, even in the face of resistance.
Both readings remind us that following God’s will often involves tension and sacrifice. The sweetness of God’s Word must be balanced with the bitterness of confronting sin and injustice. Like John, we are called to receive God’s truth deeply and share it with others, even when it is uncomfortable. Like Jesus, we are called to stand firm in our faith, even when it leads to opposition. In our daily lives, this means being honest about our own sins, standing up for what is right, and trusting that God’s truth will ultimately prevail. Let us ask for the courage to embrace both the sweetness and the bitterness of living as disciples of Christ.