A look at the gaps in the lectionary.
This week: the gap between Proper 11A and 12A
The text: Matthew 13:34-35 (36-43)
For the last few weeks, the lectionary has been stitching together different parts of this one chapter in Matthew. Here’s a link to the whole of chapter 13 in one place.
This week, the passage catches some of the gap from last week (31-35), then skips over part of the text from last week(36-43).
It still leaves behind a pair of verses: 34 and 35.
So what are we missing?
Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet:
Matthew 13:34-35
‘I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.’
Jesus has, at this point, used two parable-style teachings with the crowd when the text says this. And from here, he will be pulled aside by the disciples to get clarification. Then he will tell them several more.
It is an odd note, then. To say “all these things” when we just heard two parables. That’s it. And then, to suggest he said nothing outside the contours of a parable… I’m not sure what the author is really trying to say here. Because we know this isn’t going to be true forever.
Except that it does have the value of connecting with the scriptural proving that Matthew likes to do. I suspect this is its true purpose.
Are we missing anything this time?
Nah. Other than how the cut-and-paste approach to Matthew 13 is bound to make these passages come off as unconnected rather than one continuous story. But these two verses aren’t lost on the reader in skipping them.