The Good Book Club - Wednesday's Jesus stories

The Good Book Club

Wednesday, Feb 21, 2018: Luke 6:1-26

One sabbath while Jesus was going through the cornfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands,  and ate them. 

But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?’ Then he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so  that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ 

He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, 

whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for  power (δύναμις again) came out from him and healed all of them.

 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,

   for yours is the kingdom of God. 

‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,

   for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now,

   for you will laugh.

 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 

‘But woe to you who are rich,

   for you have received your consolation. 

‘Woe to you who are full now,

   for you will be hungry.

‘Woe to you who are laughing now,

   for you will mourn and weep.

 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

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Thoughts for Wednesday. Another good set of stories today! Jesus came to "show and tell" what God is like and what God's values are. Here he is still on the kick, if I may call it that, of showing and telling that, as an evangelist (gospel writer) says elsewhere, we humans are not made for the Sabbath as Jesus’ detractors seem to believe in their obsessive puritanical literalism with the Law, but the Sabbath is made for us, for our rest and enjoyment as Creator God rested after his workweek; for us to be especially mindful of our call to be godly, kind, helpful, loving. 

Here are more examples of yesterday’s parable of the wine & wineskins, that Jesus brings a new understanding of religion and faith and new, godly values in human life: a person's hunger is more important than a rigid rule about the Sabbath; people are more important than rules. Bringing this home, the Episcopal Church has a canon (church law, rule) that Holy Communion may not be served to people who are unbaptized; but in our diocese, with Bishop Russell, everyone is invited and welcome to God's table; and we have long practiced this hospitality at Holy Nativity. Our General Convention seriously needs to bring its rules into the mind of Christ. TW+

Here’s a list of The Twelve. The list may be slightly different depending on who’s telling the story, writing the gospel. Notice that at Luke 5:27, Jesus calls “Levi,” but in the list here, Luke calls him Matthew. Care to explain that? I’ll bet Luke didn’t even notice the “discrepancy” or if he did, it didn’t bother him! Or maybe you can explain it?

Here’s Luke’s version of what in Matthew with Jesus sitting down, we call “the sermon on the mount.” In Luke, Jesus stands on a level place, sometimes called “the sermon on the plain”. Substantially different too: in Luke, Jesus proclaims both Blessings and Woes. Some of the Woes are really bad news for most of us 21st century Americans. The art is Tissot, late 19th century.

BTW, when Jesus says “Blessed are the …” he uses the NT Greek word μακάριοι (makarioi), which means fortunate, blessed, happy, satisfied, to be envied, at peace with. Many English translations render it “happy” instead of “blessed.” μακάριοι does not mean they are sanctified or holy, but content. Can you find yourself among the blesseds and/or the woes?

Clipart pinched online. Real art: Tissot, 19th Century