Jesus Stories for Wednesday
The Good Book Club
Wednesday, Feb 28 Luke 9:28-62
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’
When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.’ While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.
While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’ But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’
John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.’
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
THOUGHTS FOR WEDNESDAY. Here’s the Transfiguration on the Mountaintop, which Mark has in the center of his gospel, as a turning point of his gospel; and Luke, pointedly it seems to me, makes it immediately before Jesus “sets his face toward Jerusalem” to suffer and die a prophet in Jerusalem. Luke somewhat enhances Mark’s memory of the mountaintop event by telling us what Jesus, Moses and Elijah are talking about, I wonder if that is to show Good Friday as unavoidably foreordained in heaven, the Law of Moses and the Prophets perhaps conferring with Daniel’s cosmic Son of Man. IDK. Is it too late for our Man, God’s Son Jesus, to pray “let this cup pass from me”, or is there yet time to flee?
Unlike Mark with his own agenda, Luke does not recount Jesus telling Peter, James & John not to tell anyone what happened up there, it just turns out that way. Why did Luke omit Jesus giving them that order? Maybe he’s not as concerned with the “messianic secret” as Mark is? Luke has his own - - (I call it “agenda” but some don’t have the same sense of the word “agenda” as I do) - - Luke’s own remembrance of what he’s researched and found out to record in his report to Theophilus?
Luke, again unlike Mark, is not so concerned with telling us that the unclean spirit in the man’s son recognized Jesus and Jesus telling him to shut his mouth and leave. Different storytellers remember things differently, eh? Or, they have different points to make, different impressions to convey - - different agenda.
Luke, again unlike Mark, doesn’t disclose who the disciples were whom Jesus overheard arguing about who among them was the greatest. Jesus isn’t into being greatest, but into humility, into being as insignificant as a child (in those patriarchal days, men had set themselves up as the significant, important ones, women and children were relatively insignificant. The damn fool men running our governments seem to believe the same garbage about their own superiority; as a friend said, we need to elect more women, grandmothers).
It should surprise and offend no one that there was still the old historic animosity between Samaritans and Jews. Back about 722 BC when the Assyrians conquered Israel the Northern Kingdom, they followed their custom of “pacifying” the conquered land by deporting most all the people and importing people from other conquered lands. So the “lost tribes of Israel” were dispersed from northern Israel throughout the Assyrian Empire and over time lost their memory and connection of being Israel Jews. The foreigners who were brought into the northern kingdom Israel (Samaria was the capital where the sanctuary was and the northern area came to be - and still so - called Samaria instead of being called Israel) were treated and regarded with animosity by the Judean Jews, never accepted, were always hated strangers occupying the holy land. This cultural, ethnic hatred was still rampant in Jesus’ day, thus his unwelcome while passing through Samaria on his way south from Galilee to Jerusalem. This also helps us understand the political, religious, cultural, ethnic situation in Luke about 95 AD when Luke writes about Jesus telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
What else? I’ll write more about bar enash, the son of man, from time to time as we go along through Luke.