TeeGeeBeeSee for Thursday: Jesus continues preaching
The Good Book Club
Thursday, Feb 22, 2018. Luke 6:27-49
‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’
He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.
‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’
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Thursday for Thought. Jesus is still preaching his “sermon on the plain.” Today’s message is about loving others, isn’t it, “pure Jesus” here; to see himself, God created you, must look at you, God's image.
Jesus preaches against our central human nature, doesn't he, as Anu Garg said in his word a day site's A Thought For Today,
I and the public know. / What all schoolchildren learn. / Those to whom evil is done. / Do evil in return - W.H. Auden, poet (21 Feb 1907-1973). We almost cannot not do evil to those who do evil to us, a very cause of the world's problems, those who attacked us on 9/11, the Palestinians, the Jews, North Korea, and on and on and on as far as history and humanity go.
As for the reading, there are several old proverbs, bits of wisdom. Unfortunately or fortunately, the message as delivered seems terse, pointed, Jesus quite abrupt with his words, perhaps even harsh? Was he angry at the time, does Luke mean for us to cringe? Along with the "Woes" that we read yesterday, I'm thinking that Jesus must see some hostile faces in the crowd. I don't get that feeling in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, but I do here, what do you think? At any event, in Rosselli's painting, lots of folks don't seem to be paying attention.
Art: Rosselli, found online