Day 19: Jesus Preaches, Heals, Casts Out Demons....and Prays

You may find much of this section of Luke somewhat familiar, as many of the stories you have heard before, either in Matthew or in Mark, or in both.  But, as you read along, you might notice some additions, some differences, and different things might leap out at you.

As for me, the controversy involved in Jesus healing on the Sabbath becomes more prominent.  Jesus makes the point that it should be valid to save a life, even on the Sabbath (and in fact, the Jewish rabbis speak in favor of this), but the man with the withered hand did not have a life-endangering injury.  So, something else may be going on.  What is it? 

You know what else I noticed?  Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and he prays all night long.  You may notice references to Jesus praying often in Luke.

Then he chooses his apostles and goes back down the mountain to teach.  That's right:  it's not the Sermon on the Mount.  It's called "The Sermon on the Plain."  There are very many similarities between the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain.  Luke's version is shorter (for example), and instead of simply saying "Blessed are the poor in spirit" for example, Jesus has three "Blesseds" and three "Woes."  And forget about the "Poor in Spirit" -- Jesus says, "Blessed are you who are POOR." Not spiritual.  Literally.

Jesus heals the centurion's servant, a story we might be familiar with.  Then he balances that story with one about Jesus raising a widow's son from the dead.  Luke is careful to include many stories about women in his gospel.

There's also the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus' feet with her tears while he's dining at Simon's house.  She is identified as a "sinner", which leads many people to consider he to be a prostitute.  Really, is prostitution the only sin open to women?  Also, I still wonder about identifying people as "sinners."  To me, it's like saying, that person is a "human being."

Mary Magdalene is named as one of the followers of Jesus at the beginning of Luke 8.  Luke also mentions (without saying much more) that several women travelled with him and supported his ministry.

The next two stories are familiar ones:  the man healed of a legion of demons (notice how the people want Jesus to leave after he does this great miracle?) and the little girl and the woman who are both healed.  Unlike Mark, Luke doesn't portray Jesus' words to her in his native language of Aramaic, "Talitha cum."