Day 43: Paul's Journeys, until Jerusalem....

This is where it's a good idea to start looking at a map, to keep track of the towns Paul travels through, the seas he sails through, as well as the people he meets.  At the beginning of chapter 19, Paul is traveling through Ephesus and meets some believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit.  Not only that, they haven't even heard of the existence of the Holy Spirit.  He prays for them, and immediately they begin to speak in languages and prophecy.

Coincidentailly, there are "about" twelve of them. hmmmmm.

In the meantime, things are not going so smoothly in the synagogues.  There are people who are convinced about Paul's message, but many more who are not. One small, odd story concerns some exorcists who do not appear to believe in Jesus but who like to cast out evil spirits in his name.  At one point, the spirits ask the exorcists, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am familiar with, but who are you?"

Personally, the very small detail about people being healed by touching even small pieces of cloth that have been touched by Paul is the strangest to me.  This reminds me of the stories of medieval relics that have healing power.  What do you think about this?  In the midst of all of this trouble, the power of healing through Paul only gets stronger.

Paul decides to return to Jerusalem, which a lot of people think is a big mistake.  Many people try to talk him out of it.

At the same time, Paul is getting into trouble not just with Jews but with Gentiles who feel that he has "dissed" their goddess, Artemis.  He is a friend of no one's status quo.  His truth disturbs everyone, in some way or another.  His words and presence cause riots.

Aside:  during a theological conversation that lasts all night, a young man named Eutychus falls asleep, and falls out the window.  He is pronounced dead, but Paul raises him from death.  (possibly where the saying "bored to death" is from?)  (Just asking.)

Despite many many protests, Paul returns to Jerusalem.  Many of his friends plead with him, pray for him, beg him, but he leaves.  He arrives in Jerusalem to find it just as his friends have feared.  James tries to protect him, but Paul is the center of controversy and gossip in Jerusalem, because of what people have heard about the Gentiles, and what they claim that Paul is preaching.  Paul purifies himself to prove that he's still a good Jew, and James and other Jerusalem leaders repeat what they told the Gentile churches:  all they nee to do is abstain from eating blood, eating food sacrificed to idols, and from sexual immorality.

It does no good.  Paul is set up and arrested.  He appeals as a citizen of the Empire for the right to speak.

And speak he does.

(to be continued)

Day 39: The Circle Widens with Cornelius and his family

There's a turning point in this chapter, and it begins with two men praying and seeing angels and having visions.  First, there is Cornelius, a pious Gentile, who is praying at around three in the afternoon (one of the hours of prayer, by the way), when he sees an angel who tells him to go and summon a man named Simon (who he has never met.)  This Simon will tell him Something.

In the meantime, Peter is also praying.  It is noon (another hour of prayer) and he sees a vision while he is on the roof.  In the vision, he sees a sheet full of animals that are considered unclean by Jewish law.  The voice in the vision says to Peter, "Get up!  Kill and eat!"  Peter refuses, but the voice persists.  "Never consider unclean what God has made pure."

Peter does receive a visitor, who invites him to Cornelius' home.  He finds a surprising welcome when he gets there.  There are many people waiting for him, waiting for the word that he will give him.  Peter begins by noting that Jewish law forbids him to even be in the house with Cornelius.  But God has commanded him.

So he preaches the good news about Jesus to Cornelius and his extended family and servants.  The result?  They are all "filled with the Holy Spirit" (whatever that means); they begin to speak in tongues.  Because of what Peter witnesses, he decides that these Gentiles should be baptized and become a part of the body of believers.

No longer is the church simply a small sub-set of Judaism.  It is still small, but it is a wider circle.

The other believers have questions for Peter when he gets back to Jerusalem.  They aren't happy that he broke Jewish law, and they don't understand why he baptized Cornelius.  But he explains his encounter and the power of God he witnessed there, and the other apostles change their minds.  Perhaps even Gentiles can repent, they decide.

I know that this story is literally about the divide between Jews and Gentiles, but I can't help but wonder what unclean things God might be declaring pure even now, and in whose lives we witness the power of God, if we are given eyes to see it.

That is the criteria for Peter:  I saw the power of God in the life of Cornelius.  I saw the Holy Spirit.

What about you?  Where do you see the power of God?  Are there any  surprising places?

There's a short aside after this story about the church in Antioch, and how Antioch is where the people who believed in Jesus were first called "Christians."  As well, I can't help but notice how obviously the Spirit directed the travels, words and actions of the apostles (according to Luke.)  The Spirit tells them that there will be a famine.  The Spirit tells them to go to this city, or to send this person.

I wonder what it would be like for us to listen carefully enough to know that our actions were spirit-directed.  And what do you suspect we would be called to do?

Day 26: Necessary to Suffer and to Enter into His Glory

Jesus is sent to Pilate, and then to Herod, and then to the crowds, and then crucified.  We've been through this now twice before.  And yet....
Did you notice that when Herod and Pilate meet, they become friends?  Formerly, Luke says, they were enemies, but as of today, they became friends.  Hmmmm.  What do you suppose that means?

When Simon helps Jesus carry his cross, Jesus has words for the women of Jerusalem, who follow him, weeping.  "Weep for yourselves," he warns them.  On Jesus' Last Day, he flashes forward to another Last Day that is coming:  the destruction of Jerusalem.

In Matthew and Mark, the only words that Jesus says from the cross are these:  "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"  (Mark takes the trouble to translate it into Aramaic.)  These words are a verse from Psalm 22, it's true, and if you read the whole lamenting Psalm, you will find comfort and hope there.  But still, this is called The Cry of Dereliction for a reason.

Luke reports three different words from the cross:  "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (to those who are crucifying him), "Today you shall be with me in Paradise" (to the repentant thief), and "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit."  These words form a much different picture than the one in Matthew and Mark.

As in every single resurrection story, the women come to the tomb.  They are so frightened when they see the angels that they fall on their faces.  And, here's a twist:  when they try to tell the disciples what they saw and heard, the disciples consider their words to be "nonsense."  (in other translations:  an idle tale.)  By the way, did you know that in ancient times, a woman's testimony was not accepted in a court of law? 

Everyone has favorite Bible stories:  I happen to really like Matthew's account of Jesus and Peter walking on the water.  The next story, about the two disciples walking to Emmaus, is close second.  The story is full of surprise, humor and irony.  The disciples are walking with Jesus and learning from him, but they don't know it.  I imagine Jesus trying to keep a straight face when he asks them to tell him the story of the things that have happened during the past week.  "Really?"  he says.  "Is that so?"  And the two disciples begging the stranger to stay with them, and finally recognizing him once he breaks the bread.  Then they run back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples, who have the same news to share, "We have seen the Lord!"

Really, the brief recounting of Jesus' ascension is pretty anti-climactic after this.  But, when we get to Luke's 2nd volume, (his second "orderly account"), we'll get a fuller version.

That would be Acts.  Keep your finger in the page.  We have one more gospel before we return to Luke's story.

Day 25: He is Always Near

There's a little story at the beginning of Luke 21 -- the widow and her two coins.  We often use her as an example of good stewardship, because she gave all she had.  But she's not an example of good stewardship.  She's a victim of the corrupt temple system; she's taken advantage of by unscrupulous religious leaders who use her offerings to build up the temple (which is just going to be destroyed anyway)

And, she's also a picture of Jesus, who gave up everything to set us free from the power of sin and death.

Because He is always Near.  Keep alert.  Keep Awake. 

This chapter immediately precedes the beginning of the passion story, starting with Jesus celebrating the passover with his disciples.  Before that, Jesus warns the disciples that they need to always keep alert, because the end will come like a thief in the night, and they need to be ready always.  There are signs everywhere of his presence -- in the stars and the changing of the seasons, in the fig tree, in the widow and her two coins.

The end is always near.

Then the story becomes familiar:  Jesus eats with his disciples, and one of them goes to betray him.  He predicts Peter's denial; he prays, and they cannot keep their eyes open.  He is arrested, and he is mocked, and Peter does deny Jesus, and finally, he is brought before the religious leaders.

The end is always near.
We fall asleep, but he prays for us, and keeps telling us:  keep your eyes peeled.

Where do you see him? 

Day 24: From Jericho to Jerusalem

Before Jesus rides into Jerusalem to begin Holy Week, he goes through Jericho, where he meets a short tax collector named Zacchaeus, who is not only short, but universally disliked by everyone else in town (probably becomes of what he does for a living). Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus so badly that he climbs a tree, and Jesus surprises evveryone by inviting himself over to Zacchaeus' house for dinner. I mean, really! Why couldn't Jesus have gone to the house of one of the deserving people!!!

Zacchaeus responds by offering to give half of his possesssions to the poor, and offering to repay what he has cheated four times. He must not consider money quite as important as he once did. Or perhaps he thinks that now he is rich, but in a different way....

The following parable (which is similar to Matthew's Parable of the Talents) also deals with money. Where Zacchaeus distributes his money to the poor (redistribution of wealth), the parable ends by stating that 'everyone who has will be given more, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.' This is a scripture verse I've had a problem with since hearing Billie Holiday sing, "God Bless the Child." It seems to fly in the face of the extravagant grace-giving God that I encounter in other portions of scripture. I'm doing a little background study, and I'll get back to you. In the meantime, anyone who has an idea about this verse, let me know.

Jesus enters Jerusalem then, to cheering crowds and grumbling Pharisees. He weeps over Jerusalem, and then clears the temple. The house of prayer has become (in my version of the Bible) a house for crooks.

In Jerusalem, Jesus gets right into controversies, with Pharisees, Saducees and other legal experts. We have heard this before, and how he figures out how to answer every question, and confounds them all. He also tells the story of the tenant farmers who reject the son of the owner of the vineyard as well as all of the messengers he had sent before.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, Jesus quotes Psalm 118. A fitting entry to the next few days.

Day 23: As Jesus Gets Nearer to Jerusalem....(Luke 17 -18)

The mustard seed re-appears again in this section of scripture -- if only we had that teeny amount of faith, we could uproot trees and plant them in the sea (why we would want to do that is another question).   Chapter 17 opens with a number of small vignettes:  about not causing a little one to stumble, about faith, about the servant not expecting a reward.  How do they connect with one another?

An amazing healing follows:  ten lepers are cleansed -- sort of matter-of-factly, actually.  Jesus doesn't say anything but "go and show yourself to the priest," and they go, they obey.  Just by going, they are cleansed.  But one notices what has happened and turns back to give thanks.  Only one -- a Samaritan.  Huh. 

After the amazing act of thanksgiving, Jesus warns his disciples about coming persecution.  Jesus says, as in the days of Noah, there will be no warning given before the time of persecution.  Don't try to go back and get your suitcases, don't hesitate.  And the famous phrase, "Left behind" is in this section of scripture, as in "two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and one will be left behind."  I remember that in college one of my friends told me that he thought "left behind" should be interpreted as just the opposite of the way we have heard it.  The one who is left behind is the fortunate one, and the one taken is "taken away", as in the days of Noah.  I find this idea intriguing.

The next two parables are both about prayer, although in different ways.  The first, about the widow and the unjust judge, is one of the most haunting to me.  Prayer and justice -- to Luke, these two go together.  In modern life it often seems to me that those who are most concerned about prayer are not so concerned about justice (at least, justice for the poor); those who are concerned about justice often don't make much mention of prayer.  But for Luke, they go together and are, in fact, the basis for faith. "Persist in seeking justice; persist in prayer."  Both are difficult, maybe impossible, like the camel going through the eye of the needle, or the rich man getting into the kingdom.

But with God, all things are possible --- justice for the widow, justification for a tax collector.

Jesus is almost to Jerusalem.  He heals a blind man -- his last reported miracle.

What will he do next?

Day 22: Good News if You're Lost

May I say that the middle chapter of these three makes everything else in the other chapters in Luke worth it?  There are many difficult things in Luke, as there are in Matthew and Mark.  But the sheer grace of chapter 15 -- the images of the father with his arms wide open, the woman searching everywhere for her coin, the shepherd looking high and low for just one out of 100 sheep -- make every difficult saying worth it.

There's one catch though, you have to be lost.  If you are a wandering son, a coin gathering dust in a dark corner, a sheep out in the wilderness, Luke chapter 15 is good news.  If you are not lost, or you don't think you're lost, well, you might not understand what all of the fuss is about.

I notice reading these familiar stories again that the wandering son doesn't get to say his whole speech before his father interrupts him.  (The part about "treat me like one of your slaves..." the father does not let him say.)  I noticed that the woman who finds her lost coin goes out and has a party once she finds it.  Presumably, she spends all the money she worked so hard to track down.  huh.  What did you notice?

A few words about chapters 14 and 16.  Chapter 14 has some to do with table etiquette.  The first "parable" Jesus tells doesn't seem too much like a parable to me, actually.  It's just instructions about where to sit and who to invite.  The second parable is another version of the one we heard in Mark, about the landowner who has a party and discovers that his invited guests are no longer interested.  Then, Jesus changes the subject to "the cost of discipleship" -- Jesus warning potential disciples to count the cost before following him.  Considering where Jesus' path will lead, it's understandable that Jesus would warn people.  On the other hand, it's just the opposite of clever marketing. 

Chapter 16 has two parables with some disconnected warnings between them (it seems to me, anyway).  The parable of the dishonest manager has made commentators scratch their heads and do theological contortions for about 2,000 years.  The idea is that the manager is dishonest, but clever.   Jesus seems to think that disciples need to be creative and clever and that this is a part of faithfulness.  But, it makes us scratch our heads.  (and, I'm open to more suggestions on this parable).

The last parable is famous to some -- the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the poor man, and how Lazarus goes to heaven (the bosom of Abraham), but the rich man -- doesn't.  If you're Lazarus -- this is good news.  But if you are the rich man -- it's pretty sobering.  It's worth noting that the crowds that originally heard this parable would have been shocked when Jesus told them that the rich man was tormented in Hades.  They would have assumed the opposite.  Also, it's pretty unusual for the poor man to be the one who gets a name, and for the rich man to be anonymous.  Usually, it's the poor who are the bit players in history, and the rich who get the starring roles.

But, not in Luke's "orderly account." 

I'll admit, I gravitate to Luke's concern for and attention to the poor.  But then I also have to admit, that I am not one of the poor.  I may not be rich, but I'm not poor.  Does it make a different how I hear Luke's words?

Day 21: Teach us to Pray, and Die, and Live

So chapter 11 begins with Jesus teaching his disciples the Lord's prayer.  (You may want to turn back to Matthew, chapter 6, for another version of this prayer.)  Only in Luke's Orderly Account, the disciples observe Jesus in prayer, and ask him, "Teach us to pray."

I love this.  (I think that I love the simple, but not easy, sentences in scripture, sentences like "Love your enemies."  "Pray without ceasing."  "Jesus wept.") 

Luke just keeps reminding us not only that Jesus saves, but that Jesus prays.  Afterwards, Jesus tells a story about a man who goes to his friend in the middle of the night begging for bread.  Even if the friend doesn't want to get up, the noise of his friend pleading from out in the courtyard where everyone can hear will finally convince him to get up and give him what he wants.   (This is another one of those stories unque to Luke.) 

If you remember Jesus saying really recently, "Whoever is not against us is for us" really recently, you might be surprised that now Jesus says that 'whoever is not for me is against me.'  However, this is a different situation, when Jesus himself is being accused of using the power of the devil to cast out demons.

Jesus speaks out against the Pharisees here in Luke, but it doesn't seem quite as over-the-top as in Matthew somehow.  And please note, that at the end of chapter 13, it is some of the Pharisees who warn Jesus about Herod. 

It's interesting to me that Jesus places the warning about the unforgivable sin in this section of Luke, in the middle of his warnings about persecution, and at the same time as he assures his disciples that, when persecution comes, the Holy Spirit will give them the words to speak.

Another parable that only Luke tells is the one about the man with many barns, who accumulates a lot of "stuff" and then finds out it won't help him in the world to come.  Afterwards, is the familiar teaching about the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.

And in chapter 13, the story of the  bent-over woman (another healing on the Sabbath) only Luke tells.

The fig tree parable might sound familiar from Mark, but notice that in Luke, Jesus is willing to give it another year to bear fruit.

I also like the story about the faithful servants who the master finds hard at work.  Did you notice that in the end, the master will serve them?

What are some of the details and the larger themes that you are noticing in Luke?

Day 20: The Twelve and the Seventy-Two, Sent Out, Two Familiar Stories

At the beginning of chapter 9, the twelve disciples are commissioned and sent out with the power to heal and preach.  At the beginning of the next chapter, 72 disciples (missionaries) are sent out with the power to heal and preach, and with instructions.  I never noticed this before:  the multiplication of ministry in one short chapter. 

And it continues even today.

What else do I notice in these two chapters, which have more than enough material that seems familiar?  There are certain details that are unique to Luke, even in the middle of familiar stories.  There are also stories that only Luke will tell.

For example, Luke reports that Jesus had gone away to pray when the disciples find him, and he asks the well-known question, "Who do the crowds say that I am?  Who do you say that I am?" 

Shortly afterwards, Jesus begins to predict his death and resurrection, and also to urge the people that want to follow him to "take up their cross daily and follow me."  Only Luke adds the little word "daily" to this sentence.  Do you think this little word is important?

In the transfiguration story, while Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah, they are talking with him about the things that would happen when Jesus goes to Jerusalem.  Clearly, the trip to Jerusalem, and what will happen there, are important to Luke.

Jesus "sets his face toward Jerusalem", and we begin to see that there are people who say they will follow him, but aren't ready to give up the life that they already have.  It is a sobering thought.

After Jesus "multiplies the ministry" with the 72 missionaries (who are stunningly successful, by the way), there are two stories unique to Luke:  the story of the lawyer who wants to test Jesus' knowledge becomes the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most familiar stories in scripture.  Immediately following, is the story of Mary and Martha.  (Notice how Luke again tells a story that features men, followed by a story that features women.)

I'm remembering that Jesus told the lawyer that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength -- and your neighbor as yourself.  Some people wonder if the two stories taken together illustrate both those commandments.  What do you think?

As we go along, pay attention to details, if you can:  even if is only the word "daily," or the presence of two women, or Jesus going away to pray.  It's not just the devil that may be in the details; sometimes the gospel is there, too.

Day 17: The "Orderly Account" of Luke, beginning with Birth Announcements

Unlike Mark, but like Matthew, Luke begins well before the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  He begins by telling us that he too is going to write about Jesus, and that his account is going to be an orderly one.  He writes to tell someone called "Theophilos" about Jesus (by the way, Theophilos means "Lover of God".)

There's a combination of well-known and less-well-known stories in these first two chapters of Luke.  I know I had the first few verses of Luke 2, the Christmas story, almost known by heart.  But what about the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist?  Unlike Mary, Elizabeth and her husband were not young, but an older couple who had long ago given up hope that they would have a child.  Like Mary, Zechariah meets an angel who tells him the good news, but he responds, "How will I know?  After all, my wife and I are getting on in years...."  To me, this is a nice way of saying, "Give me a break.  How am I supposed to believe that?" 

So the angel strikes him dumb until his son, John is born, (by the way, at the end of Luke 1.)  Then, Zechariah goes on to praise God in words of prophecy and poetry.  The church has made Zechariah's words into a song, called the "Benedictus." 

Zechariah and Elizabeth's story forms the beginning and end of Luke 1.  In the middle is Mary's story (I can't help saying -- there's the meat in the middle of the sandwich again.)  Mary's response, "My soul magnifies the Lord..." I find striking in many ways, not the least because she speaks as if everything God has promised has already happened.  "God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."  She is bringing the future into the present. 

Then there is Luke 2, the story so familiar that maybe we don't pay attention to the details, the ones that are there, and the ones that are not there (for example, did you notice that there is no mention of Mary riding a donkey, and that Luke never mentions a star?)

In Luke 2, the angels proclaim, and then Anna and Simeon proclaim.  Then, in the end, twelve-year-old Jesus loses his parents and ends up in the temple.

One thing to notice -- Luke is often careful to balance out men and women in stories about encounters with Jesus.  So we see both the wisdom of Simeon and Anna.  Pay attention to that as you read along.

Did you notice any different details in these familiar stories as you read them today?  If so, what were they?

Why do you suppose Luke tells stories from before John the Baptist and Jesus were even born?