Luke 8: 40-56 Jairus’ Child

Luke 8: 40-56 Jairus’ Child

When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And a man named Jairus, an official of the synagogue, came forward. He fell at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come to his house, because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. As he went, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years, who (had spent her whole livelihood on doctors and) was unable to be cured by anyone, came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped. Jesus then asked, "Who touched me?" While all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pushing and pressing in upon you." But Jesus said, "Someone has touched me; for I know that power has gone out from me." When the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came forward trembling. Falling down before him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace."

While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer." On hearing this, Jesus answered him, "Do not be afraid; just have faith and she will be saved." When he arrived at the house he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James, and the child's father and mother. All were weeping and mourning for her, when he said, "Do not weep any longer, for she is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed him, because they knew that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called to her, "Child, arise!" Her breath returned and she immediately arose. He then directed that she should be given something to eat. Her parents were astounded, and he instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

Jesus has been out in the towns, teaching, performing miracles, healing the sick. The crowds are massive, constantly around him. He is met by a man who is influential in the synagogue who asks him for healing on behalf of his daughter. His position and perhaps prior relationship with Jesus gives him the confidence to appeal to Jesus.

Then we have the unknown woman suffering from hemorrhage. She has three strikes against her: she is unknown, she is female and she is unclean. Only her desperation and her hope/faith drive her to Jesus. She does not approach him directly. Unlike Jairus, she has no power or position or prior relationship with Jesus, only a tremendous need. That need and her faith combined with Jesus power create the miracle. She risks a lot by approaching Jesus - the size and the anger of the crowd at a minimum. But her need and her faith are great and thus a miracle is performed. Jesus tells her that it is her faith that has healed her. How powerful faith in Jesus can be in our lives. What is the condition of my faith? I have always felt that I have the gift of faith. The real question is how do I use it? That is what I am going to think about today.

Luke 8:26 – 39 A Man Possessed

Luke 8:26 – 39 A Man Possessed

Then they sailed to the territory of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When he came ashore a man from the town who was possessed by demons met him. For a long time he had not worn clothes; he did not live in a house, but lived among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him; in a loud voice he shouted, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!" For he had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (It had taken hold of him many times, and he used to be bound with chains and shackles as a restraint, but he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion," because many demons had entered him. And they pleaded with him not to order them to depart to the abyss. A herd of many swine was feeding there on the hillside, and they pleaded with him to allow them to enter those swine; and he let them. The demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. People came out to see what had happened and, when they approached Jesus, they discovered the man from whom the demons had come out sitting at his feet. He was clothed and in his right mind, and they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed it told them how the possessed man had been saved. The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. So he got into a boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had come out begged to remain with him, but he sent him away, saying, "Return home and recount what God has done for you." The man went off and proclaimed throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.

The existence of demons is not something that I like to dwell on but they are mentioned in the scriptures from time to time. Are they just an expression used by the writers of that time or are they real? The fact that they not only can move from one creature to another but can communicate with Jesus makes them seem real. Jesus continues to demonstrate his power – last reading over wind and waves, this reading over spirits. The townspeople cannot comprehend this. They are terrified and ask Jesus to leave which he does. Jesus never forces himself on anyone, but his power is there to save us if we have faith in him and in the Father. In return he asks that we bear witness to what he has done for us.

Luke 8: 22-25 Calming of the Tempest

Luke 8: 22-25 Calming of the Tempest

One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So they set sail, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. They came and woke him saying, "Master, master, we are perishing!" He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm. Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, "Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?"

This is a very famous passage - where Jesus calms the seas. This fills his disciples with a combination of fear and admiration. What sort of man is this they say, not who is this man. He is clearly taken to be someone outside of their usual experience, someone who commands the seas and the winds. Who else does this? No man they have ever known before. But, if not man, then what? They do not call him God, but clearly he is not just a nice guy. Jesus uses actions to clue his followers in to what’s going on. These actions far out strip any words he could speak.

Luke 8:19 – 21 The True Kindred of Jesus, Part II

Luke 8:19 – 21 The True Kindred of Jesus, Part II

OK, now that I got that off my chest maybe I can look at the scripture passage itself a little more dispassionately. In this short scripture Mary and Jesus’ brothers come to see him but cannot get close because of the crowds. When the apostles mention this to Jesus he says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the work of God and act on it.” Ouch! Is this a repudiation of his closest members? Maybe after being “dissed” in his own hometown, he was out of patience. I choose not to take it that way. Rather, I think his words are words of invitation and encouragement to all of us, that in the kingdom to come we can all be sons and daughters of God, if only we take the Word of God to heart and act on it. In this new world actions speak loudest of all, louder than words, louder than status, louder than blood ties. How wonderful it would be to know Jesus with the intimacy of family – an intimacy of shared values and experience and common understanding.

Luke 8:19 – 21 The True Kindred of Jesus

Luke 8:19 – 21 The True Kindred of Jesus

Then his mother and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

I don’t know that I can deal with this topic today. I guess I must need to, or the Lord wouldn’t have sent this scripture to me today. Last Sunday’s gospel was from Mark. In it Jesus spoke of the difficulty in being a prophet in your own community. The people there were so immersed in his humanity (because he grew up there) that they refused to accept his divinity. In the course of the gospel passage mention is made of Jesus brothers and sisters in some amount of detail including the names (James, Joses, Judas, Simon) of some of them. The priest in his homily (not my home parish in Londonderry) went out of his way to explain that these were not Jesus literal brothers and sisters, just extended family members. When I heard this I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry. The amount of time and energy (and probably violence) that the church has spent to say/promote things that are not found in the gospel but “deducted” through torturous (male) reasoning or made up entirely for questionable purposes, stuns me. Take the Immaculate Conception, the enduring virginity of Mary, the infallibility of the pope, purgatory, the insistence on men only for the ministers and officers of the Church. The list goes on and on and fills me will pain and sadness. It always seems to come down to controlling the messenger or controlling the message, or perhaps just controlling. The church hierarchy should look into its own heart, admits its faults and failings, and ask for penance and forgiveness. Without that I fear for its future. If only it modeled itself on Christ – his humility, his love, his mercy, his selflessness – then the power of that example would in truth “renew the faith of the earth”. Come Holy Spirit, help me find my role in all this.

Luke 8: 16 – 18 The Parable of the Lamp

Luke 8: 16 – 18 The Parable of the Lamp

"No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp-stand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away."

Wow! These three short verses are packed with meaning. First the lamp under the bushel basket verse. What is this all about? Of course no one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bushel basket. That would defeat the purpose. But what does Jesus mean? What or who are the lamps, and what is the light? Is he speaking strictly to his followers? Are they the lamps, and the knowledge and the spirit they’ve been given the light? Or is it for all of us and everything both spiritual and material we have been given – to gather and display the power and reality of our gifts and share them with the world. What do you think? Then comes the next verse about light. It comes across as a sort of warning that nothing we do will remain hidden from the light. In the first case, the light has the power to illuminate, to guide, to keep away the darkness. In the second case, the light exposes, reveals what was thought to be hidden. The final verse in this short passage sounds a warning - “To the one who has, more will be given, and he who has not, will lose what little he has”. Seems kind of harsh, especially as a stand- alone statement. But if it is put in the context of the preceding statements about light and its uses, and also in the context of the Parable of the Sower, some conclusions come to mind. Those who have spiritual and material gifts are urged to share them. But in order to receive those gifts, you must be open (as in the Parable of the Sower to the Word, work to retain it, and then let it bear fruit in you. Those who are closed miss out – on God’s Word, on the spiritual gifts, on becoming light in the world. And if you keep your gifts hidden through selfishness, laziness, greed, etc. then you will be exposed as such and truly lose out.

Luke 8: 4 – 15 The Parable of the Sower II

Luke 8: 4 – 15 The Parable of the Sower II

Now to the meat of the parable. The farmer sows good seed not indiscriminately exactly, but almost, as it goes not only in the good soil of the prepared field, but also on the foot path, on rocky ground and among the briers. It was then walked on, eaten up by birds, withered by the sun and stifled. The seed, as Jesus explains it, is the Word of God, planted in us and capable of bearing great fruit. But not all of us are receptive. There are those of us who lack fortitude against the devil’s temptations, there are those who lack determination, there are the lazy, the distracted, etc. Those who do bear fruit, Jesus compliments as receiving the seed with openness, who retain it and persevere in it to bear fruit. What does this mean? By openness I think he means putting yourself in contact with the word by reading the gospels, hearing God’s word in mass or in a service. By retaining it I think he means thinking about it, meditating on it, praying over it, discussing it. By bearing fruit through perseverance I think he means if you are open to the Word and do the work to retain it, and keep at it, you will bear great fruit. But obviously it all takes work, just as farming takes work. Unless a farmer goes through the full process of farming – (preparing the field, sowing the seed, weeding, watering, cultivating, etc.) he will not have a fruitful harvest. As a farmer’s work is hard but rewarding, so is our work of responding to God’s Word.

Luke 8:4 – 15 The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8:4 – 15 The Parable of the Sower

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable.

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold." After saying this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."

Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be. He answered, "Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that 'they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.'

"This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.

This is one of the best loved parables in Luke. Before I get to the parable and its meaning, let me first deal with some externals. What is a parable and why does Jesus use it? A parable (in my understanding) is a story used to teach something. It is not a theory or a lecture, it is a homely story told in simple language with common understanding. It goes around the meaning instead of stating its point directly. At the same time it is open and easy to understand (a simple, straightforwardly told story) it is also closed and hard to understand (it must be thought through and at best discussed to reveal its meaning.). Most of the parables follow the format of being both open and closed, but the Parable of the Sower is the exception in that Jesus, after telling the parable, gives a full and complete explanation of the parables meaning – a great gift and guide for us. I wonder how you (if you were a witness on the day the storey was told) heard and understood this parable’s meaning.

The Parable of the Sower was even more indirect than some, it doesn’t start our “the kingdom of God is like . . .” It starts out humbly, saying “A farmer went out . . . “ Most of the people who went out to see Jesus went out to see a miracle maker, a spectacular figure. Except for his disciples and a few men and women followers who steadily sought out his company and lived with him, the vast majority of people that heard him and interacted with him are merely part of the background story. Jesus and his followers are the key players. They are steeped in him, his ways of prayer and solitude, his deeds of compassion and mercy, his attitude of humility and gentleness. He taught them in word and in deed and they drank it all in and recorded it in the form of the gospels, giving us the same opportunity to be a close companion of Christ, a witness to his words and deeds, his thoughts and attitudes. We are the most fortunate of men and women and owe a debt of gratitude to those early followers of Christ.

Back From My Brief Pilgrimmage in Spain

Hello All,

Obviously I have been away for a few weeks. I am just back from Spain where I met my daughter and walked a section of the famous pilgrimmage route El Camino de Santiago. This is an ancient pilgrimmage route that ends in Santiago de Compostello, the final resting place of St. James the Apostle.

I met Julie in Pamplona, four days into the walk and traveled with her for the next nine days to Burgos. She has continued on after I left and hope to be in Santiago on the 18th or 19th of June. We walked through fields of grain and wild flowers and also through many vineyards from which the well known Rioja and Navarra wines are produced. I visited two beautiful cathedrals that were built over hundreds of years during the Middle Ages, I participated in several prayer services and went to mass as well. It was not so much a spiritual trip for me, at least initially, as I primarily went to accompany Julie along part of the trip. I met other pilgrims from all over the world, from South Korea, Australia, Italy, France, South Africa, from all over Spain and all over the US. We were welcomed all along the way with true hospitality and kindness by those who live and work along the pilgrimage route, and shared food and encouragement with fellow pilgrims. It was a wonderful, challenging and nourishing experience. I am still processing what it has meant to me spiritually. It has definitely had an effect on my faith. More about that later. Meanwhile I am glad to be back sharing my thought on Luke's Gospel with you. The words of Christ are more important than ever to me. Thanks for joining in.

Paula