Scripture Reading: Luke 13
Today's passage moves us beyond some of the assumptions of the day such as bad things in this life occur because of our bad behavior. Another treasured belief was that God only attends to God's acknowledged people. Luke was preaching to a congregation that contained many Gentiles and was moving Christianity to become a religion of the world.
As we think about the various sayings and stories of Jesus, we see how Luke pairs them to shape his narrative.
He begins this chapter with Jesus refuting the idea that bad things only happen to bad people and reminds us that if we wake up now, then this moment becomes our second chance! This seems to be the message of the barren fig tree.
Why not start today?
We all have a limited amount of time in this life - why not sow as much good as we can while we're here?
To continue the refutation of the old theology, Jesus cures a woman on the Sabbath who had been crippled for 18 years. The old theology would say that surely God is displeased with this woman to beset her with this painful existence for so many years. By curing on the Sabbath, the day devoted to God, Jesus indicates that God is not displeased with her at all or God would not have allowed the healing.
Of course, this doesn't make the holders of the old way happy and they complain on the technicality of equating healing with work.
The mustard seed and the leaven are parables dealing with borderline unclean elements. God works though them to create abundance. This can also be a nod to working among the Gentiles.
We see this confirmed through the summary of the narrow door. People from far beyond the bounds of Jerusalem will come to know God. Then Jesus foreshadows his death and resurrection once more.
We see a transformation of what it means to be a Messiah. Before it was for the restoration of the Jewish people. Now it means something more. The resurrection for Luke goes beyond one area or people or nation. It is world transforming.
Just as they did in Jesus' day (and Luke's), we limit our world to those with whom we are comfortable. This chapter was meant to stretch the religious in their views of God's kingdom. As it speaks to us today, we are on board with the Gentiles receiving the faith - even cheering this chapter on - because those reading this likely are Gentiles.
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| We have to stretch so we don't hurt ourselves! |
So how do we let it stretch us? How do we think about the grace of God moving beyond behavior? How can we extend it and see it active among people that society at large might consider unclean?
How does it stretch you?
Prayer for the day:
Gracious God, we must confess that there is still the temptation to relish in the bad consequences we see happen for someone's bad behavior. When someone gets what is coming to them, we may actually be pleased in our hearts. But when things happen to us, we cry out to you for relief. Help us not be so insecure as to imagine that we are lacking anything we really need as we measure ourselves against another. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo by Peter Miller via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons License.
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