Luke 7:36-50

Each of the gospel writers records an anointing. Luke has his early in Jesus’ ministry, in Galilee; the other three place the (an?) anointing at the end of Jesus’ life, in Bethany in Judea. John is the only writer who names the woman – Mary – presumably Lazarus’ and Martha’s sister. Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts are quite similar and differ in a number of respects from John’s. All three differ substantially from Luke’s account, the one we are reading today. Scholars differ as to whether there was only one anointing or whether there were two (or three). But if there is any “correct chronology”, with Luke as our resident research historian, I would argue for two anointings – today’s and the one recorded much later in the other three gospels.

I’m wondering about Simon the Pharisee. Was he a Nicodemus-type “true seeker” or was he part of the Pharisaic effort to dispel this Messianic pretender? Evidently he was not a gracious host, having failed to offer Jesus water for His feet or to anoint His head with oil or to give Him a greeting kiss. These failures argue for the latter interpretation – that he was not a true seeker. Possibly he was somewhere in between, a rude host who was somewhat intrigued by Jesus? Simon does say to himself, “If this man were a prophet…?”, so it may be that he had some premonition that Jesus was more than a pretender.

This is now the second time that we have seen Jesus forgive sins. Forgiving sins is not like our forgiving one another for wrongs done. We saw earlier the Pharisees asking, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21) How does Jesus’ forgiving sins early in His Galilean ministry square with our theology that it is through His substitutionary death on the cross that our sins are forgiven? In forgiving sins early in His ministry, is Jesus appealing to His Father to grant this forgiveness, through Him? This issue is way too deep for my complete lack of theological training! Others of you care to weigh in…?

See also: March 31 (2019) / Luke 7:36-50

Luke 7:18-35

When we read these Matthew and Luke accounts on consecutive days we see how very similar they are – which makes the differences between them more pronounced. As happened to me two years ago, verses 29 and 30 caught my eye: When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. Sadly, the Pharisees (lawyers) rejected the purpose of God for themselves. That is such a sad statement. Still, I constantly am sympathetic to their plight. Both John and Jesus were turning the Pharisees’ “church” on its end, bringing new activities, new testimonies, new converts. What to make of these new upstarts? However, the evidence was there before them – Jesus recounting what He had done for the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, the dead and the poor. They simply could not ignore Jesus – but they also could not embrace Him!

What struck me further in these two verses is whether or not we are “rejecting the purpose of God for ourselves”. But maybe we put this burden too easily on ourselves. Maybe not… But I’m thinking about the hundreds of people we know who are in fact “rejecting the purpose of God for themselves”. God created each and every one of us to love Him and to serve Him and others. Each one of us, both the lost and the found, have a purpose from God in our having been created. But far too many out there reject His purpose in their lives. They ignore or reject His call on their lives and in the world around them. Carol and I constantly have four of our brothers in mind (two each), almost daily, as they continue to reject Jesus – even though they were raised like us and know of His death, His resurrection, His salvation. We know that part of “our purpose” is reaching out to them, even though their responses can be heated. We pray – and wait.

See also: March 30 (2019) / Luke 7:18-35

Matthew 11:2-19

I got my undergraduate degree from a public institution, the University of Illinois. I was pleased to learn that this public institution offered a pair of Old and New Testament courses as fulfilling the Humanities General Studies requirement (and I certainly did not want to take Shakespeare courses!). It was in this NT course (taken out of sequence) that I wrote a paper about John the Baptist entitled “Born of Woman, No Man Greater”. That paper marked the beginning of my study of the Bible. It was also because of this NT course that I met a young man (Jim) who later led me to the Lord. We were in a Chemistry class together and I had brought my NT textbook, the Oxford Annotated Bible to class with me. Jim had already taken the NT course and recognized the OAB. That book started a conversation that terminated some three years later with my “born again” experience. So today’s reading brings back happy memories for me.

And again, David mentioned this very reading in his sermon today. Echo!!

See also: March 29 (2019) / Matt. 11:2-19

Luke 7:1-17

I don’t know what to make of the following verses: Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited His people!” And this report about Him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. (Luke 7:16-17) It would be less confusing if Luke had not included the first four words, Fear seized them all… How does this miracle generate fear? Or is this a fear that reflects an awesome authority figure, someone who should be honored and obeyed. The remainder of these two verses lends to that understanding. The second part of these two verses has Jesus’ fame spreading …through the whole of Judea… Judea is some 80-100 miles south of Nain, so report of this miracle has indeed spread far and wide.

Nain itself is about ten miles south of Nazareth, effectively one of the southernmost villages in Galilee. Capernaum, by contrast is some 20-30 miles northeast of Nain, one of the northernmost cities in Galilee. So I find it surprising that Luke has these two miracles side-by-side in these 17 verses. Some manuscripts even refer to “the next day” at the beginning of this “Nain” section. I could begin to suspect Luke’s chronology, except that he, himself has undertaken to write “an orderly account” (Luke 1:3) and that he had clearly done his research (Luke 1:1-4).

See also: March 27 (2019) / Luke 7:1-17

Matthew 8:5-13 and John 4:46-54

Today and tomorrow we have three accounts of Jesus healing a young man “from afar”. Matthew (today) and Luke (tomorrow) have very similar accounts; most scholars believe them to be recounting the same incident. John’s account (also today) is quite different from the other two; to my mind these are two separate healings, one recorded in Matthew and Luke, the other in John. I see only three similarities – in both incidents a (1) young boy/man (2) living in Capernaum is healed (3) “from afar”. The differences are many; I note a number of them in the second link below. But in addition, the incident begins with Jesus in Capernaum in Matthew and Luke, while He is in Cana in John’s gospel. The most profound difference, as I mention below, is the centurion’s speech, “Lord, I am not worthy…”. We easily embrace his words.

…many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven… (Mt. 8:11) Can you imagine dinner with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or pick another set of names: Peter, James, and John; Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; Paul, Silas, and Barnabas; Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I would personally like to break bread with the two disciples whom Jesus met while they were walking along the road to Emmaus – to listen to them as they tell me of Jesus opening the Old Testament scriptures to them (Luke 24:13-35). But also, to dine again with Mary Ann Duddy, Millie Rodes, and Mim Stambaugh… GLORY!! And it’s ours to grasp, folks. Write your own dream; Jesus is waiting for you with outstretched arms. GLORY!!

See also:

• March 26 (2019) / Matt. 8:5-13
• March 28 (2019) / John 4:46-54

Luke 6:43-49 and Matthew 12:33-37; 7:21-29

It’s been a challenge to organize these readings and keep similar material from the Synoptics together, especially when it’s only three or four verses that overlap. The Sermon on the Mount creates the most difficulty, in terms of small common sections. So today we have three reading sections and five sets of comments in the links below from 2019.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad… (Mt. 12:33a) How does one make a tree one way or the other? And why would we want to make a tree bad? Or what can we do for a bad tree to make it good? I don’t know that we can make bad trees good. We can possibly make less productive trees more productive, but to turn a tree completely around – not likely. Earlier in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus says to cut down any tree “that does not bear good fruit” and throw it into the fire. (Mt. 7:19) However, Jesus is not talking about trees here. He is talking about us! And with us it is possible to make the bad, good, and the less productive, more productive. It is, in fact, our Lord’s wish. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4)

Finally, after saying all that, it is possible to make a “bad” tree good. The apostle Paul shows us: For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. (Romans 11:24) God is in the grafting business and He wants us to join Him!

See also:

• March 20 (2019) / Matt. 12:33-37
• March 21 (2019) / Luke 6:43-45
• March 22 (2019) / Matt. 7:21-23
• March 23 (2019) / Matt. 7:24-29
• March 24 (2019) / Luke 6:46-49

Matthew 7:13-20 and Luke 6:37-42

Judge not, and you will not be judged… (Luke 6:37a) Many Christians today are seen as judgmental, simply because they see issues differently than society’s currently accepted norms. Same-sex marriage and unmarried couples living together are two items that come to mind so often in terms of our “judgment” of others’ lifestyles. Basically, to many on the more liberal side of these issues, if we disagree we are being judgmental. I have (or have been with Carol when we have) had a number of conversations on these two topics. We lost some very dear friends when we turned down their invitation to attend their lesbian daughter’s wedding. And we got into a very heated discussion with another couple over them living together unmarried. In both cases we stood by Biblical principles, but were shut down as being judgmental. Jesus told us not to judge, but He also told us (through Paul’s and John’s writings) to discern between right and wrong (I Corinthians 12:10; I John 4:1). Judgment vs. discernment – we have to be careful. We may know what’s in our hearts, but others may view us quite differently! …which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed… (II Timothy 1:12a)

See also:

• March 17 (2019) / Luke 6:37-42
• March 18 (2019) / Matt. 7:7-14
• March 19 (2019) / Matt. 7:15-20

Matthew 7:1-12 and Luke 11:5-13

Today’s reading schedule takes us through the first 12 verses in Matthew’s 7^th chapter, but my comments in the second link below include Mt. 7:13-14, FYI, so you might want to read a couple more verses.

Ask, seek, knock. Three levels of request, going from the lesser to the greater. Asking suggests merely making a request. Seeking means really going after something. And knocking is the most imperative – here I am with my request. Please answer me! So when we pray, are we asking, seeking, or knocking? Maybe it depends on what we’re praying for. But far too often I’m guessing that I am merely asking when I should be knocking!!

See also:

• March 16 (2019) / Matt. 7:1-6
• March 18 (2019) / Matt. 7:7-14
• March 25 (2019) / Luke 11:5-13

Luke 12:22-34

Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. (v. 22a) I kept thinking yesterday about our reading from Matthew and our “needs” – food, drink, clothing, shelter. In both yesterday’s and today’s readings Jesus is telling us, “…do not be anxious…”. That one word, “anxious” appeared six times in yesterday’s reading and three times today. I think “anxious” is the first half of Jesus’ teaching, but God’s kingdom is the main focus! A couple of days ago Bruce commented on the “woes” passage: “I’m taking these verses to mean the condition of our hearts… centered on Jesus, His teaching, His love.” That’s also wisdom for today’s reading about anxiety and our needs. Check the “condition of our hearts” – focus on the kingdom of God and not our needs. Work to satisfy those needs, but “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you…”! [Brief musical interlude…!] Especially in today’s world, as Archbishop Beach reminds us over and over, “Do not worry!”

See also: March 15 (2019) / Luke 12:22-34

Matthew 6:16-34

We’re not to worry about food, drink, clothing? In today’s world? What about the hundreds of thousands of homeless people in our cities? (Jesus mentions “housing” elsewhere: Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.) (Mt. 8:20) We have poor in our own country who have to decide between paying rent or buying food or filling prescriptions. What is Jesus’ answer for them today? I know His answer – His answer is “us”. We take care of them. But how? We have homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, government programs. But look at what COVID has done to millions of families!! We’ve already spent $4 trillion on a number of federal programs to meet these needs and President Biden is asking for $2 trillion more. We’ve let the government supplant the churches in taking care of society’s needs. How did that happen? Did the church abdicate its responsibility? What to do? What is Jesus’ answer for today?

See also:

• March 12 (2019) / Matt. 6:16-24
• March 13 (2019) / Matt. 6:25-34