John 13:31-35

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (vv. 34-35) It would not be true for me to say that I do not like these verses. (My, what an opening line…!!) HOWEVER, these verses always take me back to 2003, when I was an Assistant Treasurer for the Diocese of Lexington; Stacy Sauls was the bishop; the triennial Convention of the Episcopal Church was that August; and I was second alternate in the Diocese to attend the Convention. I did not attend, but I was active in the Diocesan events and discussions leading up to the Convention.

You may recall that a major issue before the Episcopal Church at that Convention was the confirmation of Gene Robinson, an actively practicing gay man, as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Although Bishop Sauls never formally announced his position on this issue, from what he said in our meetings it was abundantly clear to me that he was in favor of confirming Robinson as bishop (and he later voted to do so). As I recall, his “mantra” in these discussions was essentially to cite the essence of these two verses, as in something like “Whatever else is going on, we are called to love one another.” Further, it’s not difficult to go online and find the essence of these verses in support of gay marriage and other LGBT issues.

These two verses are simple enough and provide guidance for all of us as to how we are to live. Love one another. Period. Many in the church obey this commandment, but add the admonition, “Love the sinner, hate the sin…” or “We are a welcoming church, but…”.

In reading these verses anew I asked myself if maybe Jesus was speaking these words only to those at the Last Supper table with Him. So I went online and typed in “love one another 12 apostles”. One reference in particular was telling. It listed nearly 100 New Testament verses on “Love one another” (https://www.openbible.info/topics/love_one_another). Most of the Gospel verses listed were from John, but there were at least seven from the Synoptics. To me it’s clear that Jesus was not speaking only to the 12. Check it out yourself.

So where do I stand? I’d like to think that I am in line with traditional, historical Christian teaching on these issues. Specifically I think I can make two statements: (1) I am opposed to gay marriage; (2) I am opposed to having practicing homosexuals in positions of church leadership. There are probably other statements I could make if we were to have a longer discussion (like sex-change operations).

Beyond all that, we have another Biblical guideline given to us by Jesus: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2, ESV)

Your comments…?

Slava Bohu!

John 13:1-17

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Just one item today, but a big item… Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father… (v. 1) Jesus knew that He was going back to His Father! This is stated again, two verses later: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God… (v. 3) Jesus was going back to God. And He knew it! I believe that it was this knowledge – that He was going back home – that allowed Him to go through all His sufferings. It was not an easy decision: Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done. (Luke 22:42) The Father did not change the plan and Jesus obeyed.

Do we really know that we are going to our Father? Let me change that thought: WE KNOW that we are going to our Father. So how does that change us? Are we fully obedient, like Jesus was, even in the midst of (?horrible?) trials? Forgetting the trials, do we radiate joy, knowing that our final destination is to be with the Father and His Son, our Brother, Jesus? Do others really know, really see what’s at the bottom of our hearts? As Archbishop Beach so often asks in his daily podcasts, “If not, why not?”

Slava Bohu!

John 13:18-30

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” When I put our reading list together late last year I was mostly following the NKJV Chronological Bible that we used a few years back. Their intent in putting their readings together was clearly chronological. So you’ll see that today we jump into the middle of John 13, having bypassed the first seventeen verses. However, strangely, John 13:1 says Now before the Feast of the Passover… So these authors have me really confused! For the past few days the Synoptics all have the meal being the Passover meal. I would have thought that John 13:1, ff. would have come before the Synoptics’ accounts of the Passover meal. So for the next iteration of these readings I will put John 13:1-30 (in two sections) before the Synoptics’ accounts. As we read it “out of order” in the next couple of days, you’ll see what I mean.

So, today’s reading… In verse 18 Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ David is the author of this Psalm. While it sounds like David is moaning over Absalom, he refers to a “close friend” in that verse, not a son. So it could have been Amasa (the leader of Absalom’s army) or any of another dozen people who fled David to join with Absalom. Either way, Psalm 41:9 does not seem to me to be a messianic verse, as written, just a handy verse for Jesus to connect Himself to David. My thoughts on that verse…

I’m reading verse 20 with new eyes today: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. (NASB) I wonder if Jesus is linking Himself with the Holy Spirit (…whomever I send…). The NASB capitalizes deific pronouns, but does not do so in this verse (whomever). Or Jesus could be speaking of future missionaries (us!) that He will be sending. I wonder…

Finally, in verses 21-27 John is much more clear about the betrayer than the Synoptics. However, he shows the disciples to be more confused about the betrayal itself than the Synoptics (vv. 27b-29). Interesting…!

Enough for today!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 22:24-30

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I always find it strange that a dispute could arise among the apostles as to who was the greatest. I have a hard time picturing us at our RTB table on Sunday, November 10, arguing who is the greatest. How weird is that??!! But that’s one thing that’s great about Scripture. It’s all out there, all the warts and pimples exposed on the great and the not-so-great! Except that the GREATEST of all has humbled Himself to serve…

I don’t recall ever noticing this statement from Jesus: You are those who have stayed with me in my trials… (v. 28) Again, we see a real human Jesus here. These apostles have watched Jesus being badgered by the scribes and Pharisees time and time again – and they’ve seen Him overcoming it all. They’ve watched others hang with Him for a while and then go their own way. They’ve seen others show interest, but then get overwhelmed by the fear of becoming cast out by the ruling elite. Jesus is offering a “thank you” to these twelve for staying the course. What an honor it must have been to them to hear those words! And then that very evening, to fall away so suddenly…! What turmoil they must have felt! It’s both easy and hard for me to relate… Conflicted!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 22:14-23

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” A number of items in Luke are different from Matthew and Mark. The first is in verse 15: I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Neither Matthew nor Mark records this heartfelt comment from Jesus to His apostles. It shows a real, genuine, human Jesus.

Second, both Matthew and Mark place Jesus’ comments about His betrayer before His connecting the bread and wine with His body and blood. Luke places the betrayal after this consecration. It must have been a really weird feeling for Judas if his betrayal was announced before the bread and wine. To know that his plan had been made public, then to see Jesus speaking of His body and blood… Very strange for Judas! How could he go through with it…??!!

Third, in Luke we have two cups of wine. As I understand it, at a Passover meal there are typically four cups of wine, so an item of two cups of wine is, by itself, not significant. What is different, however, is the fact that Jesus separates two declarations between the two cups: (#1) For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. (v. 18) and (#2) This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (v. 20) In Matthew and Mark these two statements follow one another after the only cup that is mentioned.

These are all distinguishing items between Luke and the other two Synoptic writers. But let’s not miss the main point for all three writers, that Jesus is instituting for us the Eucharist that we celebrate each Sunday: simple bread and wine for which we remember His suffering – His body and His blood. Thankfully we are in a tradition in which this is a weekly reminder. We are indeed blessed to be in this together!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 22:7-13

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Who did Jesus send to find the Passover location? Matthew’s Gospel says that …the disciples came to Jesus and asked… <and> …the disciples did as Jesus had directed them. (Matthew 26:17). In Mark we see that He sent two of His disciples… (Mark 14:13). Finally Luke tells us that Jesus sent Peter and John… (v. 8). I wonder at Luke specifically naming Peter and John, but Matthew and Mark keeping silent on the names. Strange…!

Typically I look at three translations each day, the NKJV, the NASB, and the ESV. Yesterday I neglected to look at the NASB. Surprise! In Mark’s Gospel, as the disciples enter the house they are to …say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ (Mark 14:14). “MY guest room…” Intriguing! That simple pronoun, “My” would have Jesus in a very close relationship with the owner of the house! So now I wonder if Jesus had made prior plans with the owner of the house to celebrate the Passover meal at his house, in his guest room, a room in which Jesus had already been a guest on previous visits to Jerusalem? There’s just so much that we don’t know, especially about Jesus’ time in Jerusalem.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:12-25

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” There are at least two items today in the reading from Mark that are different from yesterday’s reading in Matthew. First, in yesterday’s reading the phrase “a certain man” caught my attention and I wondered who that “certain man” might be. Today it’s very different. Jesus tells His disciples that they will meet a man carrying a jar of water and that the disciples should follow him, that he will enter a house and that they should speak to …the master of the house (vv. 13-14). They were then to ask about a “guest room” and he would show them …a large upper room furnished and ready. (v. 15) In Mark (today’s reading) there is no “certain man” who goes to his own house (Matthew 26:18). Instead they meet an “underling” who leads them to a house where he is not the master. All this lessens the possibility that Matthew’s “certain man” might be the man blind from birth whom Jesus healed and increases the possibility of the master of the house being someone of wealth – someone like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea. As with yesterday, intriguing…

The second item different today is in the last verse: Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Yesterday’s reading from Matthew included two additional words, “with you”: …when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 26:29) The two different endings, “My Father’s kingdom” and “kingdom of God” are not an issue (to me). However, “with you” struck me. Yesterday I didn’t mention it, but I wondered at the long delay that Jesus was setting for Himself. He would not drink from “the fruit of the vine” again until the disciples were there with Him to drink it in the Kingdom of God – that is, at least until their death many years later. In today’s reading, without the words “with you”, we have no such delay. Jesus may have met up with His Father between His death and Resurrection or after His Ascension or any time in between those two events. We don’t know.

It’s really nice to have different reflections on these same events in Jesus’ life!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 26:17-29

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Today, the Last Supper… I just now looked ahead. It will be December 14 before we get to Jesus’ Resurrection. So we have almost two months to go through Jesus’ last day, from Thursday evening to Friday late afternoon. About two weeks of our readings will be Jesus’ time with His disciples as recorded in John 13-17, but the rest of that time will be Jesus’ Passion and death. We’ve got a somber time ahead, folks.

So today what hit me was Go into the city to a certain man… (v. 18) Mark and Luke also tell us that Jesus knew that this “certain man” would be carrying a pitcher of water. But I wonder about this “certain man”. I doubt that Jesus had many friends in Jerusalem, except that He had been there before and done some great works, including His healing of the man born blind. Could it have been that man? Not likely – I doubt that he had his own house as Jesus had directed where the Passover meal would be eaten. Or was it someone who had witnessed that miracle and been converted? Could it have been Nicodemus? Somehow Jesus knew of this “certain man”, presumably from His time with His Father or the Holy Spirit speaking to Him. I’m a bit fascinated with this “certain man”…!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 22:1-6

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” …in the absence of the multitude. (v. 6) The NASB has …apart from the crowd. It’s something that I had written about a few days ago, when the Jewish leaders did not want to seize Jesus in the temple because they feared that the people might create an uproar. Luke makes this very clear.

Satan entered into Judas… (v. 3). Luke is the only synoptic writer who makes this point. I typically think of Luke as an historian, not a theologian. But here he is making a statement none of the others are making. John makes the same point in John 13:27, at the Last Supper as Judas departs.

What struck me most today was the following verse: He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. (v. 4) I was struck with “He went away…” because it shows Judas taking the initiative. The Jewish leaders gladly accepted. The next verse says, And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. (v. 5) So it seems that Judas sought out the Jewish leaders looking for a deal. Evidently greed had overwhelmed him! What a sad state of affairs. I’ve always wondered about Judas’ reversal. But I’m getting ahead of our reading. We’ll deal with that in a few weeks.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:1-11

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I replied to Debbie’s post yesterday that she would enjoy today’s reading. Why? Back in my Master’s program I took a course entitled “The Economics of Poverty”. For that course I wrote a term paper that I titled “Him, His Word, His Church, and His Poor”. The paper centered on Jesus’ words from yesterday’s and today’s readings, arguing that people often quoted Matthew – that we would always have poor people – and not quoting Mark, that we could do them good. So I truly enjoyed Debbie’s comment – going back to Deuteronomy – and I am enjoying today’s reading!

There’s another strange thing about these words of Jesus, For you always have the poor with you … But you will not always have me. (v. 7, with the “doing good” section omitted). When we leave out that “doing good” section, we have Matthew’s words from yesterday. These are also John’s words when Mary anoints Him in Bethany (John 12:8). But you don’t find these words in Luke! Luke has an anointing back in chapter 7 (vv. 36-50), but it’s a sinner anointing Jesus and anointing His feet, not His head. So we find Jesus’ comments about the poor in two Synoptics and John, but not in Luke. Very unusual…! It’s even more unusual in that Luke has more to say about money than all the rest of the Gospels combined! (My own assertion, not based in factual research…)

Finally, And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” (vv. 1-2) My Study Bible notes that the Jerusalem population was on the order of 50,000 people, but that during the Passover feast that number would rise to several hundred thousand. Many of these additional people were travelers from Galilee, where Jesus had a stronger following. So the Jewish leaders’ fears of an “uproar from the people” were well founded.

Slava Bohu!