Luke 7:36-50

“Notice what you notice.” The first thing that strikes me is the beginning of verse 40, And Jesus answering said to him… Here’s what’s strange about that: the Pharisee, Simon, had said nothing – but Jesus answered him. Jesus knew what Simon was thinking without Simon having said a word (Luke reports of Simon that “he said to himself”). Jesus also knew something about the woman although there is nothing reported about her saying anything or anyone saying anything about her. And the ironic thing in all this is what’s on Simon’s mind in the first place. Simon is thinking, “If this man were a prophet…”! Jesus’ next words then validate His prophetic ministry, in that He knew both Simon’s thoughts and the woman’s past.

I was also struck by a Pharisee, Simon offering Jesus an invitation to dine with him. Was this a genuine invitation for Simon to get to know Jesus better (not unlike Nicodemus) or was it an attempt by Simon and his friends to invite Jesus in to trip Him up on something He might say? I’d like to think it was a genuine invitation that got ugly when the woman came in uninvited and that Simon repented of his own thoughts when he got “found out”. But that’s reading a lot more into the text than is actually reported!

Finally another small item. My NKJV says that Jesus “sat at table”, while the NASB and ESV both have Him “reclining at table”. And there’s not a footnote explanation on either item. There are a number of other occasions in the Gospels that have Jesus “reclining at table”. See Mt. 9:10, Mt. 26:20, Mark 14:18, Luke 11:37, John 12:2 and more. So I guess reclining at table was customary. Frankly, it makes it much easier to see the woman ministering to Jesus’ feet if He were reclining at table. I realize this is a small item, but my questioning it tells me how much more involved I am in this entire Gospel journey. I have active pictures in my mind that I never had before. And that’s good!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 7:18-35

“Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of John the Baptist, in prison, asking about Jesus… I wasn’t going to do a comparison of Luke’s account of this incident with Matthew’s, but two items jumped out at me. First, however, I had something wrong yesterday. As I had noted, Jesus answered John’s question with His “what you have seen and heard” comment (v. 22). But then John’s disciples departed before they heard Jesus lauding John with His “no one greater than John” comment (v. 28). So John was affirmed in his doubt, but was not made aware of Jesus’ further comment lauding John. Just that…

As to those two items that struck me today… The first is verse 21, In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. This sentence does not appear in Matthew’s Gospel. John had asked for confirmation from Jesus as to Who He was. Matthew simply has Jesus replying about “the blind…”, etc.), while Luke has Jesus demonstrating His healing powers before replying. I always had in mind Matthew’s text, so Luke’s additional sentence surprised me. I had to go back and double-check Matthew’s account.

The second item is that verses 29 and 30 also do not appear in Matthew’s Gospel: (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.). So Luke writes that tax collectors have already received John’s baptism, but that the Pharisees and lawyers had rejected it (not surprising). So when we see tax collectors coming to Jesus and “receiving” Him, it’s less surprising in that they were already prepared for Jesus’ message of the Kingdom since they had surrendered to John’s message of repentance. Reminds me of Paul’s comment, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth (I Corinthians 3:6). John had no idea that he was planting a seed that would see full growth in Jesus’ ministry. Likewise, we never know how our words, simply spoken, can have greater meaning well down the road.

Finally, one other small item on these verses – it’s further surprising that the ESV has these verses as a parenthetical expression. Not so in the NASB or NKJV. Why, I wonder…?

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 11:2-19

“Notice what you notice.” John the Baptist, in prison, is wondering about (if not second-guessing) his earlier expectation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lamb of God. John had formed his Messianic expectation at Jesus’ baptism and Jesus’ early Judean ministry. Now Jesus is in Galilee and John is miles away, in prison, presumably in Jerusalem. John is wondering what’s going on! Why is there no Messianic triumph? Or is Jesus still early in what will be His eventual triumph? Who are You, Jesus??!!

Jesus’ answer is both affirmative and comforting – affirmative in His recounting of His interactions with the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor and comforting in pointing out to John that yes, in spite of John’s earlier denial (not being Elijah, John 1:19-21) that he is in fact Elijah. Jesus speaks firmly of John’s role: This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’ (v. 10). From his seat in prison, John must have been grateful to have had Jesus’ solid endorsement. But Jesus followed up His “Elijah” endorsement with even stronger praise, Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist (v. 11).

With it all, I can’t help but wonder if I have Jesus’ endorsement. Am I preparing a way for others to know Him? Do my actions, my words bespeak someone who is actively leading others to Jesus? As Archbishop Foley Beach so often says, “If not, why not?”

Slava Bohu!

John 4:46-54

“Notice what you notice.” John’s account of a long-distance, words-only healing… Commentators differ as to whether John’s account of this healing is a different healing from Matthew’s and Luke’s or that it is the same. No matter – we just look at what it says.

First, the differences…

1. John has an “official” (or nobleman or royal official), while Matthew and Luke have a centurion.
2. John has the man’s son dying while Matthew and Luke have a servant as the sick person.
3. Matthew and Luke have the “Lord, I am not worthy…” wording which is absent in John; instead, John has the official specifically asking Jesus to …come down before my child dies (John 4:49).
4. After the official’s son was healed John has the official believing in Jesus, along with his entire household. This is absent in Matthew and Luke.

Forgetting about the differences, the main similarity between the three accounts is the long-distance, words-only healing. There is no laying on of hands, no touching, no “power going out from Jesus” (see Luke 8:46, Mark 5:30). Is this the power of intercessory prayer in our own lives? Healing from afar…? The Holy Spirit working “behind the scenes”…? My siblings and I have been praying for our unbelieving brother, Dickie, who has prostate cancer and kidney problems. During our prayer time his kidney condition has gone from borderline stage-5 “kidney failure” to stage-3/4 “kidney injury”. And this while he has been at home recuperating. Will my brother continue to get better? Will his kidneys continue to get better? Will his prostate cancer vanish (for which we have been praying)? And will he, as did the official, come to belief in Jesus? That is our most sincere, most urgent prayer. Lord, we are asking for a long-distance, words-only healing in Dickie’s life – and for him to come to Your saving grace. Please pray with us.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 7:1-17

“Notice what you notice.” I first wanted to see all the items that were different between Matthew and Luke in this healing of the centurion’s servant. I found at least five.

1. In Luke the centurion sent elders of the Jews, while in Matthew he came himself.
2. In Luke the Jews told Jesus that the centurion had built their synagogue (no mention of this in Matthew).
3. In Luke the servant was near death, while in Matthew he was paralyzed and dreadfully tormented.
4. In Luke there are two “visitations”, the first from the Jewish elders, the second from the centurion’s “friends”, while in Matthew there is only the one visitation, the centurion himself.
5. Finally, in Luke, through his friends speaking, the centurion said not only that he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his house, but that he was not worthy even to speak with Jesus!

For all these differences, #5 is the most striking to me. The centurion was truly humbling himself! Contrast the centurion with the Jewish leaders, the scribes and Pharisees (not the “Jewish elders” who came on behalf of the centurion). The Jewish leaders were not at all troubled about approaching Jesus or speaking with Him – they were more than willing to engage Him, typically challenging Him as to His words or His actions. But this Gentile centurion saw a different Jesus, the One that I hope we see. Yesterday in my comments I imbedded the Prayer of Humble Access. Although we can come to Jesus because of His “manifold and great mercies”, I hope that we also come humbly – clearly as unworthy as the centurion, but no less welcomed by Jesus’ grace and love.

As to the second half of today’s reading, the raising of the widow’s son, when we think of Jesus raising people from the dead, I daresay our first thought is of Lazarus. Nearly an entire chapter (John 11) is devoted to this activity. Second, personally, my thoughts would go to the raising of Jairus’ daughter, probably (in my mind) because this raising is associated with a direct name, Jairus, but also because the story is interrupted with the healing of the woman touching Jesus’ robe (Luke 8:40-56). I might have been hard pressed to name the raising of the widow’s son – even though he was her only son, her life support, if you will. Yet Jesus was clearly moved by her situation – …He had compassion on her… (v. 13). Although Jesus grieved over Lazarus (“Jesus wept.”, John 11:35), there is no mention of compassion with Jairus’ daughter, just Jesus’ healing activity. So the raising of the widow’s son will now be more prominent in my eyes.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 8:5-13

Sorry for a very interrupted day today: P.T.; church bank business; Avanza, chickens, Men’s Group. Now back at it at 9:41 pm…!

“Notice what you notice.” We have spent the last 3+ weeks reading and digesting the Sermon on the Mount. Now we move back to “action” and what mighty action we have today!

Today’s story is remarkable, in and of itself – the healing of the centurion’s servant, remarkable in that it is a words-only, long distance healing. Jesus speaks and the deed is done. We will see this again in a couple of days in John’s Gospel, a similar incident, then later Matthew and Mark record the healing of a demon-possessed girl from afar. So today’s words-only, long distance healing is truly remarkable.

However, what strikes me as even more remarkable in this story is that this Gentile centurion’s words have stayed with us through two millennia in our Eucharistic prayer. The centurion says, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed…” (v. 8). We find these words universally in Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran services, spoken either as “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” or “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed”.

At St. Andrew’s similar words are used as part of our 9:00 am (traditional) service, just before communion, commonly known as the “Prayer of Humble Access”: We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. This version is a combination of Matthew 8:8 (the centurion’s words above) and Mark 7:28 (a woman replying to Jesus as to her unworthiness).

I also wanted to offer a quick comment on verses 11 and 12, …many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. That sounds to me like another chastisement of the Jewish leaders (“sons of the kingdom”), together with an elevation of Gentile peoples (“coming from east and west”). That section deserves more commentary, but not tonight.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 11:5-13

“Notice what you notice.” In yesterday’s reading about building a firm foundation I noted that Matthew, with his “rain, wind, floodwaters ” trio was somewhat more comprehensive than Luke who only mentioned floodwaters. Today we have another clear difference between the two writers in telling the same “story”. Luke closes today’s reading with If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (v. 13) Matthew writes that the Father will “give what is good” or “give good things” (Mt. 7:11). I’ve often wondered about Luke’s “Holy Spirit” wording, seemingly out of context with the bread (in some translations), fish and egg requests. Luke clearly has a substantial focus on the Holy Spirit. Online I found the following quote: “<Luke> mentions the Holy Spirit fifteen times in his gospel and a full fifty-five times in Acts. Compared to the meager six mentions in Mark and the twelve in Matthew, it is clear that this is one of Luke’s key themes.” (https://markmoore.org/index_htm_files/Holy%20Spirit%20in%20Luke.pdf) It could be that Matthew’s “good things” are spiritual gifts, but that would also be out of context. So Luke’s mention of the Holy Spirit here puzzles me.

We’ve seen a lot of duplication in the Synoptic Gospels, especially between Matthew and Luke in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. At times, each writer will also have an item unique to his Gospel. That occurs in the first half of today’s reading. No other writer has a friend showing up at midnight with the house devoid of food, necessitating a call on a neighbor for three loaves of bread. Luke’s focus here is not on friendship, but persistence. Later on Luke offers a parable about the widow and the unrighteous judge, with persistence again as the main focus (Luke 18:1-5). Again, Luke is the only writer covering this parable.

So much to learn…!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 6:46-49

“Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of building on a firm foundation… I already mentioned yesterday that Matthew was more comprehensive in his telling of this metaphor. Luke only mentions the floodwaters and the foundation, while Matthew covers the entire structure, adding the rain and wind that could do damage to the roof and the walls. But this should be no discredit to Luke. Damage to the roof and the walls from rain and wind can usually be repaired, but if the foundation is swept away, the house is gone!

Actually, Matthew does not mention the roof and the walls – I added that myself. Matthew’s focus is also on the foundation, the wise man who built his house on the rock (Mt. 7:27). A dear friend of mine back in Richmond was a masonry (block and brick) contractor. He named his firm “The Rock”, no doubt taking off from this verse. My partner and I years earlier had named our basement business “Cornerstone Construction” from Psalm 118:22, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

So for both Matthew and Luke, the bottom line is the foundation. Both writers ask us to consider our foundations. Luke writes, Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them… (v. 47). Jesus’ words to us today are the same words He delivered to the crowds years ago, that have been so well preserved through the ages in the Gospels. But He also sent His Holy Spirit to further guide us, to highlight those “still small voices” (I Kings 19:11-13) within our souls through which He speaks. We also have our spiritual leaders – preachers and writers who guide us. Finally, we have each other – those people within “the body” with whom we share our thoughts and our prayer needs and who turn to us for the same. Where would we be without each other…??!! Glory!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 7:24-29

“Notice what you notice.” After the challenge of yesterday’s reading, today we have one that is a Fred and Carol favorite. It is a section of Scripture that we chose for the Gospel reading at our wedding – the house built on a firm foundation. We chose this reading because we wanted our marriage to be built on a firm foundation, Jesus. We had met in a Bible Study and grown in the Lord together for the 3+ years that we had known each other, so we knew each other and each other’s faith pretty well when we finally got married. We’re so pleased to recall our wedding every time we read these verses.

It can be easily overlooked that Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel talks about the rain, the floods and the wind, in essence referring to the three main structures in a house – the roof, the foundation, and the walls. When all three structures are well built, the house is more solid. Luke is the only other Gospel writer to refer to this metaphor and he only mentions the foundation, not the roof or walls. In this sense Matthew is more comprehensive. Rain and wind can ruin a house as much as floodwaters.

It’s also intriguing to me that in another life I was a concrete contractor, building poured-wall (not block) basements. Although we seldom dealt with rock in digging out to set these foundations, we did make sure that we followed local building codes for setting our foundations (mostly on clay). We were very exacting in our measurements – if the diagonals were more than one-half inch “out of square”, we would reset the walls. Another contractor was going to come in on top of our work to set the walls and the roof. If the foundation was “square”, building the rest of the house was much easier and the house would be much more well-built.

Finally, I noticed Matthew’s closing comment, that Jesus was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes (v. 29). We have seen this before, in Mark 1:22 and Luke 4:32. It’s nice to bring these little pieces together.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 7:21-33

“Notice what you notice.” Here we have, in my mind, one of the scariest verses in Scripture, with Jesus speaking: ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (v.23).

So what does it take for one of us to become an “unknown”. Not doing the “will of My Father” (v. 21)…? So we ask ourselves, “What is the will of the Father, what does He want from us?”

And who are the “many” to whom Jesus is referring: On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,… (v. 22). Here’s my most positive take on these verses. Maybe these “many” are already in the group of “goats on His left” at the last judgment (Mt. 25:31-46), to whom He says, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels… (v. 41, ff.). If that’s the case, don’t be on His left!! Follow the example of the “sheep on His right”: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (vv. 35-36). Let’s get to work!!

If any of you has any wisdom to share, please do so!!

Slava Bohu!