Starting week 7! Hard to believe. Giving thanks for all who are on this journey, whether you're caught up or not. Grateful for your willingness to dive into Scripture and see what it says for yourself!
Luke 22
Passover time. Satan entered Judas. How he might betray Jesus to them. They couldn't believe their good luck and agreed to pay him well. (Pensive...compensation motivation...is it always ethical? Do we have trouble discerning? What won't we do for money? Who are we unwilling to betray?)
Water jug carrier symbolizes home where meal will be shared. Water...life...baptism. Never noticed that water jug in this narrative before...
"You've no idea how I've looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering..."
"Take this and pass it among you...This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory...This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you." Erases possibility that participation in Christ's life is a life of untroubled serenity--there will be pain, humiliation, rejection, not self-help.
People in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. When am I guilty? When are we guilty? "Let the senior among you be like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant."
"Get ready for trouble. Look to what you'll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword." Messes with my non-violent understanding...Luke!? He did tell them not to get carried away when they wanted to double their artillery...there's still hope..."No more sword talk!"
Mount of Olives. "Pray that you don't give in to temptation." "Father, take this cup, but not what I want. What do you want?" Wake up. "Pray so you won't give in to temptation."
Judas. Sword. Ear cut off. Ear put back on. Jesus arrested. Into the house of the chief priest. Rooster. Interesting that rooster is a symbol of the Emmaus walk. What's that message?
Slapping him around. "Who hit you that time?" "You're the ones who keep saying that."
I could feel discomfort rise in my stomach as I moved through the Passover narrative. I've read it and heard it many times before. May that story always discomfort me...into action...into discipleship...into prayer...into self-examination...into Jesus...into life...
Titus
"Getting out the accurate word of God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hope by pointing the way to life without end...Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!"
More criteria for cultivating community, selecting leaders, etc. (be looked up to--not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry, must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.)
"Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst." Really!? Wow.
"Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to the dirty-minded unbelievers."
A God-filled life. Go back to Titus 2 commentary/contemplative reading...
God's readiness to give and forgive is not public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life." Godliness...
"Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God's people should always be bighearted and courteous."
Salvation theology. God as Savior. Not merely a matter of getting "saved" so we can get to heaven. It's a way of life for the community. It isn't a private matter between the soul and God but a very public matter between husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and co-workers, pastors and parishoners.
"Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him. It's obvious that such a person is out of line, rebellious against God. By persisting in divisiveness he cuts himself off."
Grace to all of you.
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