24^th Week in Ordinary Time

September 22, Saturday

Luke 8:4-15 The Parable of the Seed and Its Explanation

The identity of Jesus as prophet having been established previously, calls the readers attention to an aspect of the prophet's life that needs to be highlighted:  the Word of God.  The parable of the sower and its explanation is common to all the Gospels, but in Luke we find a shorter presentation of it.  Luke places emphasis on the germination of the word in patience, something consonant with his over all insistence on Discipleship as something that is lived daily (cf. v. 15).

When Jesus answers the question on why he speaks in parables, Luke changes Mark's "to those outside" with "to others" and he omits the phrase that reads "lest they should turn (away from sin, the verb used is from epistrefw   which has the religious meaning of "conversion") and be forgiven".  The reason is because the additional passage is superfluous seeing that it is already included in the explanation of the seed falling by the wayside (see v. 11)

Parables are the bedrock of Jesus' teachings. They characterized the form of what Jesus taught. But a parable needs to be remembered, reflected on continuously and understood until its content becomes part of one's way of living and acting.

   An integral element in Jesus' school of Discipleship is that which involves the study and reflection on Jesus' words. A fifteen minute exercise each day on the understanding of Jesus' words should help the Christian go a long way in this life.

The way it stands in the Lucan Gospel, the parable of the seed and its explanation prepares for the following section on the true kinsmen of Jesus, Luke 8:19-20. Those who "keep" Jesus' words and act on them are his brothers and sisters. Luke 8:16-18 is a call to those who have received the word to live it out. The word is like a lamp that should be left to shine out, not kept under a bushel basket. Not to act on the word of Jesus is like the case of the seed that falls by the wayside and is flown away by birds: even that, "will be taken away from him."

September 21,2001 Friday
Feast of St. Matthew

Matthew 9:9-14, The Call of Matthew  Luke 8:1-3 [Ferial Reading]

The account appears both in Matthew and Luke (Q). The call of Matthew (v.9) is worded in a way similar to the preceding call of the fishermen (4:18-23). But while this latter shows that the response to the Word of Jesus is a response made in life (=Discipleship), the call of Matthew taken with vv. 10-13 as its immediate context, illustrates an aspect of the call of Jesus: it is addressed, not to the righteous, but to sinners.

The righteous are represented here by Pharisees, who contrast themselves with "tax collectors" and "sinners." The Pharisees, together with the Sadducees, were the ones who considered themselves above the ritual cleansing offered by the Baptist (Mt. 3:7). They were of course, the Separated Ones, separated from the rest of the common folk because of their adherence to the Law. They were always, by practice, ritually clean and expected religious leaders to do the same.

The clean cannot mix with the unclean. Jesus, however, was not thinking in terms of clean-unclean; he was thinking in terms of sickness-cure (or of losing-finding, cf. Mt. 12:11). The Hosean (Hos 6:6) phrase he quotes is a call for a religion that goes beyond ritualism and a concept of God that is bound up with the laws of nature (see context in Hos. 6:1-3 and following), and whatever ritual law there may be.

   The disciple is a sinner who responding to Christ's call, makes Him the central value of his/her life.

  Note 1: In his account of the call of Matthew (=Levi), Luke takes away the reference to Hosea and adds "..to repentance."

  Note 2: Tax collectors were considered unredeemable because they collaborated with the Roman Empire in exacting tax from Israel. Their work made them "enemies of the people."

September 20, 2001 Thursday

Luke 7:36-50   The Woman Who Loved Much

The story can be found in Luke alone.  What at first appeared to Simon as an occassion for doubting Jesus' identity as prophet (see previous sections) in the end becomes a lesson first, in hospitality, then in a more deeper sense, in the act of authentic religion.  Simon had expected Jesus to recognize the woman's ritual impurity (she was a woman of ill repute) and to move away from her.  But Jesus took the occassion to point out to Simon what this latter had neglected to do to him: to be hospitable.  Water for the feet, the kiss of peace, anointing -- all these were gestures that Simon had omitted.  The woman instead had done these, and more; she did them with reverence, generosity, and love.

The issue went deeper than hospitality, however.  Simon knew the woman to be impure; her impurity (ritual uncleanness) can render anyone she touched ritually unclean.  But Jesus saw more than ritual uncleanness; he recognized in the woman's gestures the actions of one who is grateful for "a debt that has been written out".  "Your sins are forgiven you," said Jesus to the woman, giving verbal confirmation to something that has happened for the woman even before she came into his presence.  "Your faith has saved you."  Jesus attributes the forgiveness of the woman's sins to her faith, in much the same way as the healing of sickness is made possible by faith.

  "...Her sins, her many sins must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love." (Luke 7:47, JB.  The Greek hoti  (oti) is here not understood in the more usual meaning of "because.")

   Generous love is an indication of God's mercy received in faith.  One responds to God's mercy and forgiveness in every decision made to be generous in kindness and love.

   The woman showed boundless love and reverence for the body of Christ. She kissed, anointed, and wiped his feet. The passage taken spiritually can refer to those who, receiving God's mercy in their lives, show their gratitude by ministering to the needs of the lowliest of Christ's members. The passage is also a warning to those who would judge the motives of men or women of ill repute who are generous in using their wealth for the poor.

September 19, 2001 Wednesday

Luke 7:31-35, God's Wisdom and this Generation

The passage is also found in Mt. 11:16-19.  It is a parable about the pretenses of a hardened generation with regards to the way it accepts an austere Baptist and the party-going Jesus.  Ultimately, it is not austerity or gaiety that they reject but the will (=Wisdom) of God.  v. 32b is probably a children's rhyming song that Jesus incorporates into the parable.  Verses 33-34 is the application of the parable to the men and women of the times who would not follow the "tune" played either by the Baptist or Jesus.

The "prophetic styles" of Jesus and the Baptist were not really the issue.  All true prophets were unacceptable to their contemporaries.  The austerity of John (solitude, the dietary habits of a desert wanderer, confrontational stance) is compared to the "dirge" which should evoke mourning and sorrow.  The Jesus style, in contrast,  (in company, no apparent dietary rules, quiet persuasion) is like the music that should make people dance.  Yet all those who accept the Word of God purveyed by both, (each according to their roles in salvation history), are Wisdom's children.  It is through these, not during the ministry of the Baptist and Jesus, that Wisdom will be vindicated.  (Both Mt 11:19b and Luke 35b have suffered from harmonization.  Which is the original, "Wisdom will be vindicated in her children" or "Wisdom will be vindicated in her actions"?  Alas, there are no convincing arguments for either one or the other).

  Note:  The vindication of Wisdom is a theme that one can find in those sapiential materials dealing with the destiny of the innocent. In these materials, adversity and even death may make the just look as if they lived for nothing, in contrast to the "wicked" who live according to their own plans and who seem to be having the time of their lives. In the final analysis, however, the just shall be vindicated.

Tuesday, September 18

Luke 7:11-17: The Raising of the Widow's Son

The story of the resurrection of the son of a widow from Naim is found only in Luke. Within the Gospel of Luke, the story marks the first time that Jesus "wakes" someone from the sleep of death. Following as it does the story of the healing of the centurion's servant (Luke 7:1-10), one can understand the present story as a stronger example of the power of Jesus' words and as a preparation for the "awakening" of Jairus' daughter (in Luke 8:40-56). It also is a sign that Jesus is indeed the Awaited One (cf. Jesus' response to John the Baptist's inquiry, Luke 7: 22, "..and the dead are raised to life.").

The story's conclusion has everyone (it was a "great multitude") declaring that Jesus is the great prophet and that he is a sign that God has visited his people. The Great Prophet is the one foretold in Deuteronomy, the second Moses. Jesus' presence as a sign of God's visitation upon his people (His saving act) is in harmony with the recognition that he is the Great Prophet. This two-fold assertion prepares for the scene that follows and the implicit problem regarding the status of the Baptist in comparison with that of Jesus within the context of salvation history.

   The raising of the widow's son echoes the feat of Elijah, the prophet who raised another widow's son from the dead. (1 Kings 17:21-24 and context). Elijah, the prophet in whom the faith of Israel was shown to be victorious over the prophets of the Baals, and who can call down fire from heaven has been connected to John the Baptist (cf., the accounts of the Baptist's appearance.) But if Jesus is like Elijah, and Elijah will come to precede the Awaited One, then is Jesus not the Awaited One? {Hence, John the Baptist's inquiry in Luke 7:18-23). And if Jesus, not the Baptist is like Elijah, then what was the role of the Baptist? (Thus the statement that Jesus makes about the Baptist in Luke 7:24-28).

   The Jesus-Baptist problem that Luke tries to solve can also be traced in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke's Volume II, where there is an implicit comparison between the baptism of John and that of Jesus's disciples (cf. the case of Apollos in Acts 18:24-19:6).

   Augustine, in his Confessions, uses the narrative (together with that of the Prodigal Son) as a literary framework for presenting the events of his conversion. Like the widow's son, Augustine was the "son of a widow's tears". In the end, as in the story, the Lord restored Augustine back to Monica.

September 17, 2001 Monday

Luke 7:1-10: The Centurion and the Word

The story of the healing of a centurion's servant is a pronouncement story within the context of a healing. Its main intent is to emphasize, not really the ability of Jesus to heal remotely, but the power of the centurion's faith. The theme of the story will be carried on in the succeeding sections of Luke.

The story is also to be found in Matthew (8:5-10). There, however, the centurion's faith becomes an occassion for the Lord to compare Israel's hard heartedness with the faith of Gentiles. In Luke, this is omitted and the character of the centurion as a "friend of the synagogue" is underlined (perhaps Luke uses the story to give a special reference to other Gentiles sympathetic to the Jewish religion but who got converted to Christianity, as the case of Cornelius typifies [Acts 10:1-11:18].).

"Say the word, and my servant will be healed." The soldier's faith is expressed in this statement, a statement that has become part of the Church's life of worship. (After the Lamb of God, the congregation responds to the priests invitation to communion in these words: "Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the words and I shall be healed"). It is this faith that amazes Jesus, a faith he says that he has not encountered in Israel.

The centurion is like a slave in that his existence is also defined by a word. His difference with the slave is that he too can give a word of command that he expects will be obeyed (7:8). In other words he knows about the power of a word that is pronounced by the proper authority. His declaration was a declaration about the Word of Jesus, a word that he has come to believe because it is OF Jesus. It is this that amazes the Lord: Israel, for all its experiences in the Word has not come to grasp the significance of Jesus that this Gentile soldier has begun to understand.

   Soldiers have a peculiar relationship with Words. They are trained to obey a word of command. When Paul describes the believer in military terms (Phil. 2:5; 2 Tim 2:3; 1 Thess 5:8), he is actually using an image that is reinforced by the memory of the apostles.

   Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed.