Monday, 25 March Luke 9:51-62
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
If you are looking for the “turn”, the pivot point, the fulcrum, of the book of Luke, you need look no further. This is it.
Up until now we’ve had two major themes. I've been emphasising them in each reflection.
The first theme was the reliability of God’s word and promises. Through the stories of Zechariah, of Mary and Joseph, of Simeon and Anna, of John the Baptist, Luke imprinted on our minds that the promises and hints and prophecies of the Old Testament were utterly reliable. God can be relied upon to be faithful to his word.
The second theme has been the Kingdom of God which Jesus is inaugurating. It’s a kingdom which doesn't immediately replace the current earthly government and culture in which we all live and move and have our being. But it overlays that world. It sits over the top of it. It overrules it when there are conflicts between the two. Its currency is love and its goal is peace – unlike the world that we’ve been living in up till now. Sometimes it crosses over, and then healing and miracles can occur.
Jesus’ ministry of preaching and miracles, and the Twelve’s ministry of preaching and miracles have announced this Kingdom with demonstrations of power. When John the Baptist asked for proof of Jesus’ credentials, remember that Jesus merely sent back a message that the lame walk, the deaf hear and the Gospel is preached to the poor.
So, God has proved faithful to the words that he promised over all those long centuries of Hebrew occupation of the land, the exile and finally the miserable return. And now God’s new Kingdom is in place. The King has landed, so to speak, and the disciples are his advance troops, taking bridgeheads, laying foundations, clearing out insurgents, setting up sleeper cells, establishing communication lines.
Those have been the twin themes thus far. And now comes the invasion proper.
The first verse of our passage for today reads: As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
From today, then, we can expect to see Jesus not making any move, not taking any step, not saying any words, unless they are primarily addressed to the achievement of his sole objective. Which is: To advance upon Jerusalem, and to conquer all the forces of evil and opposition – not by an armed insurrection, but by his own offering of himself to God. Which is another way of saying his own offering of Himself to Himself. God the Son will die in the presence of God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit will hover over the whole event, energising it with power, sanctifying the offering. God will die.
After Jesus has died, that same Holy Spirit will exercise his power to raise Jesus from the dead. Then Jesus will tell his disciples to gather in Jerusalem and wait for forty days, while the heavy artillery are drawn up, the supply lines are secured, and then the final power of the kingdom of God will be unleashed upon the world. After that, watch out if you are not on Jesus’ side, because he is the guaranteed winner of this titanic struggle.
Well, you know all this; it’s standard Bible knowledge.
What might not have been so clear was the way that Luke is playing it out in his carefully-researched history that he is sending to his patron, Theophilus. (Which, incidentally, is a Greek name meaning Lover of God. Or even, perhaps, Loved by God.)
But look what Jesus does! Right at this critical moment, when he is preparing to make the final assault, what does he do? He decides to go out of Jewish territory, and travel through Samaria.
Well, why not? These Samaritans were the ones who had never left Palestine. They hadn't been transported into exile. They had held the land somewhat safe and protected from the ravages of wild animals and overgrowth. They were also people of mixed blood. They were not pure Jews. The Assyrians, under Sargon II and Nimrud had deliberately done some ethnic cleansing and sent settlers whom they’d captured in battle from a host of other nations into the area. It was the polyglot ghetto of the returned Israel.
Before Jesus went to Jerusalem, he went to the closest place that could also be called the Rest of the World – Samaria. To these people, he brought the good news (Gospel) of the Kingdom of Heaven. The results don't seem to be profound, just yet, but we don't know the whole story. It’s unlikely that Jesus wasted his time!
Luke gives us three short stories, almost parables, to describe the standards that Jesus will be applying for his followers in this last run up to Jerusalem. Again, we had better put aside all those childish ideas of gentle Jesus, meek and mild. This is war, Jesus-style. No armaments, just commitment and sacrifice. And no turning back.
The first joiner is turned off because he thought this was a glamping trip. (Glamping is glamour camping in Australian English – just for the benefit of those outside Australia who might be reading this. Flush toilets, sheets on the beds, timber floors in the tents – no roughing it here.) He turns back when Jesus tells him he’ll have to give up luxuries.
The second asks to be allowed to go and bury his father first. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Yes, until we realise that in Middle Eastern culture, this means: allow my father to live with my family until he passes away naturally. This could be one year or twenty. Jesus wasn't interested in rain-check discipleship.
The third asks to be allowed to say good-bye to his family. Again, sounds reasonable on first glance. But what this Middle Eastern man is saying, is, ‘I’ll come but I have to ask my wife, and my mother, and my wife’s mother first, to see if they're happy for me to go.’ Yes, says, Jesus. Good luck with that. I'm only interested in people who can make commitments, not men who will be pushed out of shape by women over whom they should have the final control anyway. You're the Man; be the Man! (I know, that sounds a bit misogynistic, but this is the Middle East, 2000 years ago. It’s not much different today, either. You can't take the culture out of Bible stories just because you don't like it.)
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I have to confess that I'm a little bit worried that I mightn't make the grade on your team. I've never been very good at Boot Camp. But I do know how to be faithful, and I am prepared to give it my very best shot. I just ask you to help me when I get it wrong. Amen.
