Reflecting on Christ's Reign

When reflecting on passage of Scripture, it is always helpful to know what the Bible has to say about that passage. Especially when reading the Gospels. It is always a good idea to discover what each Gospel writer might have to say, or in some cases what they do not say. Mark’s Gospel is considered by the majority of scholars to be the first of the four Gospels. Both Matthew and Luke’s Gospels quote freely from Mark’s Gospel, and in some cases they add to what Mark has recorded earlier. Now John’s Gospel is much later - and differs, often quite radically, from the other three Gospels.

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For our purposes this week we will take a closer look at the incident where Jesus is paraded before Pontus Pilate who in turn asks Jesus if he is "The King of the Jews. Each of the four Gospels offer us different perspectives on this particular incident. As you read each Gospel account note the differences.

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M. MARK 15:1-15 - AN EARLY MORNING DECISION IS MADE.
T. MATTHEW 27:11-26 - PILATE’S WIFE TRIES TO INTERVENE
W. LUKE 23:1-25 - PILATE TRIES TO PASS THE BUCK
T. JOHN 18:28-40 - PILATE TRIES TO SET JESUS FREE
F. JOHN19:1-16 - SHALL I CRUCIFY YOUR KING?
S. MATTHEW 2:1-12 - A STORY FILLED WITH KINGS.

Searching Samuel for Signs

The first chapter of the Book of Samuel is filled with the desolation and sorrow that a woman named Hannah experienced because she was unable to conceive a child. Her desolation and sorrow was all the more poignant because the story places her in the temple of the Lord Almighty and Hannah is weeping. It is a time of celebration and rejoicing as people made their way to the Temple to offer thanks for God’s care of His people during their wanderings in the desert, as they made their way to the promised. However, Hannah did not celebrate.
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There are many things that have conspired to make Hannah deeply unhappy and sorrowful to the point that bitterness filled her soul. The first, without question is her inability to conceive children. Barrenness was a great cause of shame for women like Hannah as they were usually "disgraced" by it. Secondly, husband has another wife, ( polygamy is tolerated under the law of Moses, but clearly is not the divine intention). The ‘other" woman would ridicule Hannah and provoke her to tears, leaving her unable to eat it disturbed her so.
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On this particular day, as Hannah prayed, she wept as she prayed. Now the priest, an old man by the name of Eli is standing by the Temple door watching Hannah. Hannah we are told, was praying in her heart, her lips were moving, but the sound of her voice could not be heard. The old priest thought she was drunk and said to her ‘How long will you get drunk? Get rid of your wine."
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Now it must be said that Eli, in making such a comment, seems to suggest that it was not an uncommon sight for drunken people to enter the temple sanctuary. Further evidence of this religious and moral deterioration of the time is found later in the Book of Samuel, when the old priest’s own two sons, also priests, are found guilty of sexual impropriety with some woman who work at the temple. It wasn’t the first time that those among the religious leadership would fall from grace because of inappropriate sexual conduct.
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Hannah does not protest that she was drunk, but rather she explains that she was pouring her heart out to the Lord. She explains that she was praying to the Lord out of her anguish and grief. Hannah had prayed to the Lord that she might conceive a child. She promised if she gave birth she would dedicate the child to the Lord.
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After she returned home, and in the cousr of time, Hannah gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she ‘asked the Lord for him."
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Samuel would be the one who would later anoint David as the King of Israel. The Book of Samuel is fascinating as like the Book of Ruth, it shows us how God is always working away, even in the midst of our pain and suffering, his plan and purpose to work.
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M. I SAMUEL 1 - HANNAH’S PRAYER AND ELI’S MISTAKE
T. 1 SAMUEL 2 - HANNAH’S PRAYER AND ELI’S WICKED SONS
W. 1 SAMUEL 3 - nTHE LORD CALLS HANNAH’S SON - SAMUEL
T. 1 SAMUEL 4 - THE ARK IS CAPTURED AND OLD ELI DIES.
F. 1 SAMUEL 5 - THE ARK IN THE HANDS OF THE PHILLIES
S. 1 SAMUEL 6 - THE ARK IS RETURNED - AND QUICKLY.

Sacrificial Giving is Real Giving

The story that Jesus told of the widow who gave an offering needs to be understood against the background of the ongoing arguments, discussions, debates and eventually divisions between Jesus and the religious eladers, particularly the Pharisees - who were known as the "set apart ones". The Pharisees would walk around in their long flowing robes, they liked to be greeted with respect in the market places and flaunt their intellectual abilities, and to have the best seats at the head table of the banquets and in the synagogues.
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However, for all their religious posturing, even as they said their long and fancy prayers were devising ways to "devour widow’s houses" meaning that they tricked the poor, especially widows, out of their money. Things are no different today. Watch any of the tele-evangelists and they all have the same message, directed to a captive audience, usually the sick and shut-ins, many are widows, and that message is "send us your money". Of course such requests are always couched in flowing, eloquent, emotional praying.
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Then Jesus sat down opposite the Temple treasury where people would drop money to help defray the cost of the sacrifices and expenses of the Temple. Some people would drop in large sums of money, but a widow came along and drops in two small copper coins, worth less than a cent, and according to Jesus, she had given more than anyone else.
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Here is the lesson in giving. Giving to be real giving must be sacrificial. For all the others, they had put money into the treasury ( read offertory plate) but they could easily spare it, and still have plenty left over. It was not in any way, considered ‘sacrificial giving" as it was really out of their wealth that they gave.
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It is not the size of the or amount of the gift that matters, but the sacrifice of the gift that matters. It is the cost to the giver that matters. Real giving, real generosity gives until it hurts. For many of us it is never a matter of giving until it hurts, because we are generally wealthy.
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There are few people who will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God and to the work of the Church. So much of what happens in the Church today could be described as ‘coaxing people to give money" by way of fundraisers, dinners and other functions that offer something in return.
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Giving which is real giving has a certain recklessness to it. the widow might weel have kept one coin. It would not have been much but it was better than nothing. But no, she gave both. She gave everything she had. If we are being honest with ourselves, we always hold something back from Jesus.
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M. PSALM 68:1-6 --- GOD: DEFENDER OF WIDOWS
T. LUKE 18 --- A PERSISTENT WIDOW
W. LUKE 7:11-17 --- A WIDOW’S SON
T. LUKE 21:1-4 --- A WIDOW’S OFFERING
F. LUKE 20:1-47 --- EMPTY RITUAL & RELIGION
S. JAMES 1:26-27 -- RELIGION THAT GOD ACCEPTS.

Unswerving, selfless devotion

The Book of Ruth is about transformation. It is the story of a woman name Naomi, whose life takes a dizzy turn from full of promise to one of total emptiness. After emigrating to a far away land because of a drought in their homeland, tragedy first strikes Naomi when her husband dies. Naomi’s two sons married ‘foreign’ woman, one of whom is named Ruth. However tragedy strikes again and again, and both of Naomi’s sons die. Naomi is left "empty".
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However as the story unfolds it relates the unswerving and selfless devotion of a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law and through this act of loyalty and love, the great story of transformation begins to unfold. Naomi moves from despair to happiness. She is helped to do this through the selfless acts of Ruth, also grieving the loss of her husband. Ruth and Naomi are transformed from the destitution and emptiness of such tragic loss to find security, hope and fullness.
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Ruth, who is not an Israelite, but a foreigner who practices another religion, exemplifies the truth that participation in the coming of God’s kingdom is decided not by blood and birth, but by the conformity of one’s life to the will of God.
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However, it is the selfless love of Ruth that fulfills God’s law and because of Ruth, and because of her actions, all nations of the world will have a place in God’s Kingdom. Ruth will become a convert to the Israelite religion and exemplify what it means to love God and to love neighbour. Ruth’s trust in God enables the transforming love of God to work in ways that can only be described as mysterious. Through Ruth, a foreigner and convert to the Isrealite religion, God will continue his purpose and plan to offer redemption through a Messiah.
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Ruth’s act of selfless love and unswerving devotion and her conformity to the will of God through obedience that comes from faith embodies the Jewish religious law. Ruth’s love and devotion also reflects God’s love and devotion to us.
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The Book of Ruth is a marvelous joining of human actions with God’s plan. I am sure that neither Naomi or Ruth could ever really understand why their husbands and Naomi’s two sons had to die. However, the Book of Ruth teaches us this powerful truth, that in those times when we do not understand what God is up to, we can be assured that God’s plan is unfolding as it should. God is always in control no matter how chaotic or disorderly life might be and God is with us.
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When Naomi returns to her homeland, she left full but returned empty. But God is at work, Ruth meets and marries a man named Boaz - a relative of Naomi. Boaz also exemplifies this same selfless love and devotion. He and Ruth will have a son who will be the grandfather of Kind David - God’s at work! As an aside, when Matthew relates the genealogy of Jesus, he names Rahab, a prostitute and Ruth who was a convert to the Jewish faith. God’s always at work.

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M. RUTH 1 ....................TRIPLE TRAGEDY - FULLNESS TO EMPTY
T. RUTH 2 ....................RUTH MEETS BOAZ - HOPE ARRIVES.
W. RUTH 3 ...................MEET NAOMI THE MATCHMAKER
T. RUTH 4 .....................BOAZ MARRIES RUTH
F. MATTHEW 1:1-17 .....DUBIOUS GENEALOGY,

James & John - Ambitions

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of James and John’s ambitious request of Jesus that when he became King, they might sit at his right and left hand. Had Jesus granted this request I’m sure there would have been further discussion over which brother would sit on Jesus right hand and who would sit on Jesus left hand. Jesus told them that they had no idea what they were asking of him.
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He asked if they could drink the cup he was drinking from. They both said they could. They had no idea that Jesus was asking them if they were prepared to die along with him, as his own arrest and death was imminent - his death on the Cross was just hours away at this point. Mark’s Gospel shows us that these two disciples were perhaps more interested in personal power, prestige and worldly ambition than they were in Jesus who tried to prepare them for his death.
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As you might imagine the other ten disciples were upset at James and John who it might seem were going behind the other disciples backs to further their own ambitious ends, Mark paints a vivid picture of the disciples -warts and all.
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The Gospel of Matthew records pretty much the same story, only Matthew tells us that it was the mother of James and John who made the request of Jesus that her two boys might have the positions of power when Jesus came into his kingdom. Of course to the critical eye, this poses a question: why does Matthew say it was James & John’s mother who made the request while Mark places the request in the mouths of the two brothers themselves. Big problem.
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Well, first of all, Matthew was one of the 12 disciples and so was one of those upset by the request that James and John - regardless of who made the request. Matthew wrote his gospel 25 years after Mark wrote his gospel. By this time a halo of saintliness was around the disciples and perhaps Matthew did not want to show this worldly side of James & John - which meant Matthew was putting a spin on Mark’s version - which creates difficulty. The other possibility is that it actually was James & John’s mother who really did make the request and Matthew was simply setting the record straight as a participant in this event.
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There is some evidence, which space does not permit me to reproduce here, but the mother of James and John appears to be the sister of Jesus’ mother, which makes her an aunt of Jesus and it would seem reasonable that being such a close relative she might approach Jesus with such a request that he might make his two cousins his top men. Nothing new here - a case of who you know, eh?
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Lastly, Luke’s Gospel carries either the same incident or a continuation of the above incident, but what makes it more "a warts and all picture" is that this incident happens during the celebration of the last supper Jesus had with the disciples. Seems that all the Gospel writers are intent on showing every wart.

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What you see here is Bible Study - which seeks to answer Biblical difficulties.
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M. MATTHEW 20 ....AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT OF AMBITION?
T. MARK 10 ...............A SECOND HAND VIEW OF AMBITION?
W. LUKE 21 ...............WARTS AND ALL - ANOTHER DISPUTE?

Empty Rituals

EMPTY RITUALS

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HOME BIBLE STUDY
EMPTY RITUALS OF THE RICH, RELIGIOUS & SELF-RIGHTEOUS

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Amos is God’s spokesman. However, the God for whom Amos speaks is God of more that Israel. He is the God that governs all nations, bringing them into being and calling them to account. He is the God that also uses one nation against another to carry out the divine purpose. He is the Great King who rules over the whole universe. He is all-sovereign and thus holds the histroy and destiny of all peoples and of the world in his hands.
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Amos, as God’s spokesman, proclaims that Israel must know not only that God is Lord of her future, but also that God is Lord over all things, places and people and that God’s purposes and concerns reach far beyond Israel’s borders. Amos reminds the people of Israel that although they have a unique claim to God as being God’s chosen people, this unique relationship is not exclusive claim on God.
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However, the people of Israel are in danger of believing that their unique relationship with God allows them to perform ritualistic worship without commitment. They are dangerously close, right on the line, perhaps one foot over the line where their worship is an empty ritual devoid of any commitment to their covenant relationship.
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They believed that as long as they ‘performed’ their ritual sacrifices that was all that God required of them. Amos reminds them that this is a worldly, pagan point of view and that God not only demands that they worship him, but that they do so with both their hearts and not just their lips speaking empty meaningless words. Without commitment to God’s word, and especially the Covenant Commandments, they thought they could offer their ritual worship and then go off what ever they pleased - a very worldly notion even today.
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Amos, as God’s spokesman, condemns such actions - especially this worship without commitment that leads to injustice and lack of righteousness. Amos condems all who make themselves powerful and rich at the expense of others.
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Amos roundly condemns those who had acquired two splendid houses (3:15) and expensive and richly furnished homes and tables at the expense of others by cheating, perverting justice, and crushing the poor. Amos warns that such injustices would be righted and the rich would lose ever.ything they had.
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Of course, when Jesus arrives on the scene many of those who opposed him were from among the ranks of the rich and the powerful. Jesus would spend most of his ministry with the outcasts and the poor of society while denouncing the rich, religious and powerful who offered only empty ritual words and actions. Amos warned that the rich would be overturned and justice restored.
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M. AMOS 1 & 2 ----GOD’S JUDGEMENT ON THE NATIONS AND ISRAEL
T. AMOS 3 & 4 ----WITNESS SUMMONED AGAINST WAYWARD ISRAEL
W. AMOS 5 & 6 ---CALL TO REPENTANCE - WARNING TO COMPLACENT
T. AMOS 7 & 8 ----POWERFUL METAPHOR - BEING MEASURED UP -
F. AMOS 8 ---------POWERFUL METAPHOR - BASKET OF ROTTING FRUIT
S. JOHN 2:12-25 -JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE OF ROBBERS & THEIVES

Judging Job

HOME BIBLE STUDY
JUMPING IN TO JUDGE JOB AND JUSTIFY SUFFERING

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The story of Job provides the reader with a profound statement on the subject of the justice of God in the light of human suffering. Some describe the Book of Job as a "play" but quickly add that Job was someone to really existed. There is much debate among Biblical scholars as to whether Job actually existed. The Book of Job is considered the first of the poetic books of the Bible and is renowned for its difficulty in both translating and understanding.
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The story of Job introduces a new element into the plight of human suffering. Early Israelite understanding concerning the justice of God was very simple - if healthy, wealthy, and prosperous - your were blessed of God. If you suffered illness, or lived in poverty then you had received punishment for sins committed.
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The Book of Job takes this sort of abstract thought that has concrete evidence, ie., prosperity for the good person versus poverty for the "bad" person and turns it on its head. Now we could all perhaps rush in and say that we know people who are ‘bad" and deserve what ever terrible lot in life they have received and perhaps wish more bad things to happen to them. However, the Book of Job deals with the fact that Job was a good person, blameless and upright, yet, he suffered terribly. First the lost of his wealth, then the loss of his children, and then the loss of his health. He suffered great poverty - yet he was a good man.
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The Book of Job also adds another aspect to the problem of God’s justice in the light of human suffering in that the ‘play’ introduces another player in the form of Satan, who bragging that he goes to and fro across the earth unhindered.
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Now the story has many players, the first we are introduced to after God and Satan have their ‘conversation’ and Lot has been reduced to a pile of boils festering all over his body is his wife. She tells Job "to curse God and die".
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Job answers with a response that has rung loud down through the centuries, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"
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Satan had effectively backed God into a corner by insinuating that Job was only blameless and upright because it suited his purposes. Take away his wealth, health and prosperity and Job would effectively curse God like all the rest.
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Of course, as the "play" unfolds, Job’s three friends are quick to jump in and ‘accuse’ Job of some great, perhaps even unknown, sin against God. They were of the old school that equated suffering as a punishment for sin. Job’s perseverance, not his patience, finally wins the battle. Job’s perseverance and refusal to curse God eventually silences those closest to him, his wife and three friends, and finally Job’s perseverance silences Satan.
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M. JOB 1 ....A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY PLAYS OUT.
T. JOB 2 .....THOSE CLOSEST TO JOB DON’T HELP.
W. JOB 6 ....JOB SPEAKS OUT IN ANGUISH.
T. JOB 38 ...GOD SPEAKS - BIT IS NO HELP.
F. JOB 42 ...ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
S. JOHN 9 ...JESUS SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

Worth your Salt?

Are you worth your weight in salt?

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HOME BIBLE STUDY
ARE YOU WORTH YOUR WEIGHT IN SALT?
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The word "Salary" derives from the Middle English "salaire", from the Latin word salarium, meaning a payment made in salt (sal) or for salt, from salarius meaning pertaining to salt. So when someone asked if you were worth your salt, they were in fact asking if you were worth the wages they were paying you.
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Now you can take this with a grain of salt if you wish, but in Biblical times salt was more valuable than gold. It was the food preserver par excellence and was sought after by kings and queens everywhere. Do you ever notice that when you are going to do something you ought not to be doing you look over your shoulder? There is an old saying "throw a grain of salt over your shoulder" that has its basis in an old superstition which said that when you did something you should not have done, throw salt over your shoulder and the salt would blind the devil, who would be either looking over your shoulder or sitting on your left shoulder while hopefully an angel would be sitting on your right shoulder trying to steer you right. Many are able to tune out the angel - and so use a lot of salt.
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Now you can take this with a grain of salt, but to throw salt away in Biblical times would have been the equivalent of throwing gold dust away as it was the most valuable of all the things people might have possessed. It permitted people to travel further from home base and also stock their food larders with out fear of the food - especially meat - spoiling. Not only was it a food preserver but it was used as currency as well. Roman soldiers were often paid in salt - which is where the word salary comes from - they received a salarium.
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Of course when someone is said to have tried to "rub salt in it" we known that they have tried to agitate and old wound that leaves the person smarting from their ‘salty’ remarks. I am sure we all have had salt rubbed in to an old wound.
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Then there are those who are said to be the salt of the earth. We have all met such people. Jesus, teaching his disciples what it meant to be a follower told them that they were to be the ‘salt of the earth’.
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Now this you can’t take with a grain of salt. You are to be worth your salt. Remember that when Jesus spoke about Christians being "salt of the earth" salt was a precious commodity, more precious than gold, and also a life preserver, so when you are among your family, friends and neighbours, you are to bring the flavour of God into conversations and your actions. As Eugene Peterson writes in his version, "You are to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?" Jesus taught his listeners that God considered them precious, so precious, vital, life sustaining, even life-giving. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth."
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M. GENESIS 19 ADULT VERSION OF LOT’S WIFE & SALT
T. NUMBERS 18:8-19 EVERLASTING COVENANT OF SALT
W. 2 CHRONICLES 13 DO NOT BREAK THE SALT COVENANT
T. EZEKIEL 16:1-8 UNFAITHFUL, UNSALTED JERUSALEM
F. MATTHEW 5:13 YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH
S. MARK 9:38-50 DO NOT LOSE YOUR SALTINESS.

LEARNING FROM THE LECTIONARY

http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/

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What does it mean to listen? We hear the Scriptures read each Sunday morning while we participate in worship. I often wonder what people hear during the singing of the hymns? What do they hear during the four Scripture Readings appointed for that day. Do they even know how those Readings were chosen for that particular Sunday? Who makes the decision regarding the Readings that are chosen. Is it the Bishop? Is it the Priest? Who decided what Scripture readings, two from the Old Testament, which includes a Psalm, and two from the New Testament, an Epistle and a Gospel, will be read in Church today?
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The Reading from the Book of Proverbs contains some pithy sayings that are short of enough to both hear and remember, such as this one: "Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all."
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The Epistle Reading, which is usually a letter, id take from the Letter of James, who reminds us about the dangers of favouritism, and that our actions must match our words. Faith that is not accompanied by actions is a dead faith.
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The Psalm reminds us that the Lord surrounds his people just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, and that those whose trust is in the Lord will not be shaken, even though evil surrounds them on every side. God is with us.
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The Gospel Reading is usually the Reading most preachers focus on as it is after all telling us and teaching us something about our Lord Jesus Christ. All the Readings call us to listen attentively, that is to be thoughtful as we invite God to speak to us through the words of Holy Scripture. There are two very interesting stories told in today’s Gospel. One concerns a mother who daughter is very ill. She is not Jewish, but a Gentile, and the remark Jesus made concerning the rightness of tossing the children’s bread to the dog’s has caused many preachers difficulty as it appears that Jesus does not hear this woman’s plea and seems to dismiss her, but also appears on the surface to insult her too.
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The next story concerns a man who was deaf and could not talk properly. Here we see the compassion of Jesus clearly at work. The people beg Jesus to lay his hands on this deaf man. First, Jesus takes the man away from the glare of the crowds. Next, in what some see as ‘sign’ language, Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, then touches his tongue, to perhaps let him know what he is about to do. Next, Jesus looked up to heaven perhaps to indicate to the deaf man just where Jesus’ received his power. Then Jesus spoke and the man was healed, he was able to hear and speak plainly. Both are powerful stories.
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To answer my own question, the Readings come from the Revised Common Lectionary that the Anglican, Roman Catholic and United Churches each use.
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M. PROVERBS 22:1-23 --THOUGHTS TO MEMORIZE
T. JAMES 2:1-17 -----------ABOUT FAVOURITISM
W. PSALM 125 -------------IN GOD WE TRUST.
T. MARK 7:24-30 --------JESUS, THE VERY THOUGHT OF THEE
F. MARK 7:31-34 ---------HOW SWEET THE NAME OF JESUS SOUNDS
S. GENESIS 1:1-31 --------THOU WHOSE ALMIGHTY WORD.

Food for thought.

Spiritual Food That Sustains the Soul

Over the last four weeks, the Gospel Reading for the Sundays in August were about Jesus who proclaimed that He is the Bread of Life. In the Sermons, my focus was on the things we do to try and satisfy the hunger within. We try to satisfy our physical hunger and thirst by a great many things, and in the culture around us many people are addicted to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, donuts and candy bars, and even the caffeine in Tim’s coffee and the sugar in Coca-cola.

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It is interesting how the culture exploits our hunger and thirst through great advertizing projects like the super-sized meal and drink - in fact making us eat and drink far more in the way of calories than we would ever need. The dark side of all of this is that the ‘experts, politicians and others" are now ringing the alarm bell as children who live on these fast food calories will also face many diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and even osteoporosis as a direct result of their diet. We really are what we eat and drink.
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One of the reasons given for children digesting so many empty calories via pop and junk food is that they turn to such foods and drinks to alleviate the stresses they face in their young lives - things like divorce, blended families, terrorism, AIDS, fear of pregnancy and fear of the future. Adults turn to alcohol, drugs, etc, and so young children turn to pop and chips.
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One of the many things that surfaced during sermon preparation was how the ‘experts" we now saying that the answer to this problem of obesity among children is to encourage families to cook and eat meals at home, so that parents can not only monitor what is going into their children’s mouths, but also be aware of what may be coming out of their mouths. This family "table time" is an opportunity for children to talk openly and share their hopes and fears.

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The Church has built its spiritual life around a table. It is the Lord’s Table where we gather to remember the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples. In our fast paced society today, we often eat on the run, there is never enough time for the important things like family meals around the family table and conversation and sharing family stories is a thing of the past and most people just don’t have time for Church, too busy with so many other things to do.
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It is interesting that the political leaders have included tackling the problem of obesity among children as part of their Party’s election platforms. What is missing in all this is how the pop manufactures and the fast food giants have blatantly exploited the spiritual hunger of today’s generation, but then people will try to fill the hunger within - yet neglect to feed their souls. Food for thought?
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M. LUKE 5:27-32 ---JESUS EATS AND DRINKS WITH SINNERS
T. LUKE 7:36-50 ----JESUS EATS WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
W. LUKE 10:38-42 --JESUS EATS AT THE HOME OF FRIENDS
T. LUKE 14:1-24 -----JESUS EATS WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
F. LUKE 19:1-10 ------JESUS EATS WITH MORE TAX-COLLECTOR.
S. LUKE 22:1-24 -----JESUS EATS A LAST SUPPER WITH DISCIPLES.

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SPIRITUAL FOOD TO SUSTAIN THE SOUL

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Well, well, well! It appears that maybe God knows what he is doing after all! Reflecting on what many experts in the field believe is an epidemic - that is the problem of ‘obesity among children" It appears that one of the strategies employed in the battle against this ever growing problem is to teach parents preparing and eating home cooked meals at home so that they can monitor not only what goes into their kids mouths, but also what comes out of it as well!
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Now, one need not be a priest or preacher to read any of the Gospels, but even just a cursory reading of Luke’s Gospel it becomes apparent that ‘eating home cooked meals" was an important part of the ministry of this man called Jesus.
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We are first introduced to Jesus table ministry when he is at the home of Simon Peter, whose mother-in-law is sick with a high fever. Jesus heals her and she rises from her sick bed and "waits on them" meaning she serves the already prepared Sabbath meal. Next, we find Jesus in the home of a prominent religious leader. He has been invited to dinner. Here he is judged by the religious leader as a ‘sinful woman’ possibly a prostitute washes Jesus feet.
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Then in what is a very dramatic miracle, Jesus brings back to life a 12 year old girl who has died. As Jesus gives her back to her parents, Jesus tells them to give their daughter something to eat.
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We often find Jesus bin people’s homes. Jesus often found solitude away from the crowds that continually followed him everywhere in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Do you invite Jesus to share your meal when you sit down to eat? Very seldom do people publically take the time to say grace at a meal in a restaurant. Then Luke records the parable that Jesus told of the ‘rich fool" who laid up for himself all kinds of good things but never gave any thought to God or eternal things. Jesus called him a fool for neglecting such matters.
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On another occasion Jesus was invited to the home of another prominent religious leader. This time it was a set up to see if they might entrap him. They bit off more than they could chew. What He said to them was hard to swallow. It was here at this dinner Jesus taught the Parable of the Great Banquet.
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Then there is the great story of the redemption of Zacchaeus, who had all kinds of wealth and power, but deep inside he was spiritually hungry. Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Such acts caused the religious leaders to be very critical as they complained that Jesus often ate with sinners, tax-collectors, prostitutes, and all kinds of other undesirable persons. Of course, through the Sacrament of Holy Communion we too are invited to eat Bread of Life.
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M. LUKE 4:31-39 ......JESUS EATS A SIMON PETER’S HOME
T. LUKE 5:33-39 ......JESUS QUESTIONED ABOUT FASTING
W. LUKE 7:36-50 .....A RELIGIOUS LEADER & A PROSTITUTE
T. LUKE 8:40-56 ......A DEAD GIRL WAKES UP HUNGRY
F. LUKE 10:38-42 .....AT THE HOME OF MARY AND MARTHA
S. LUKE 14:1-24 .........AT THE HOME OF A PROMINENT PHARISEE