Luke 6-7

[wolfpurplemoon]

There is something twisted about encouraging a persecution/martyr complex in your followers and telling them to rejoice in being hated because their reward will be in heaven. especially if you follow it up by saying 'woe to you' to people that everyone speaks well of.

This woman comes to Jesus when he is having a meal and weeps enough to make his feet wet (those are some epic tears) and then wipes them off with her hair, kisses them and anoints them with oil, doesn't sound like the sort of activity that would normally take place at a meal. It gets her forgiven of her terrible (but not specified) sins and Jesus says that people who are forgiven more sins are more loved than those with few sins to be forgiven. So if you want more of Jesus' love then better build up more sins!

Comments

[crossbow1.livejournal.com]

There is something twisted about encouraging a persecution/martyr complex in your followers and telling them to rejoice in being hated because their reward will be in heaven.

YES. But if you say anything remotely like this to Xians, they get really defensive.

Love your honest comments

[(Anonymous)]

Just a thought - is it loved more or loves more???

I am chuffed to bits to be forgiven - but haven't got enough hair to wipe feet with (Maybe my list isn't too big!!)

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Chapter 6
Verses 20-26 Jesus preaches to his disciples. This message is for followers of Jesus. The sermon is similar to the sermon in Matthew 5 (the sermon on the mount). The beatitudes are often misunderstood because they speak to spirituality as well as physical reality and because they are sometimes misinterpreted as to require a negative worldly condition.

Blessed are the poor. In Jesus' time, the poor were looked down on. The poor were different from beggars, but were people who worked but were simply not wealthy. Today they might rank anywhere from the lower class through middle class of society. Priests of the day wouldn't have considered these people worth even talking to, instead focusing on the rich and powerful. Salvation for the Jews followed the ability to adhere to the Law which required sacrifices which cost money. Most of the poor wouldn't have been able to keep up despite their faith. Jesus, however, was telling them that they were important to God. That even though they were poor, God cared about them and would save them. Jesus isn't saying that we must be poor, but that lack of funds is not going to keep anyone from salvation, indeed the Kingdom of God is theirs.
Matthew referred to "poor in spirit". These would be humble people, those who are considered insignificant by society (and sometimes themselves); God loves these people and wants to save them.

Blessed are you who hunger. Again, Jesus is letting the poor and hungry people know that there will be fulfillment. The physical reality of this is in regards to the practice of Jesus' followers sharing food with other followers. We see this in Acts 2:46 (also written by Luke), and in many faith based organizations today that feed people. The spiritual side of this, however must not be neglected. The Amplified Bible (a translation that expands the original Greek to include synonyms that better reflect the language usage of the day), translates "you who hunger" as "you who hunger and seek with eager desire" and "you will be satisfied" as "you shall be filled and completely satisfied". While there is no doubt that the physical reality refers to food, the spiritual reality refers to a hunger for God's word and God's blessings. Jesus isn't saying that we should all go hungry, or that we need to be hungry to be blessed, but as with the poor, that God cares about them and wants to help them. Remember that Jesus is preaching to his disciples, so he is charging his disciples with helping these people.

Blessed are you who weep. Again, Jesus isn't requiring anyone to weep or suggesting it is better to weep or have sorrow, but saying that God will bring about a time of joy in their lives. Joy, as used here, is not the same as happiness. Happiness is an emotion caused by temporal events or situations. Joy, as used here, is not based on situations, but it is a lasting deep realization that no matter what happens, we are loved by God and will have salvation through our faith.

Blessed are you when people hate you and insult you and disdain you (ostracize you) on account of Jesus. It is nice to be liked and accepted by people, but Christians understand that people will not like to hear everything we say. People will reject us just as the Jews rejected the prophets (remember how that worked out for the Jews). Jesus isn't asking us to seek out rejection, but rather to remember that when we are rejected because of our faith, it is to be expected and we can be comforted by knowing that we are fulfilling our commission and that long term project negates the short term rejection. It is much easier to simply spend our time with people who will not reject us, but we choose to share what we can even if it means rejection in the hope that someone will benefit.

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Woe to the rich. The people Jesus is talking to here are the wealthy who purse wealth instead of pursuing God. He says that they are receiving their reward of pursuing their wealth already and there is no salvation in wealth. They could easily afford all of the rituals and traditions that Judaism required of them, but they didn't have a heart for God. Jesus isn't saying that being wealthy is wrong, but that placing wealth before God is wrong.

Woe to those who are well satisfied with food. The language here refers to those who had excess food (possibly gluttons, but certainly those who had excess) but did not help those who went hungry. Compare with Acts 2:46. As we remember repeatedly in the Old Testament, the prophets would relate messages from God that we are to help each other, yet these people did not do so. It isn't wrong to be have extra food, even a modest farmer may have such, but it is improper to hoard it when our neighbor is hungry.
People who do this aren't living as believers, their (lack of) faith is shown by their works and they will not see salvation. This isn't to say that feeding poor people, by itself, gains salvation (it doesn't), but rather that those of faith should be helping those in need if they have the resources to do so.

Woe to you when people speak well of you Jesus is referring to those who receive praise and accolades and accept them pridefully. If we are doing good things for our own pride, then we have missed the point. There is nothing wrong with being recognized for doing good, but if we let it turn to pride and seek out this praise, we are no longer working for God.

Chapter 7
Verses 36-50 Simon the Pharisee made a huge insult to Jesus. A guest in one's home (especially a teacher or rabbi like Jesus) would be greeted, his feed would be washed, his head anointed with oil and he would receive a kiss on the cheek from the master of the house and seat him at the head of the table. This was proper courtesy for a respected guest.
Simon invited Jesus to his home, but did none of these things. Simon was effectively saying that he did not consider Jesus a rabbi and that Jesus, although invited, wasn't worthy of any consideration. This was a calculated personal insult.

The woman who wet his feet and washed them, then anointed him with perfume and kissed his feet was performing a humbling act to someone she revered as a teacher. Note that the acts that she performed are greater than what Simon should have performed as a host.
She was taking a huge chance, both in entering Simon's home and in approaching a rabbi. Simon could have kicked her out, but he wanted to see how Jesus would handle this because he wanted to find some reason to discredit Jesus. If Jesus were any other rabbi, he would have rejected her because she was sinful, however he had compassion for her and offered her forgiveness and even defended her actions in her quest for forgiveness.

The point of the parable that Jesus presented to Simon was not that Jesus had more love for those forgiven of greater sins, but that those forgiven of greater sins would have more love for Jesus.

Simon was full of himself. He didn't believe he had any sins. He was a pharisee and was looking for a way to discredit Jesus (he embodies many of the things that Jesus preaches against in Chapter 6, Verses 31-49). Simon had sins, but thought he had none. He didn't ask for forgiveness from Jesus and received none. The woman humbly acknowledged her sin and was forgiven because of her love for Jesus.

-- Jeff