wolfbiblemoon

Pilate and Herod bond over having Jesus as a prisoner and send him back and forth to each other trying to find something he'd done that deserved the accusations.

Jesus rises from the dead and still needs food to eat, which he asks the disciples to provide.

A short guy who is also a tax collector climbs a tree to get a good look at Jesus as he passes by, but it isn't until Jesus asks to stay at his house that the short tax collector says that he will give half his wealth away and pay anyone back who he may have cheated. Commendable, but surely he shouldn't have cheated anyone in the first place?

Jesus likes investment bankers, in one parable a king gives 10 cities to a slave who got a 10x return on the money he'd been given, 5 cities to the one who got a 5x return and took back the money he'd given to the third slave because he just hid it rather than investing it, the king gave this slave's money to the slave who got 10x and called him wicked.

Jesus says that when you hold a banquet you shouldn't invite people you hope will return the favour but instead the poor and needy because then you'll be repaid in the afterlife. You'd still be doing it in hope of a reward though wouldn't you, rather than helping the needy for the sake of helping them.

It still seems to me that people who sin and then repent will be treated better than those who never ever sin, this sort of arrangement seems to favour doing whatever you want for most of your life and then just repenting before the end.

A rich man who goes to hell for his general selfishness and particular bad treatment of a poor man who died at his gate begs Abraham to send the poor man from heaven to the rich man's family to warn them so they can avoid going to hell. Abraham says that if they've not responded to the prophets so far then someone returning from the dead wouldn't convince them either.

Jesus sends another 72 men out to spread his message ahead of him.

I've heard the story of the good Samaritan before, it does make the other guys who passed the mugged man without helping seem incredibly heartless. It might be tough to intercede on behalf of a stranger you see being mugged for fear of your own life, but it is not forgiveable to ignore an obviously injured man on the side of the road.

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!

Luke seems to be where the Christmas story I learnt in school comes from, we have the Most Ridiculous Census Ever (seriously, you do not make everyone travel back to their home town 90 miles away to register for a census!), and Mary has to put her new baby in a manger because there is no place left in this little village with all the people who'd been born there and moved away popping home for the census.

Also some shepherds abandon their sheep after a vast heavenly army of angels appeared and told them about the baby. We don't normally get taught about Mary and Joseph sacrificing birds when they presented Jesus at the temple.

So, if you were Simeon and you'd been told that you wouldn't die until you'd seen Christ, would you go and seek out an audience with Jesus or avoid all contact and hope to live forever?

The 12 year old Jesus stays behind to chat to the teachers in the temple court, worrying his parents but amazing everyone else with his understanding.

John the Baptist is paving the way for Jesus with his preaching, though it gets him in trouble with Herod and he is imprisoned.

And then Luke lists Jesus' lineage through Joseph who isn't his father (and apparently there are several differences between this one that the one in Matthew).