The Practice of Jesus
The Good News According to Luke
The Good News According to Luke
introduction:
FOCUS OF THIS COMMENTARY
This commentary focuses on the Sunday
readings for Year C. It's the source of re-imaging that
we turn to every third year, when the readings are based on the
Gospel of Luke. A weekly commentary can help us to piece
together the bits of a properly imaged new world! At the
heart of this project is the assumption that the world we take
for granted - in almost every sphere of our lives - is an
imaginative construct. If God, world, neighbour relations,
and our own selves are part of such a constructed reality, it is
possible to enrich our imagery - to have our awareness changed - and
to apply our new awareness, to our living-cultural context!
Our liturgical-faith tradition, provides
us with the materials from which we can image a different world. As
Walter Brueggeman says, "When we can imagine differently, we
can act differently!" Jesus' required His disciples to
withdraw regularly from their social and economic preoccupations.
Liturgical worship makes the same demand on us, as Jesus'
modern disciples. To paraphrase the evangelist when Jesus
prayed His Supper Prayer for His disciples that He was leaving,
"in the world;" He said, we are, "in the system but
we are not of the system"(Jn.17:14-16)! Being faithful
means gathering regularly and listening to fresh announcements of
God's subversive Word, and experiencing afresh, God's unseen but
intimate Presence in the Eucharistic action; and finally being sent
back from wherever we have come, with a awareness - so that we can
be the agents of transformation of the people whose lives we
touch!
This adventure in liturgy, is parallel
to the experience of the disciples who meet the Risen Jesus on the
road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke (Lk.24:13-35). The
disciples' hearts, "burned within them," when they heard
the strange rabbi explain the scriptures. They recognised
Jesus' presence, at "the breaking of bread!" They
had to return so they could, "tell Jerusalem" the good
news of their meeting the Risen Jesus (Lk.24:33)! We too,
are sent to extend a new understanding of God to our world, to our
neighbour, and to our own self-life, through our passionate doing
the practice of Jesus!
As we listen to the Sunday scripture
readings, a different world begins to emerge. It differs
from that to which we are accustomed. The world offered in
the Lukan texts, runs contrary to our presumed world - at the very
time our presumed world seems to function less and less effectively!
We get upset, awed, angry, forlorn and maybe attracted in
turn, by this alternative world and its values! We experience
more than one world.
If leaders of Liturgy respect us and
give us the room to think for ourselves - not at the expense of
accommodating or compromising - these texts will not fit
comfortably with our assumed reality. They will reveal
dreams that expose vested interests! That kind of leadership
invites us to run beyond ourselves - beyond our "old selves!"
Then we begin to approach our Christian assembly with a
mixture of hope and fear! We allow ourselves to be addressed
to see if there are new resources and new possibilities
here!!
top
Luke's Good News:
THE DYNAMIC OF LUKE'S GOSPEL
Year C of the Sunday reading cycle
uses Luke the evangelist's account of the teaching and actions
of Jesus of Nazareth. In our modern Christian assembly we create
a space to hear the reading of the gospel alongside readings
chosen from the Hebrew tradition and from the letters of the
early Christian communities.
These sources provide reference points
for our modern Christian practice. In addition the Psalm passages
that accompany and link the readings are an important guide to
interpreting the mind of the modern assembly and help us to
understand the relation of text to worship and practising the good
life.
Although the Sunday readings for Year C
do not include among them the reading of Luke 24:13-43 (the road to
Emmaus), this illustrates the dynamic of hearing the Gospel afresh
today. Luke describes two of Jesus' disciples walking away
from Jerusalem after the events of the first Good Friday. The
disciples are confused, afraid and shattered in the hopes they had
held for their dead leader. The stranger, or rabbi, they
share their concerns with, then speaks:
"You fools! So slow to believe
all that the prophets have said.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer
before entering into His glory?"
Then starting with Moses and going through all
the prophets, He explained to them the passages
throughout the scriptures
that were about Himself. (Lk.24:25-27)
As would-be disciples ourselves, who want
to understand our present, we have to understand the past. If we
want to know the meaning of being a Christian disciples today,
we have to reflect on the meaning of being a part of the earlier
Moses-movement; of the meaning of being part of the prophets
movement in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah. If Jesus was the one
to empower people in the past - "set the Hebrew people free:"
(cf Lk.24:21) - and we are confused about that we can now pursue
the matter systematically and with more background material. To
"set free" means drawing people together and setting
them on a new path, reconciling and healing, ushering in a new era
of compassion, understanding and justice. We know the words and
we have a clearer understanding of what is at stake.
But it still is not enough. The reflection
must turn to action. For would-be disciples the turning point is
that rather than continue to talk about liberation they act it
out. They invite the stranger to share a meal. Their action
changes the rabbi from 'stranger' to 'companion'. The shift is
from talking about the truth - to doing the truth; from reflection
to action! It is at this point when the disciples move
from words to deeds, that clarity comes:
Now shile He (Jesus) was with them at table,
He took the bread and said the blessing;
then He broke it and handed it to them.
And their eyes were opened and they recognised Him;
but He had vanished from their sight.
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem . . ,
They told their story of what had happened on the road
and how they had recognised Jesus
at the breaking of bread. (Lk.24:30-31,33,35)
Jesus vanishes. It is not the biology
but the theology of that claim that tells us that once the moment of
clarity has been achieved around the table, the action is no longer
there around a table. The action is somewhere else. Disciples return
from Emmaus to Jerusalem - from the scene of the action, through
reflection, to a new kind of action. Now they act in the midst of
the fear, anxiety and danger they had left just a few hours earlier.
But their action is now backed by a new understanding that can deal
with the fear, anxiety and danger
This account of the first Christian
community coping with the absence of Jesus, reveals the dynamic that
characterises the methodology of Christian education in faith
through the lectionary:
The process begins all over again as
disciples leave Jerusalem to go, "to all nations"(Lk.24:47)
and have new shattering experiences. So too when new
shattering experiences strike fear and confusion into the modern
Christian community. The community returns to those bits
of Jesus' teaching, held in the community's memory. That
memory helps to bring new understandings to the action required -
action focused around the sharing of the Word and
Eucharist.
top
a modern reading:
READING LUKE TODAY
While the final section of Luke
characterises the general dynamic by which modern listeners
to the Gospel can adopt the same process - there are qualities
in the gospel itself that speak directly about discipleship
in the modern world. There is a powerful image of, "exile
and home-coming," suggested by Jesus' search for His
Father's house. The link between Jesus and the temple
in Jerusalem, provides the focus for Jesus' journey from Galilee
to Jerusalem - and from Jerusalem to the rest of the world
(cf Luke's Acts of the Apostles).
There is also a fierce denunciation
of riches in Luke. Much of Luke's account focuses on
a disciple's use of and attitude towards wealth. This
may indicate the community for which Luke wrote, had a problem
with property and goods. But the result is - today we
have a body of teaching by Jesus, about attitudes and values
for insecure, yet affluent, disciples.
A modern 'reading' of Luke becomes
the way for a new generation of disciples to begin to follow
Jesus' practice. In the words of the final instruction
of the Risen Lord in Luke's account:
"This is what I meant when I said,
while I was still with you
that everything written about Me
in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets
and in the Psalms
was destined to be fulfilled."
He then opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and He said to them,
"So it is written that the Christ
would suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead and that in His name,
repentence for the forgiveness of sins
would be preached to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to this." (Lk.24:44-48)
Jesus of Nazareth's 'resurrection' makes
no sense - except in relation to all the rest of His story. To
affirm the resurrection of the dead, Jesus re-opened the scriptures
that had been closed by the priestly class. He read His own
story as a continuation of the movement of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah
and Jeremiah. For Jesus, it was the same power of God at work
in each of these people. For Jesus the Hebrew scriptures had
earlier borne witness to this power of God. Jesus affirmed,
"the God of the living" animated His practise. The
same, "Power-for-Life," that raised a descendant of aged
Abraham would be able to raise up other bodies! Luke's story
of Jesus of Nazareth links the totality of the practice of Jesus to
resurrection. Jesus' power was attributed to God - just as
Moses' and the Prophets' power was - only more so!
top
Summing Up:
SUMMARY
The dynamic of the Gospel of Luke is not closed. It remains open to the addition of
stories (the Acts of Apostles and the acts of modern disciples) of new encounters
with the God of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the bits in the Good News about
Jesus, that will reinforce the practice of its modern readers and hearers. New and
powerful practices stem from an awareness of the, God of the Living who continues to
set bodies free!
That's saying that the problem of God and the problem of resurrection have no meaning
aside from the practice of faith, hope and love. It is only at the heart of a practice
aiming at the raising of bodies that the question can be posed validly of their
re-surrection. The tradition of Luke offers a critique of authoritarian,
anti-life idolatries that might dominates our present society. A lively embrace
of the tradition can influence and shape new forms of authority that permit newness
and justice. The culture of death almost stifled the forward movement of
liberation in Luke's time. It provoked Luke's interpretation of Jesus'
message.
Understanding the original context that produced the scriptural texts, helps us to
apply the texts to our lives and woship. Individuals and groups committed to
regular relfection on the lectionary readings, can use a commentary on the scriptures
in the following ways. Before Sunday, become familiar with the text itself;
perhaps refering to a commentary for clarification if that is required. Then
listen to reading and its interpretation in the Sunday assembly. AT any
meetings during the following wseek, use opportunities to return to the material
for further reflection and sharing. (For example: a meeting for the communal
celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation - especially during the Advent or
Lenten season). If a parish group meets for whatever reason during the week
after the reading was heard in the assembly, then part of the meeting might well
focus on the previous Sunday's text to gauge individual performance on, "doing the
Word" in the light of what was heard!
I think this is especially relevant to a catechumenate-type group, where a weekly
review becomes an experience of reconciliation of Word and response to that Word.
Whatever the group, regular review of performance in the light of the previous
Sunday's texts would help to build trust as the members in the group address
together the tasks that discipleship of Jesus demands. The task of re-interpreting
Jesus' message is as urgent and as necessary, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century as it ever has been during the last 2,000 years of Christian history.
top
Our liturgical-faith tradition, provides us with the materials from which we can image a different world. As Walter Brueggeman says, "When we can imagine differently, we can act differently!" Jesus' required His disciples to withdraw regularly from their social and economic preoccupations. Liturgical worship makes the same demand on us, as Jesus' modern disciples. To paraphrase the evangelist when Jesus prayed His Supper Prayer for His disciples that He was leaving, "in the world;" He said, we are, "in the system but we are not of the system"(Jn.17:14-16)! Being faithful means gathering regularly and listening to fresh announcements of God's subversive Word, and experiencing afresh, God's unseen but intimate Presence in the Eucharistic action; and finally being sent back from wherever we have come, with a awareness - so that we can be the agents of transformation of the people whose lives we touch!
This adventure in liturgy, is parallel to the experience of the disciples who meet the Risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke (Lk.24:13-35). The disciples' hearts, "burned within them," when they heard the strange rabbi explain the scriptures. They recognised Jesus' presence, at "the breaking of bread!" They had to return so they could, "tell Jerusalem" the good news of their meeting the Risen Jesus (Lk.24:33)! We too, are sent to extend a new understanding of God to our world, to our neighbour, and to our own self-life, through our passionate doing the practice of Jesus!
As we listen to the Sunday scripture readings, a different world begins to emerge. It differs from that to which we are accustomed. The world offered in the Lukan texts, runs contrary to our presumed world - at the very time our presumed world seems to function less and less effectively! We get upset, awed, angry, forlorn and maybe attracted in turn, by this alternative world and its values! We experience more than one world.
If leaders of Liturgy respect us and give us the room to think for ourselves - not at the expense of accommodating or compromising - these texts will not fit comfortably with our assumed reality. They will reveal dreams that expose vested interests! That kind of leadership invites us to run beyond ourselves - beyond our "old selves!" Then we begin to approach our Christian assembly with a mixture of hope and fear! We allow ourselves to be addressed to see if there are new resources and new possibilities here!!
top
Luke's Good News:
THE DYNAMIC OF LUKE'S GOSPEL
Year C of the Sunday reading cycle
uses Luke the evangelist's account of the teaching and actions
of Jesus of Nazareth. In our modern Christian assembly we create
a space to hear the reading of the gospel alongside readings
chosen from the Hebrew tradition and from the letters of the
early Christian communities.
These sources provide reference points
for our modern Christian practice. In addition the Psalm passages
that accompany and link the readings are an important guide to
interpreting the mind of the modern assembly and help us to
understand the relation of text to worship and practising the good
life.
Although the Sunday readings for Year C
do not include among them the reading of Luke 24:13-43 (the road to
Emmaus), this illustrates the dynamic of hearing the Gospel afresh
today. Luke describes two of Jesus' disciples walking away
from Jerusalem after the events of the first Good Friday. The
disciples are confused, afraid and shattered in the hopes they had
held for their dead leader. The stranger, or rabbi, they
share their concerns with, then speaks:
"You fools! So slow to believe
all that the prophets have said.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer
before entering into His glory?"
Then starting with Moses and going through all
the prophets, He explained to them the passages
throughout the scriptures
that were about Himself. (Lk.24:25-27)
As would-be disciples ourselves, who want
to understand our present, we have to understand the past. If we
want to know the meaning of being a Christian disciples today,
we have to reflect on the meaning of being a part of the earlier
Moses-movement; of the meaning of being part of the prophets
movement in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah. If Jesus was the one
to empower people in the past - "set the Hebrew people free:"
(cf Lk.24:21) - and we are confused about that we can now pursue
the matter systematically and with more background material. To
"set free" means drawing people together and setting
them on a new path, reconciling and healing, ushering in a new era
of compassion, understanding and justice. We know the words and
we have a clearer understanding of what is at stake.
But it still is not enough. The reflection
must turn to action. For would-be disciples the turning point is
that rather than continue to talk about liberation they act it
out. They invite the stranger to share a meal. Their action
changes the rabbi from 'stranger' to 'companion'. The shift is
from talking about the truth - to doing the truth; from reflection
to action! It is at this point when the disciples move
from words to deeds, that clarity comes:
Now shile He (Jesus) was with them at table,
He took the bread and said the blessing;
then He broke it and handed it to them.
And their eyes were opened and they recognised Him;
but He had vanished from their sight.
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem . . ,
They told their story of what had happened on the road
and how they had recognised Jesus
at the breaking of bread. (Lk.24:30-31,33,35)
Jesus vanishes. It is not the biology
but the theology of that claim that tells us that once the moment of
clarity has been achieved around the table, the action is no longer
there around a table. The action is somewhere else. Disciples return
from Emmaus to Jerusalem - from the scene of the action, through
reflection, to a new kind of action. Now they act in the midst of
the fear, anxiety and danger they had left just a few hours earlier.
But their action is now backed by a new understanding that can deal
with the fear, anxiety and danger
This account of the first Christian
community coping with the absence of Jesus, reveals the dynamic that
characterises the methodology of Christian education in faith
through the lectionary:
The process begins all over again as
disciples leave Jerusalem to go, "to all nations"(Lk.24:47)
and have new shattering experiences. So too when new
shattering experiences strike fear and confusion into the modern
Christian community. The community returns to those bits
of Jesus' teaching, held in the community's memory. That
memory helps to bring new understandings to the action required -
action focused around the sharing of the Word and
Eucharist.
top
a modern reading:
READING LUKE TODAY
While the final section of Luke
characterises the general dynamic by which modern listeners
to the Gospel can adopt the same process - there are qualities
in the gospel itself that speak directly about discipleship
in the modern world. There is a powerful image of, "exile
and home-coming," suggested by Jesus' search for His
Father's house. The link between Jesus and the temple
in Jerusalem, provides the focus for Jesus' journey from Galilee
to Jerusalem - and from Jerusalem to the rest of the world
(cf Luke's Acts of the Apostles).
There is also a fierce denunciation
of riches in Luke. Much of Luke's account focuses on
a disciple's use of and attitude towards wealth. This
may indicate the community for which Luke wrote, had a problem
with property and goods. But the result is - today we
have a body of teaching by Jesus, about attitudes and values
for insecure, yet affluent, disciples.
A modern 'reading' of Luke becomes
the way for a new generation of disciples to begin to follow
Jesus' practice. In the words of the final instruction
of the Risen Lord in Luke's account:
"This is what I meant when I said,
while I was still with you
that everything written about Me
in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets
and in the Psalms
was destined to be fulfilled."
He then opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and He said to them,
"So it is written that the Christ
would suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead and that in His name,
repentence for the forgiveness of sins
would be preached to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to this." (Lk.24:44-48)
Jesus of Nazareth's 'resurrection' makes
no sense - except in relation to all the rest of His story. To
affirm the resurrection of the dead, Jesus re-opened the scriptures
that had been closed by the priestly class. He read His own
story as a continuation of the movement of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah
and Jeremiah. For Jesus, it was the same power of God at work
in each of these people. For Jesus the Hebrew scriptures had
earlier borne witness to this power of God. Jesus affirmed,
"the God of the living" animated His practise. The
same, "Power-for-Life," that raised a descendant of aged
Abraham would be able to raise up other bodies! Luke's story
of Jesus of Nazareth links the totality of the practice of Jesus to
resurrection. Jesus' power was attributed to God - just as
Moses' and the Prophets' power was - only more so!
top
Summing Up:
SUMMARY
The dynamic of the Gospel of Luke is not closed. It remains open to the addition of
stories (the Acts of Apostles and the acts of modern disciples) of new encounters
with the God of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the bits in the Good News about
Jesus, that will reinforce the practice of its modern readers and hearers. New and
powerful practices stem from an awareness of the, God of the Living who continues to
set bodies free!
That's saying that the problem of God and the problem of resurrection have no meaning
aside from the practice of faith, hope and love. It is only at the heart of a practice
aiming at the raising of bodies that the question can be posed validly of their
re-surrection. The tradition of Luke offers a critique of authoritarian,
anti-life idolatries that might dominates our present society. A lively embrace
of the tradition can influence and shape new forms of authority that permit newness
and justice. The culture of death almost stifled the forward movement of
liberation in Luke's time. It provoked Luke's interpretation of Jesus'
message.
Understanding the original context that produced the scriptural texts, helps us to
apply the texts to our lives and woship. Individuals and groups committed to
regular relfection on the lectionary readings, can use a commentary on the scriptures
in the following ways. Before Sunday, become familiar with the text itself;
perhaps refering to a commentary for clarification if that is required. Then
listen to reading and its interpretation in the Sunday assembly. AT any
meetings during the following wseek, use opportunities to return to the material
for further reflection and sharing. (For example: a meeting for the communal
celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation - especially during the Advent or
Lenten season). If a parish group meets for whatever reason during the week
after the reading was heard in the assembly, then part of the meeting might well
focus on the previous Sunday's text to gauge individual performance on, "doing the
Word" in the light of what was heard!
I think this is especially relevant to a catechumenate-type group, where a weekly
review becomes an experience of reconciliation of Word and response to that Word.
Whatever the group, regular review of performance in the light of the previous
Sunday's texts would help to build trust as the members in the group address
together the tasks that discipleship of Jesus demands. The task of re-interpreting
Jesus' message is as urgent and as necessary, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century as it ever has been during the last 2,000 years of Christian history.
top
These sources provide reference points for our modern Christian practice. In addition the Psalm passages that accompany and link the readings are an important guide to interpreting the mind of the modern assembly and help us to understand the relation of text to worship and practising the good life.
Although the Sunday readings for Year C do not include among them the reading of Luke 24:13-43 (the road to Emmaus), this illustrates the dynamic of hearing the Gospel afresh today. Luke describes two of Jesus' disciples walking away from Jerusalem after the events of the first Good Friday. The disciples are confused, afraid and shattered in the hopes they had held for their dead leader. The stranger, or rabbi, they share their concerns with, then speaks:
"You fools! So slow to believe
all that the prophets have said.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer
before entering into His glory?"
Then starting with Moses and going through all
the prophets, He explained to them the passages
throughout the scriptures
that were about Himself. (Lk.24:25-27)
As would-be disciples ourselves, who want to understand our present, we have to understand the past. If we want to know the meaning of being a Christian disciples today, we have to reflect on the meaning of being a part of the earlier Moses-movement; of the meaning of being part of the prophets movement in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah. If Jesus was the one to empower people in the past - "set the Hebrew people free:" (cf Lk.24:21) - and we are confused about that we can now pursue the matter systematically and with more background material. To "set free" means drawing people together and setting them on a new path, reconciling and healing, ushering in a new era of compassion, understanding and justice. We know the words and we have a clearer understanding of what is at stake.
But it still is not enough. The reflection must turn to action. For would-be disciples the turning point is that rather than continue to talk about liberation they act it out. They invite the stranger to share a meal. Their action changes the rabbi from 'stranger' to 'companion'. The shift is from talking about the truth - to doing the truth; from reflection to action! It is at this point when the disciples move from words to deeds, that clarity comes:
Now shile He (Jesus) was with them at table,
He took the bread and said the blessing;
then He broke it and handed it to them.
And their eyes were opened and they recognised Him;
but He had vanished from their sight.
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem . . ,
They told their story of what had happened on the road
and how they had recognised Jesus
at the breaking of bread. (Lk.24:30-31,33,35)
Jesus vanishes. It is not the biology but the theology of that claim that tells us that once the moment of clarity has been achieved around the table, the action is no longer there around a table. The action is somewhere else. Disciples return from Emmaus to Jerusalem - from the scene of the action, through reflection, to a new kind of action. Now they act in the midst of the fear, anxiety and danger they had left just a few hours earlier. But their action is now backed by a new understanding that can deal with the fear, anxiety and danger
This account of the first Christian community coping with the absence of Jesus, reveals the dynamic that characterises the methodology of Christian education in faith through the lectionary:
top
a modern reading:
READING LUKE TODAY
While the final section of Luke
characterises the general dynamic by which modern listeners
to the Gospel can adopt the same process - there are qualities
in the gospel itself that speak directly about discipleship
in the modern world. There is a powerful image of, "exile
and home-coming," suggested by Jesus' search for His
Father's house. The link between Jesus and the temple
in Jerusalem, provides the focus for Jesus' journey from Galilee
to Jerusalem - and from Jerusalem to the rest of the world
(cf Luke's Acts of the Apostles).
There is also a fierce denunciation
of riches in Luke. Much of Luke's account focuses on
a disciple's use of and attitude towards wealth. This
may indicate the community for which Luke wrote, had a problem
with property and goods. But the result is - today we
have a body of teaching by Jesus, about attitudes and values
for insecure, yet affluent, disciples.
A modern 'reading' of Luke becomes
the way for a new generation of disciples to begin to follow
Jesus' practice. In the words of the final instruction
of the Risen Lord in Luke's account:
"This is what I meant when I said,
while I was still with you
that everything written about Me
in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets
and in the Psalms
was destined to be fulfilled."
He then opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and He said to them,
"So it is written that the Christ
would suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead and that in His name,
repentence for the forgiveness of sins
would be preached to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to this." (Lk.24:44-48)
Jesus of Nazareth's 'resurrection' makes
no sense - except in relation to all the rest of His story. To
affirm the resurrection of the dead, Jesus re-opened the scriptures
that had been closed by the priestly class. He read His own
story as a continuation of the movement of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah
and Jeremiah. For Jesus, it was the same power of God at work
in each of these people. For Jesus the Hebrew scriptures had
earlier borne witness to this power of God. Jesus affirmed,
"the God of the living" animated His practise. The
same, "Power-for-Life," that raised a descendant of aged
Abraham would be able to raise up other bodies! Luke's story
of Jesus of Nazareth links the totality of the practice of Jesus to
resurrection. Jesus' power was attributed to God - just as
Moses' and the Prophets' power was - only more so!
top
Summing Up:
SUMMARY
The dynamic of the Gospel of Luke is not closed. It remains open to the addition of
stories (the Acts of Apostles and the acts of modern disciples) of new encounters
with the God of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the bits in the Good News about
Jesus, that will reinforce the practice of its modern readers and hearers. New and
powerful practices stem from an awareness of the, God of the Living who continues to
set bodies free!
That's saying that the problem of God and the problem of resurrection have no meaning
aside from the practice of faith, hope and love. It is only at the heart of a practice
aiming at the raising of bodies that the question can be posed validly of their
re-surrection. The tradition of Luke offers a critique of authoritarian,
anti-life idolatries that might dominates our present society. A lively embrace
of the tradition can influence and shape new forms of authority that permit newness
and justice. The culture of death almost stifled the forward movement of
liberation in Luke's time. It provoked Luke's interpretation of Jesus'
message.
Understanding the original context that produced the scriptural texts, helps us to
apply the texts to our lives and woship. Individuals and groups committed to
regular relfection on the lectionary readings, can use a commentary on the scriptures
in the following ways. Before Sunday, become familiar with the text itself;
perhaps refering to a commentary for clarification if that is required. Then
listen to reading and its interpretation in the Sunday assembly. AT any
meetings during the following wseek, use opportunities to return to the material
for further reflection and sharing. (For example: a meeting for the communal
celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation - especially during the Advent or
Lenten season). If a parish group meets for whatever reason during the week
after the reading was heard in the assembly, then part of the meeting might well
focus on the previous Sunday's text to gauge individual performance on, "doing the
Word" in the light of what was heard!
I think this is especially relevant to a catechumenate-type group, where a weekly
review becomes an experience of reconciliation of Word and response to that Word.
Whatever the group, regular review of performance in the light of the previous
Sunday's texts would help to build trust as the members in the group address
together the tasks that discipleship of Jesus demands. The task of re-interpreting
Jesus' message is as urgent and as necessary, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century as it ever has been during the last 2,000 years of Christian history.
top
There is also a fierce denunciation of riches in Luke. Much of Luke's account focuses on a disciple's use of and attitude towards wealth. This may indicate the community for which Luke wrote, had a problem with property and goods. But the result is - today we have a body of teaching by Jesus, about attitudes and values for insecure, yet affluent, disciples.
A modern 'reading' of Luke becomes the way for a new generation of disciples to begin to follow Jesus' practice. In the words of the final instruction of the Risen Lord in Luke's account:
"This is what I meant when I said,
while I was still with you
that everything written about Me
in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets
and in the Psalms
was destined to be fulfilled."
He then opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and He said to them,
"So it is written that the Christ
would suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead and that in His name,
repentence for the forgiveness of sins
would be preached to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to this." (Lk.24:44-48)
Jesus of Nazareth's 'resurrection' makes no sense - except in relation to all the rest of His story. To affirm the resurrection of the dead, Jesus re-opened the scriptures that had been closed by the priestly class. He read His own story as a continuation of the movement of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah. For Jesus, it was the same power of God at work in each of these people. For Jesus the Hebrew scriptures had earlier borne witness to this power of God. Jesus affirmed, "the God of the living" animated His practise. The same, "Power-for-Life," that raised a descendant of aged Abraham would be able to raise up other bodies! Luke's story of Jesus of Nazareth links the totality of the practice of Jesus to resurrection. Jesus' power was attributed to God - just as Moses' and the Prophets' power was - only more so!
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Summing Up:
SUMMARY
The dynamic of the Gospel of Luke is not closed. It remains open to the addition of
stories (the Acts of Apostles and the acts of modern disciples) of new encounters
with the God of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the bits in the Good News about
Jesus, that will reinforce the practice of its modern readers and hearers. New and
powerful practices stem from an awareness of the, God of the Living who continues to
set bodies free!That's saying that the problem of God and the problem of resurrection have no meaning aside from the practice of faith, hope and love. It is only at the heart of a practice aiming at the raising of bodies that the question can be posed validly of their re-surrection. The tradition of Luke offers a critique of authoritarian, anti-life idolatries that might dominates our present society. A lively embrace of the tradition can influence and shape new forms of authority that permit newness and justice. The culture of death almost stifled the forward movement of liberation in Luke's time. It provoked Luke's interpretation of Jesus' message.
Understanding the original context that produced the scriptural texts, helps us to apply the texts to our lives and woship. Individuals and groups committed to regular relfection on the lectionary readings, can use a commentary on the scriptures in the following ways. Before Sunday, become familiar with the text itself; perhaps refering to a commentary for clarification if that is required. Then listen to reading and its interpretation in the Sunday assembly. AT any meetings during the following wseek, use opportunities to return to the material for further reflection and sharing. (For example: a meeting for the communal celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation - especially during the Advent or Lenten season). If a parish group meets for whatever reason during the week after the reading was heard in the assembly, then part of the meeting might well focus on the previous Sunday's text to gauge individual performance on, "doing the Word" in the light of what was heard!
I think this is especially relevant to a catechumenate-type group, where a weekly review becomes an experience of reconciliation of Word and response to that Word. Whatever the group, regular review of performance in the light of the previous Sunday's texts would help to build trust as the members in the group address together the tasks that discipleship of Jesus demands. The task of re-interpreting Jesus' message is as urgent and as necessary, at the beginning of the twenty-first century as it ever has been during the last 2,000 years of Christian history.
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