Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-october-27-2022
Luke 12:1-12
Warnings and Encouragements
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
This reading is made up of several short sections that deal with topics that don’t really seem to have much to do with one another. So this Reflection might seem sort of choppy and disconnected. But the various parts of the passage have some important teachings by Jesus, so we need to take time to work through them.
Actually, the structure of the reading – a bunch of teachings on various topics – actually gives us a chance to stop and review what the New Testament scholars say about how the gospels were compiled. As you might remember, the first of the gospels was Mark, which is understood to have been the eyewitness account of Peter, as he told it to a man named John Mark. Then later, Luke and Matthew each started with the Gospel of Mark and added stories and teachings of Jesus from other sources.
Church historians tell us that Peter and John Mark were said to be taking great pains to be accurate in setting down the life and teachings of Jesus, but that they never claimed to have all the teachings in the order Jesus spoke them. And when Luke and Matthew compiled their gospels, they used the basic structure from Mark and then added other stories and teachings in ways that seemed logical to them.
I’m reviewing all this because I suspect that the passage we’re thinking about today isn’t a group of sayings Jesus said together. It seems more likely that Luke grouped together some things Jesus taught his disciples on various occasions.
The first teaching in the passage warns the disciples to guard against “the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The metaphor of yeast seems particularly appropriate and thought-provoking. You only have to introduce a little bit of yeast into the dough, and then it spreads through the whole loaf. So you can see why Jesus would use it as a metaphor for hypocrisy. If the leaders of a community of faith tell people to be humble but are arrogant themselves, that arrogance spreads. If the leadership counsels frugal living but loves wealth and luxury, materialism becomes the standard practice. If the leaders are hypocrites, their hypocrisy spreads.
Then Jesus warns us against thinking we can get sin without being found out. Sins done in secret often wind up being shouted “from the roofs,” he says. And Jesus was speaking two thousand years before tabloid journalism and social media. So those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus should bend over backwards to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
Next, Jesus tells us we don’t have to live in fear, even of those who might try to kill us for our beliefs. According to church tradition, just about all of the first disciples would be martyred as Jesus was. A lot would be killed for their faith. But Jesus reminds us that the powers of this world can only threaten us here in this world. But God’s power extends beyond it. So what Jesus says here is a word of encouragement – a reminder that God never loses track of us, and that those who strive to follow Jesus are precious in his sight.
Jesus also makes a promise: that those who “acknowledge” him before the world will be claimed by Jesus as his own in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, if we don’t want to be associated with Jesus in this life, Jesus will honor that wish in the heavenly kingdom, as well.
This paragraph closes with a verse that confuses and worries some people. Jesus says that “anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” People sometimes worry that they might ‘blaspheme against the Holy Spirit’ accidentally and thus condemn themselves to hell. But the scholars say that Jesus was talking about people who said his ministry was empowered by Satan or who otherwise refused to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry. Those scholars say if you’re committed to following Jesus and to growing in your faith and service in his name, this isn’t something you should worry about.
At the end of this reading Jesus gives the disciples a word of encouragement for the times when they might face persecution. He says they shouldn’t worry about being able to give carefully thought-out answers to the questions they face. He says the Holy Spirit will guide their testimony when the time comes. And we know that really did happen – in the Acts of the Apostles, there are several stories in which apostles unexpectedly find themselves giving powerful witness to what God has done in Jesus.
We should take that to heart, I think. We tend to think we need to be able to give an articulate theological response if someone asks what we believe. But a simple answer about what God has done in our lives and in the lives of those around us will do. And we can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us in that answer.
So as we said when we started this Reflection, this passage gives us various, apparently unrelated teachings of Jesus, but all of them have something important to our lives of faith.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the many ways Jesus spoke into the lives of his first disciples, and for the way he speaks into our lives through the scriptures. By your Spirit, use his words to mold us into people who are more and more useful to you. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 26 and 130; Nahum 1:15 – 2:12; and Revelation 12:7-17. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.org, the website of the International Bible Society.)
Recent Comments