Ordinary Time Week 13

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 or Psalm 82

Old Testament: Isaiah 5:1-7

 or Jeremiah 23:23-29

Gospel: Luke 12:49-56

Epistle: Hebrews 11:29-12:2

We have a couple of enigmatic passages this week, of which the exact meaning of the text is not clear. In Hebrews, we have the ending of the "Chapter Of Faith," of which we read some of last week. In general, we can understand the argument he is making: "faith" is not something new that the followers of Christ in the Church are now proclaiming. In fact, the idea is present in the Hebrew Scriptures right back to the founding of Israel, exemplified in Abraham's obedience and even back to Abel in the creation narrative. The verses this week are one long et cetera, basically saying the list is so long that the author just had to wrap it up by saying, "you get the idea." But at the very end the author had this strange statement,

And all these [men and women of faith], having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. (11:39-40)

What does it mean that apart from us, (followers of Christ) the saints of the Old Testament are not complete? In others words, how are we now completing them long after they have died? I could understand it more if the text said Jesus completed them and through the cross perfected their relationship to the Father. But I just don't see what we have to do with it. So like I said, a little bit of a mysterious passage here. And sometimes we have to learn to live with mystery.

The passage I really want to get to today is the reading from Luke. It is one of those difficult passages where there is not a lot of consensus on just what exactly Jesus or Luke were meaning. We don't like to talk about the judgement and division Christ brings. I know I mentioned the heading in my Bible last week, but I'm going to do it again. This week the heading is, "Christ Divides Men;" not something we usually think about. In our culture today it has become fashionable to remove all sense of division or judgement. As creatures of our culture, it is difficult for us escape this thinking and fully understand the judgement and justice of God as well as his love. (See for example Rob Bell and others like him.) I think the key is probably to remember that it is God who is judge, and our task id only to love as Christ loves us.

I was reading a couple of commentaries this week and was left a little unsatisfied with their answers concerning this passage in Luke, but the quote below concerning these verses seemed important to me and worth repeating:

The image of such division is hard for some, but Tiede (1988: 244) summarizes well what this means: 'Those who would reduce Jesus to a sentimental savior of a doting God have not come to terms with the depth of divine passion, of the wrath and love of God which is revealed in Jesus' word, will, and obedience even unto death.'" (Bock, Darrell, Luke v. 2, Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament, pg. 1196, quoting David Tiede’s, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Luke)

Our image of the Triune God has to incorporate all aspects of his character as revealed in the biblical account. This is easier said than done of course. I haven’t used this word in a while, but it may be time to bring it back up, and that is apophatic--theology through negation. This isn’t the only way to think theologically, but I appreciate the idea because it reminds us to stay humble and remember that we can never fully understand an infinite God. It doesn’t mean we don’t think about theology and wrestle with the biblical text, but it does remind us the limits of our task.

So this week, let us not ignore the hard passages in scripture, rather let us learn to read them and seek to understand them.

Grace and peace.