Daily Exegesis

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters

2013-05-18T09:50:00.003-07:00

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

- Luke 11:14-23

In yesterday's reading, it happened as they went that Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." In between today's reading and the verses from yesterday, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, "Our Father in heaven."

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." My study bible teaches us that Beelzebub was a pagan god, "derided by Jews as 'The Lord of the Flies.' Here it is a direct reference to Satan."

Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. My study bible says that "a sign from heaven would be a spectacular miracle validating Jesus' authority. Jesus refused to do such a sign in His temptations in the wilderness by the devil, and He declines here as well."

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub." As rulers and kings only rule through the strength and loyalty of their own houses, and fall when betrayed by inner strife or mutiny, then how could Satan's kingdom stand if demons were cast out by the ruler of the demons?

"And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges." Jesus is referring here to exorcisms which were a part of Jewish tradition. Jesus is telling them that if He is accused of using satanic power over demons, then those who cast out demons in Jewish tradition will be judges against His accusers as well.

"But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." My study bible says that the finger of God is the Holy Spirit.

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Jesus gives an image of Himself as liberator, a spiritual liberator. He is the stronger man who overcomes, and takes away the armor of the evil one, and divides his spoils. The image is one of spiritual power and authority, a direct reference to the casting out of the demons that oppress and afflict human beings in the Gospels. My study bible says of the last sentence here, "This verse is seemingly the opposite of 9:50: 'He who is not against us is on our side.' Here however, the unique action of gathering or scattering in the issue: each person does one or the other."

My study bible's note about "gathering" or "scattering" rings home. In the Greek, the word for "gather" here is συνάγων/synagon. Its obvious relationship to the word synagogue, a place for spiritual assembly, tells us what Jesus is driving at. He's emphasizing His power in this realm of spiritual warfare, and the fact that He casts out demons by "the finger of God" or the Holy Spirit. As we look around in our world, we see a great deal to be concerned about. There is violence, dissension, misunderstanding, terrible crimes reported in the news, and all around us, people abusing their power -- people who victimize others. We ask ourselves why this is so. As believers, we ask ourselves why this is so. If we remember, we look back to our own Leader, who was also a victim of violence, of corruption, of envy. His power was not used to prevent His crucifixion. And I think we have to remember what kind of Liberator He is. Jesus invites each one of us to gather with Him. He welcomes us into His kingdom. But we come as volunteers. He doesn't compel any one of us to enter. He invites us. He welcomes us with love. It is the oppressive kingdom, the "ruler of the demons" who enters and occupies without consent. It is the demonic that bullies and scapegoats. Let us understand, then, what it means to be a part of God's kingdom, to be one of Christ's followers. It doesn't mean there is no longer evil in the world, nor that our lives will be free of encounters with evil, as was the case with the earliest apostles. Martyrdom was a byword for the early saints, as it is even in our time for believers in many parts of the world. But it does mean that we act and live in His name, our good works are done in His name, and every act of healing is a declaration of His power in the world when it is done in His name. "The finger of God" lives and dwells within us and among us, and it is up to us to be bearers of His light into the world. He invites us as loving volunteers, not conscripts. How do you join His assembly? What is your witness to His kingdom? We remember He told the Seventy, when they went upon their first mission, "Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves." Let us gather with Him, and remember whose tradition we continue.

You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her

2013-05-17T10:53:00.002-07:00

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

- Luke 10:38-42

In yesterday's reading, we were told that a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus answered and said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. My study bible tells us that "Martha and Mary are the sisters of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:1)." As borne out as well in chapter 11 of John's Gospel, we can see the different "roles" of the sisters at home. Martha is the one concerned with hospitality; she welcomes Jesus. Mary is more devout in her actions. In the passage from John's Gospel, we're reminded that she wiped Jesus' feet with fragrant oil and her hair (John 12:1-7), and we read of her sitting in mourning in their home, while Martha welcomes Jesus. In today's reading, Martha -- true to character -- is the one who welcomes Jesus, while Mary sit at His feet and hears His word.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." My study bible says, "Martha was distracted and troubled about many things in providing hospitality for Jesus. But the one thing needed was for her to listen to Christ, to hear His words -- a priority which certainly does not exclude serving Him." Let's note the language: she's distracted. It tells us she's not focused on the target, not centered. The word in Greek (periespato/περιεσπᾶτο) is literally to "step around" or "draw around" -- in this sense she's distracted from the real thing, the true event. It comes from language for military maneuvers, as in creating a diversion.

And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." What is the one thing needed here? It's the focus on hearing His word.

What things distract us, and draw our attention away from what is truly needful? We forget the "one thing necessary" when we are distracted by many things. Elsewhere in Luke's Gospel, we read Jesus' teachings on anxiety: " Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing" and "Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (see Consider the lilies, how they grow). There are ways in which the world and its demands will come to interfere with our main focus, the one thing truly necessary and needful, the real mark or bullseye of our aim, and that is our Teacher. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus tells the disciples: "Do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ." In our lives we will find many teachers, many people who wish to tell us what is what -- to give us theories, and philosophies, and ideas about how things should be done. Popular customs of our own times and places will also fill in for "teacher." But there's really one Teacher for all of us who call ourselves Christian, and who follow Christ. That person-to-person contact, and listening, comes in one place, and it is the place of the heart. We find it in prayer, we can find it in worship with other believers. But it is the foundation of the Kingdom and its spread in the world. It is to focus on that one thing that is needed, to hear the word of the Lord, to receive the teachings of the Teacher, to "sit at His feet and hear." At the Transfiguration, we are told that the voice of the Father said, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" So we are to do likewise, like Mary. Before all things, our Teacher comes first, to orientate us to life, to help us make our decisions, to teach us how to view our problems. Nothing else should get in the way of what is truly needful, what it is that comes first. We can be worried and troubled about many things, and there is no doubt the worries and troubles will come, if your life is anything like mine. Let us focus on the one thing which is needed, the good part, first before all else, when we find ourselves in such conditions. It is the Teacher who leads us to where we truly need to be, especially when we are challenged by life. All the "shoulds" and other distractions the world would seek to teach us need the Teacher's perspective, first.

Who is my neighbor?

2013-05-16T09:29:00.004-07:00

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus answered and said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

- Luke 10:25-37

Yesterday, after Jesus appointed the Seventy, and having sent them out on their first mission, we read that they returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." My study bible tells us that "'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' is a momentous question for every person. The answer of Jesus is to love God above all else, and to love one's neighbor." It's important that we understand these two great commandments as Jesus' answer to how we are to live our lives and be His disciples. It's the same answer He gives to the question regarding which is the greatest commandment in the law in both Matthew's and Mark's Gospels. These are two commandments in the Law, and one comes after the other, in Jesus' teaching. First is the love of God, and from that comes love of neighbor. They are inseparable.

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus answered and said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side." The lawyer asks the question that follows Jesus' answer about the Law, the commandments that lead to eternal life: "Who is my neighbor?" The parable of the Good Samaritan is Jesus' response. This parable appears only in Luke. My study bible says that it "illustrates Jesus' teaching of who our neighbor is: anyone in immediate need, even a supposed enemy. Symbolically, the Good Samaritan is Christ Himself, the wounded man is humanity set upon by demons, and the inn is the Church. Love for neighbor proves our love for God." A Levite was an official helper in the temple. So, both a priest and a Levite pass the injured man by. We can only guess at the reasons, and there have been many theses regarding this: prohibitions regarding the issue of blood, the fear of uncleanness in the fact that the wounded man may have appeared to be dead, the notorious danger of this particular pass. Jesus doesn't give us the reason, only that these are strict followers of the law, officials in the temple, who fail to help the injured man.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion." My study bible says, "The Samaritan, a presumed enemy of Jews, is highlighted as the good neighbor because of his loving actions toward the wounded Jew ignored by fellow Jews." To "have compassion," in the Greek, is expressed via a word that denotes a depth of inner feeling -- it's to be moved in our "inner parts" such as the heart. It implies feeling, not just a mental note. It reminds us of the love of God quoted in the law above, "with all one's heart and soul and strength and mind."

"So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'" We note the thoroughness of the care; the Samaritan indeed treats the injured man as he would desire for himself.

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." From this story, we come to understand mercy as healing. The word for mercy in the Greek (eleos) is the same in sound as the one for olive oil, as in the balm which the Samaritan poured on the wounds of the injured man. It was the basis for all healing balm in the ancient world. To "go and do likewise," we observe, is a command from Christ. As such we infer that it is a command for all of us, each of us, as His follower.

It's interesting to observe how Jesus phrases the command to "Go and do likewise." He uses the word ποιέω/poieo in the Greek for "do." This word ποιέω/poieo is the root of the word for poem or poetry. It denotes a kind of work, a creative act. So in doing likewise, in practicing mercy, we are to be capable -- we infer -- of thinking outside of the box, thinking creatively, making something good where perhaps there wasn't anything before, out of a situation in which others aren't necessarily doing or modeling the same. The distinctive sound of eleos, mingling mercy and healing or even an anointing oil, gives us an understanding of the Gospel context for so much of what we understand from our faith: God's mercy anoints the world with the Spirit, anoints Jesus as Messiah ("Anointed One") as the Samaritan "anoints" the wounds of the injured man waylaid by robbers and left for dead. We see in this word eleos the Way of Jesus, who will so often question the ways in which the law is applied. And it leads us -- this word eleos -- right back to Jesus' question for the temple leadership: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?" We are to be creative in our thinking about healing and its inextricable link to the practice of mercy, which is truly the practice of God-likeness. In God's mercy He has come to save and to heal, and we all know what this means for the repentance of which we are capable, the restoration to right-relatedness to God. Let us think about these great commandments and note the fullness of our commitment to God, to our love: with all our heart and soul and strength and mind. This faith isn't merely an assent to a set of values or understanding. If we note carefully, the "mind" is the last thing mentioned here! It is a focus on love, love with all that we have and all that we are, with a depth that continues to grow just as we don't know the true depths of the self, but learn through a lifetime of journey toward a deeper faith. Let us remember that God-likeness is in this love and in the creative practice of mercy, in the depth of commitment to heal wherever and however we can. There we find our neighbor.