The way of imagination

       A lot can happen in a week.   Just ask Jesus.   While Jesus is, rightly, the centre of attention in the Gospel narratives of Holy Week, I’d like for us to consider this morning the “elephants in Jerusalem”, i.e. the disciples.   What were the disciples experiencing during the final seven days of… “the-Present-Age phase of”… the life of Jesus?   A lot happened for the disciples during Holy Week.   Dreams tittered on the brink of fulfillment, only to be dashed to smithereens and then resurrected in a new form, all in the space of eight sunsets.   Then again, the Bible tells us that God “made the heavens and the earth” in the space of a week… the transition from an empty, watery chaos to an ordered cosmos teeming with life was also quite a change – and perhaps the Genesis story is a worthy template of how life so often goes.   Our lives frequently swing to and fro between chaos and stability, between job loss and the beginning o...

“…Jesus said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” But when he heard this, he became sad, for he was very rich.” (Luke 18.22-23)      Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22; 14.25), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   Besides announcing imminent judgment, Jesus is feasting and telling stories.   Jesus’ “gospel” is bad news for the self-sufficient, smug and vengeful and good news for the poor, desperate and trusting.      In Luke 18.18, a “certain ruler” approaches Jesus with a question.   Thus begins the first of two episodes which sit close to one another in the narrative, showing the different reactions of two rich men to the ch...

  “…his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” (Luke 16.8)        Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22; 14.25), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   Besides announcing imminent judgment, Jesus is feasting and telling stories.   Jesus’ “gospel” is bad news for the self-sufficient, smug and vengeful and good news for the poor, desperate and trusting.      As chapter 16 of Luke’s Gospel begins, Jesus is once again telling a parable – in this instance, an infamously ambiguous and intractable story that has occasioned much spilling of ink. [1]   The Pharisees remain in the picture, if slightly out of frame (Lk. 16....

  “…we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15.32)      Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22; 14.25), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   The tenor of Jesus’ teaching is often severe.   Jesus’ “gospel” is bad news for the self-sufficient, smug and vengeful and good news for the poor, desperate and trusting.      As was the case in the preceding chapter, Luke 15 opens with some Pharisees grumbling about Jesus’ kingdom-activity (15.1-2; cf. 14.1-6).   There is another link with chapter 14 – in both chapters, Jesus is participating in a communal meal.   However, there is also a sharp contrast between the two meals – while Jesus dined in the home of a Pharisee in ...

“…when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14.13-14)        Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22; 14.25), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   The tenor of Jesus’ teaching is often severe.      Once again, we find Jesus being a dinner-guest in the home of a Pharisee (Lk. 14.1; cf. 11.37).   A “blessing” pronounced by another guest – “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (14.15) – is situated between two parables told by Jesus which compare the kingdom to a (wedding) banquet (Lk. 14.7-24; cf. 13.22-30).   Both parables have the same punch-line, which is an admonition for t...

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze!  I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (Luke 12.49-51)        Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   The tenor of Jesus’ teaching is often severe.        Jesus uses many different metaphors to describe the fate which awaits him in Jerusalem.   He refers to it as an exodus (Lk. 9.31), a baptism (Lk. 12.50; cf. Mk. 10.38-39), casting fire on the earth (Lk. 12.49) and “finishing his work” (Lk. 13.32).   Again, Jesus’ fate is tied up with that of the nation; indeed, his demise ...