is be a good samaritan (Luke 9-10)

I am not sure how I feel about having several gospels.  Sometimes it helps to reread a story and think about it again.  On the other hand, they can not only confuse the issue with separate stories and contradictions that muddy the infallibility of the gospels, but when I am reading the third gospel and the third retelling of the same story, my mind sometimes drifts and I need to pay attention or lose sight of the new stories that pop up.  

In Luke, Mary Magdalene who shows up in Matthew and Mark only when the empty tomb is discovered, is introduced much earlier when a list of several women who followed Jesus are mentioned.  Mary had been cured of seven demons.

The death of John the Baptist is mentioned only in passing.  Herod is wondering about the authority of Jesus and says that he had John’s head cut off and now he has to worry about Jesus.

As in the other gospels Jesus sends out the 12 disciples (although Luke has him also send out 72 more).  Jesus  speaks with Moses and Elijah.  He continues with the parables.  Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah.  Jesus speaks of his suffering and death and his resurrection.  He claims that there will be some people who will not die before they have seen the Kingdom of God.

We also have a story about a Samaritan town that rejects Jesus.  This is followed by what will happen to the unbelieving towns (less mercy than shown to Sodom) and that is followed by the story of the Good Samaritan. And I find this story very interesting.   Most of us know the story about the Samaritan who helped the man who had been beaten and robbed while other people had ignored the victim.  

But I had forgotten or never knew how the story was introduced.  A teacher of the law asked Jesus how to gain eternal life.   When Jesus asked him what the scriptures said, the teacher replied love god and love your neighbour.  Jesus said that was correct.  But the teacher then asks “Who is my neighbour?”  And Jesus replies with the parable of the Good Samaritan and concludes that helping everybody – even those who aren’t necessarily your friends – will gain you eternal life.

And here is where there seems to be two threads going on with Jesus and his later followers.  One is how to behave.  The good deeds and proper behaviour towards others are very important.  Now maybe I am missing something but Jesus doesn’t always add the caveat that you have to believe in him as well.  When the unbelieving towns are talked about what exactly are they rejecting.  Are they rejecting Jesus as Messiah or are they rejecting his call for peace and goodwill to others.  I know that somewhere there is a statement about good deeds vs faith but I really haven’t heard that from Jesus.  He tells people to follow him and the way to follow him is to be kind, forgiving, etc.  Because he is actually there, what faith is required?  

So how does that help us today?  No clue.  But it seems to me that if you follow the teachings of Jesus whether you believe in him or not, you are doing just fine.      

is figure out death (Luke 4-8)

I am somewhat bothered by the differences between the three gospels:  different birth story or none at all, different genealogy, different empty tomb story.  I am also somewhat bothered by the miracles whether they involve healing the sick, blind and possessed; raising the dead; walking on water and calming a storm; or feeding thousands with nothing.    I am not sure if they are imaginative recollections on the part of the writer or very clever symbolism.  I am leaning to the latter. While these problems make it difficult for some to believe the historical accuracy of the text, it also makes it easy to lose sight of whatever might be of value.  

For example, in Luke, there is no sermon on the mount.  Jesus was praying on a hill and he came down to the plain and preached there.  Does it matter where he preached?  Of course not.  And certainly both stories could be true because Jesus very easily could have preached that same sermon several times in various locales.  What he has to say is important.  Love your enemies.  Judge not lest you be judged.  Build your life (not just your house) on a solid foundation.  Forgive others.  Jesus gets into a whole lot of trouble because he tells people that their sins are forgiven but if the message is that we should learn to forgive then it is a good one.

Then Luke follows the narrative of Matthew and Mark.  Jesus gathers his disciples, he preaches, he gets rejected by the people in Nazareth, he heals many people and he answers questions about fasting, the Sabbath and forgiveness.  

Luke also  includes stories that are not in the other gospels. In one, a Pharisee questions Jesus for allowing a sinful woman to wash and kiss his feet.  Jesus points out that those who have sinned the most are the ones in the most need of forgiveness.   In another story, Jesus meets a funeral procession and he takes pity on the woman who is widowed and now burying her only son.  Jesus tells the son to get out of the coffin which he does.  A few pages later, and also found in the first two gospels, Jesus tells the people that a girl who was presumed dead is actually sleeping.  

I am not sure where the Lazarus story occurs, but that will make at least three stories where someone other than Jesus is raised from the dead.  I am not sure what is going on here.  I sort of understand the appeal of Jesus being able to rise from the dead and give us hope that there is some sort of afterlife for us.  But what is the purpose of Jesus bringing a couple of people back to life just so they can die again in a few years.  Of course they will have the opportunity of a second chance, but if that is the case why just those three people.  Or is Jesus just demonstrating his power to gain authority?  Or is Jesus pointing out with a couple of examples that we can and will rise again?  Or are the gospel writers just using symbolic events to emphasis this idea of an afterlife?  

I have no idea what happens to us when we die.  My best guess is that nothing happens.  But growing up, in my couple of years of Sunday school, I learned of a Heaven where our souls ended up.   While I don’t believe it, I can see the appeal in that.  But it wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I realized that the Bible refers to a resurrected body.  I cannot see the appeal or the need of that.  So, I am leaning to some clever symbolic nature of these stories of bodies being brought back to life rather than factual events. 

is begin Luke (Luke 1- 4)

Luke begins his gospel with a short letter to someone called Theophilus in which he explains that there have been many stories told about Jesus, that he has studied them and that he will write an account of them so that Theophilus can know the certainty of the stories.

Luke first gives a more detailed story of John the Baptist.   Elizabeth and Zechariah were quite old and had no children.  The angel, Gabriel, tells Zechariah that he will be the father of a great man who will bring sinners to the Lord.  Zechariah doesn’t believe Gabriel so he is struck speechless.  Shortly after this, Elizabeth becomes pregnant. 

Six months later an angel informs Mary, Elizabeth’s cousin, that she will give birth to Jesus and that she will conceive through the Holy Spirit so that her son will be called the Son of God.  Mary goes to be with Elizabeth, and John, still in the womb, recognizes the Holy Spirit within Mary.  When Elizabeth gives birth and Zechariah names the baby, he regains his speech and he tells the people that John will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

And then we get another Christmas story of the birth of Jesus.  Luke who has told Theophilus that he wants to give him an accurate account of the stories has nothing of a star or wise men or Herod or babies being killed or an escape into Egypt that we found in Matthew.    But the story is familiar just the same.  Joseph and Mary have to go to Bethlehem for a census.  There is no room at the inn so Jesus is born in a stable and placed in a manger.  Angels tell the shepherds in the field about the birth of Jesus and the shepherds head to Bethlehem to see for themselves.

Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke includes a couple of events from the childhood of Jesus.  First, Jesus is taken to the temple on the eighth day (circumcision) and a priest named Simeon tells Mary and Joseph that Jesus will bring salvation to the world.  Mary and Joseph are amazed at what Simeon tells them.  When Jesus is 12, he preaches in the temple and not only are the people amazed at this young boy’s teaching but so are Joseph and Mary.  In both cases, I am not sure why they are amazed considering both of them were well aware of the conception and birth of Jesus.

Like Matthew and Mark, Luke tells of John preaching in the desert.   But Luke also adds advice from John that is not in the first two gospels.  When asked how to be ready, John advises that those with two shirts give one away and those with food share.  He tells tax collectors to take only what is legal and he tells soldiers neither to take anything by force nor to make false accusations.   All good advice.

Luke gives a very different genealogy from the one written by Matthew and then Jesus is baptized and goes into the desert where he is tempted by Satan.  Like Matthew, Luke includes the line about not living by bread alone, that there needs to be a spiritual side to our lives.  Or, at least, our lives need more than just the material. 

is complete Mark (Mark 15-16)

In the final scenes of Mark we other interesting differences.   

At his trial, Jesus, for the most part remains silent, but when he is asked if he is the Messiah he says he is.  In Matthew he said “So you say I am.”  That is a huge difference.  He is found guilty and taken to Pilate for punishment.  (And, by the way, there is no mention of Judas feeling guilty for his betrayal as we find in Matthew.)

But similar to Matthew, Pilate (with no mention of the wife) questions Jesus and then asks the crowd if they want Jesus or Barabbas.  They call for Barabbas so he orders Jesus to be crucified, but unlike Matthew there is no symbolic washing of Pilate’s hands nor the blame for the death of Jesus being placed on future generation of Jews.  On the cross, Jesus asks why God has abandoned him.   He then dies.

Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body and places it in his tomb and blocks the entrance with a large rock.  Two days later Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (and I still don’t know which Mary) arrive but instead of an earthquake and an angel rolling back the rock as depicted in Matthew, the rock has already been rolled back.  They enter the tomb where a young man in a white robe tells them that Jesus has risen from the dead.  He tells them to go and tell the disciples.  That’s similar to the Matthew story but Mark has them so afraid that they leave and tell no one. 

Jesus then meets Mary Magdalene and asks her to tell the disciples that he will meet with them in Galilee.  When she tells them, they don’t believe her.  Next Jesus meets two of the disciples and when they tell the others, they aren’t believed either.  Finally, Jesus meets the whole group and tells them (after scolding them on their lack of faith) to spread his message.  Jesus is then taken into Heaven.  (Many of those details are not the same in Matthew.  For example Matthew does not mention Jesus going to Heaven.)

I know I am not doing Mark justice but there isn’t nearly as much in Mark.  It is just a shorter version of the Matthew story.  It is hard to read these gospel stories in isolation but my guess is that Mark by itself would not be as powerful a story.  If Mark were the only gospel, I am not sure how much the message of Jesus would have spread and survived.  In fact because of the inconsistencies between Mark and Matthew, I wonder if having both of them is more problematic than helpful.