[DAN:
Jesus begins his ministry by saying...]
“The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because God has anointed me
to
proclaim good news to the poor.
God has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind,
to
set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor.”
[DAN:
Some have noted that “the year of the Lord's favor” is a
reference to the Jewish tradition of Jubilee and the Sabbath laws...
rules designed to return land to the poor and to ensure that the poor
and marginalized had real options to recover.
Soon after
Jesus begins his ministry, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law
begin responding to Jesus' ministry...]
The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to
their sect complained to his disciples,
“Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?”
Jesus answered them,
“It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.”
Jesus and disciples were
“harvesting” wheat from farmers' fields on the Sabbath...
The
Pharisees asked,
“Why are you doing what is
unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Jesus answered them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God,
and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for
priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.
The
Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
On another
Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was
there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the
teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus,
so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.
But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the
shriveled hand...
“Get up and
stand in front of everyone.”
So he got up and
stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I
ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to
save life or to destroy it?”
He looked around at
them all, and then said to the man,
“Stretch
out your hand.”
He did so, and his hand was
completely restored.
But the Pharisees went out and
plotted how they might kill Jesus.
Looking at his
disciples, he said:
“Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours
is the kingdom of God.
Blessed
are you who hunger now, for you
will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will
laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you
and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of
Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is
your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the
prophets.
“But woe to you
who are rich, for you have
already received your comfort.
Woe
to you who are well fed now, for
you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn
and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that
is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
“But
to you who are listening I say:
Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who
mistreat you.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the
other also.
If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your
shirt from them.
Give to everyone who asks you, and
if anyone
takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Do to others as
you would have them do to you.”
[DAN: John
the Baptist was curious if Jesus was “the One...”]
At
that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil
spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to
John's messengers,
“Go
back and report to John what you have seen and heard:
The blind
receive sight,
the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are
cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and
the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Blessed
is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
[DAN:
Jesus is speaking about the “proof” of his ministry and he talks
about some miraculous events... but his BIG wrap up is, “the good
news is proclaimed to the poor!”
Jesus, speaking of
the Pharisees...]
“To
what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are
they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and
calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’
“For
John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you
say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking,
and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her
children.”
“Whoever wants to
be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and
follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but
whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for
someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very
self?”
“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son
of Man has no place to lay his head.”
[DAN: Jesus,
speaking of the Pharisees...]
“And
you experts in the law, woe to you,
because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and
you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
“Woe
to you, because you build tombs for
the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you
testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the
prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his
wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom
they will kill and others they will persecute.’
Therefore
this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the
prophets that has been shed since
the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of
Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I
tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
“Woe
to you experts in the law, because
you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not
entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
When
Jesus went outside,
the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law began to oppose him fiercely
and to besiege
him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.
[DAN:
A rich man is planning on what to do with his great wealth...]
“Then
he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and
build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll
say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years.
Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said
to him,
‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded
from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for
yourself?’
“This is
how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is
not rich toward God.”
Then
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about
your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the
body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap,
they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more
valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do
you worry about the rest?
“Consider how the wild flowers
grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in
all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God
clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of
little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or
drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such
things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his
kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
“Do
not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give
you the kingdom. Sell
your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in
heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth
destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
“When
you give a luncheon or dinner, do
not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or
your rich neighbors;
if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But
when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be
repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
“No
one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the
other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You
cannot serve both God and money.”
A
certain ruler asked Jesus,
“Good teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?”
“Why
do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone. You know the
commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder,
you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your
father and mother.’”
“All
these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When
Jesus heard this, he said to him,
“You
still lack one thing.
Sell
everything you have and give to the poor,
and
you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When
he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus
looked at him and said,
“How
hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
Indeed, it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for
someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Again
his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to
them,
“I
have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do
you stone me?”
“We are not stoning you for
any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a
mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus answered them,
“Is
it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’?
If
he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and
Scripture cannot be set aside -
what about the one whom the
Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do
you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
Do not believe me unless I
do the works of my Father.
[DAN
speaking: What WERE the works that Jesus was citing?
Preaching
the good news of the realm of God specifically to the poor and
marginalized...
and calling out the oppression of the rich and
powerful and the religious rulers]
But
if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works,
that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in
the Father.”
[DAN:
The parable of the sheep and the goats...]
“When
the Holy One comes in glory, and all the angels with him, they will
sit on their glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before
them, and they will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. They will put the sheep
on the right and the goats on the left.
“Then
the Ruler will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by God; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to
drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed
clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the
righteous will answer, ‘Holy One, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see
you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The
Ruler will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me.’
“Then the Ruler will say to those on the left,
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me
nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was
a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did
not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after
me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in
prison, and did not help you?’
“The Ruler will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of
these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to
eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
[DAN
speaking: Nearing the end, now...
In the context of ALL that
/\ consistent teaching,
the warnings against wealth and power,
the
teachings to align with the poor, marginalized and “least of
these,”
the constant
harsh rebukes and mocking of the religious leaders, the rich and
powerful...
in THAT context and immediately after this parable
about the sheep and the goats...
The Pharisees met...]
When
Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his
disciples,
“As
you know, the Passover is two days away –
and the Son of Man
will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then
the chief priests and the elders of the people
assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
and
they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.
“But not during the festival,” they said, “or
there may be a riot among the people.”
