The Gospel for SATURDAY, May 7, 2005
Luke 9:37-50
Now it happened that on the following day when they were coming down from the mountain a large crowd came to meet him. And suddenly a man in the crowd cried out. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I implore you to look at my son: he is my only child. A spirit will suddenly take hold of him, and all at once it gives a sudden cry and throws the boy into convulsions with foaming at the mouth; it is slow to leave him, but when it does, it leaves the boy worn out. I begged your disciples to drive it out, and they could not.’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Faithless and perverse generation! How much longer must I be among you and put up with you? Bring your son here.’ Even while the boy was coming, the devil threw him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and cured the boy and gave him back to his father, and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God. ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men.’ But they did not understand what he said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. An argument started between them about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child whom he set by his side and then he said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. The least among you all is the one who is the greatest.’ John spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘we saw someone driving out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
The Muddled Mind
"... they did not understand what he said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about it."
Our Education for Ministry class has been stumbling through Paul's letter to the Romans, and we have encountered similar "hiding from " us in the contorted language Paul uses to point out how the Law enabled Paul to see that he had sinned, whereas if there had been no Law, there would have been sin but he would (one supposes) have been ignorant of it. Does that clear it up enough?
A Reflection
I hope that if I continue to pursue Romans, it will eventually begin to surrender some intellectual or spiritual value; as Jim Wallis, editor of the evangelical social justice magazine Sojourners, writes, "Hope is believing in spite of the evidence, then watching the evidence change."
And that may be the message of this difficult set of verses in today's lectionary, all tortured around the confused minds of Jesus' followers who had been blinded to His meaning. Even John, whom many think was "the beloved disciple," clearly is depicted as not "getting it," here; this recalls the argument that he and his brother are reported as having had, as to who of them was the greatest.
This is also reminiscent of Isaiah's report (6:9-10) of God's instructions to him:
‘Go, and say to this people, “Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive!” Make this people’s heart coarse, make their ears dull, shut their eyes tight, or they will use their eyes to see, use their ears to hear, use their heart to understand, and change their ways and be healed.’
For those of us who have difficulty deciphering some of Paul's writings (or his friend Luke's), we can take comfort in Isaiah's revelation that there may be a divine intention in the obfuscation!
It may well be that the "aha! moment" from this lectionary selection will come the next time I study it, or the twentieth-next time I encounter it -- or perhaps, never, in this life. But the study of it is profitable, pondering YHWH's decision to hide meaning from us; is that accurate, and if so, why? Or is it a "religious" rendering by an anonymous patriarch intended to help us by making us believe that some things are intended to be unclear?
But absolutely clear is His message that welcoming Him welcomes the Father and the Father's love and blessing.
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A Collect
Father, whatever strength we possess comes only from the humility Jesus showed us; help us always to remember that power is yours alone and that the Truth of Jesus is the path to your mercy. Amen
5:45:26 PM 
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