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And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."
- Luke 11:27-36
In yesterday's reading, Jesus cast out a mute demon; all marveled when the mute spoke. But some 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 also is 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. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Again, we get a statement about family relations here. Luke gives us other kinds of presentation of family relationships, and the surpassing status or value to the relations of the Kingdom (of course, whole families, in the Gospels, are also faithful together). We've recently been given the story of two sisters, Martha and Mary, and the kind of "tug of war" between household sisterly duties and Mary's sitting listening to Christ's word at His feet. Jesus has told two would-be disciples, "Let the dead bury the dead," and "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." And in chapter 8, Jesus has said, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the will of God and do it." If we look at His statement today, there's an inference about loyalty and love; in the fidelity of a nurturing mother, we can read the fidelity of the believer He described, one who hears the word of God and keeps it. My study bible emphasizes the theme of blessing: "God's blessing falls not upon those who have prominent family connections, but upon those who hear the word of God and keep it. Jesus is stating a principle, not denigrating His mother: she both heard God's word and kept it, and thus became the most blessed of women."
And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here." My study bible says, "The sign of Jonah is the preaching of Jonah under which the Ninevites repented. [See Jonah 3.] By contrast, this evil generation did not repent under Jesus' preaching, which is far greater than Jonah." It adds that in Matthew, the sign of Jonah is also Jonah's three day sojourn in the belly of the great fish, a picture of Christ's death and Resurrection. The Queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba who came to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. We're again in the territory here of what has true value, what is of surpassing value to all else, and we are asked to discern that value and make choices.
"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." My study bible notes, "Spiritual sight is compared to physical sight: if the eyes of both body and soul are healthy, a person is full of light." We go back to the earlier verses in today's reading, and see the emphasis on discerning what is truly good, what gives things value, what wisdom there is, recognizing something precious and that gives value to our lives and relationships, vivifies our choices. Illumination is always an important theme linked to Christ as the true light.
The theme for today is wisdom, preaching, warning. What is the true light? What is it which gives us and our lives light? How do we make choices that invest our lives with meaning and with wisdom? Jesus' emphasis here extends from what is truly blessed, what gives us blessings. As such, we can see in Jesus' light that which illumines the whole body, gives something to our whole lives, and helps us not to walk in darkness. I believe the emphasis here is on what we value, and how we choose what we are going to love in our lives. There is also a tie to the theme of repentance or personal change -- the word for repentance means "change of mind" in the Greek. We have the analogy to the people of Nineveh in their response to Jonah the prophet. In some sense, Christ asks us to transcend our worldly ties through the light of this illumination, just as the Queen of the South came to hear Solomon and find for herself, through hard questions, just how great was Solomon's wisdom. So we are asked to be discerning enough to find what is a true blessing in life, what truly gives our lives light, what truly determines how we are related to one another and to the world. To seek this light is to add value to our lives, blessings, and light; it vivifies everything, and it helps us to transcend our own limitations of sight. Elsewhere Jesus speaks of the plank in our own eye that keeps us from seeing clearly; it is this light that is meant to help us to see and to remove that plank. So how do you value this light? How do you allow it to shine within you so that the whole body is full of light, as on a lampstand?
