And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven

 

 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. 

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has  killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

 

- Luke 11:53-12:12 

 

Yesterday we read that a certain Pharisee asked Jesus to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

 

  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  By now, as Jesus has already set His face to go to Jerusalem, the Pharisees are now His enemy -- lying in wait and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has  killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."   My study Bible says that whom you should fear refers to God (Proverbs 9:10).  It comments that the body will die eventually, one way or another, noting that St. Ambrose even states that the death of the body is not itself a punishment.  Rather it marks the end of earthly punishments.  The soul continues for all eternity; since God is the judge of the soul, our efforts in this world are to please God alone.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."  My study Bible notes that to say a word against the Son of Man is to reject Jesus as the Messiah.  Jesus seemed to be a mere man to many people before their conversion.   The scandal caused by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 1:23) makes this sin more easily forgiven.  The Holy Spirit, by contrast, is without bodily form and invisibly works divine goodness.  My study Bible further cites St. John Chrysostom -- as well as many other patristic teachers -- who say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  It points out that Jesus never calls the sin itself "unforgivable."  Jesus makes this declaration, in fact, knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and are beyond repentance by their own choice.  

So then, what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?  How can we perceive of the works accomplished in the Holy Spirit in this world?  Perhaps this is a clue why, over and over again, Jesus teaches us to take heed how we hear (Luke 8:18), and how we see, to cultivate spiritual discernment.  In Matthew 13, Jesus begins to preach in parables to the crowds.  When He is asked why by His disciples, He replies, "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them" (Matthew 13:13-15; quoting from Isaiah 6:10).  But so many people seem to have hearts that have dulled, spiritual eyes and ears that don't work and don't perceive.  Why this neglect, and why this blindness?  It seems that Jesus gives us this great hint as to a cause when He criticizes and warns His disciples about the Pharisees; but it's a warning not focused on the Pharisees themselves per se, rather it is about their way of life:  "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."   This ties in to yesterday's reading, and His criticism of the ways of the Pharisees and scribes (lawyers) that illuminate the ways of hypocrisy, and the blindness it causes.  Those who live by appearance and neglect the inner life become blind to it, blind to who they are and what they're doing, projecting the same onto others, failing to perceive and act upon the things of God, or turning in repentance to find the way to them.  But yet, nothing is hidden from God.  Jesus adds, "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has  killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  To be a hypocrite, to live through appearances in the eyes of others, is to be enslaved to "the praise of men rather than the praise of God" (John 12:43).  It is to live in fear of the wrong things, and to stray from God, the only One whose power one should truly fear.  But we are beloved of God, who only wants us back.  But we have a limited time in this life for such repentance and return, and in today's reading Jesus also warns us about judgment:  "Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God."  It's in this context that He warns about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit -- a teaching that emphasizes our capacity for spiritual understanding, our need to exercise our faculties of perception of what is spiritually good.   Emphasizing this important role and honoring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus also speaks of persecutions to come, explaining that the Holy Spirit is the One who provides testimony:  "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."   In a world that often lately seems to have forgotten all about these important spiritual realities, or desires to dismiss them, it is perhaps just as important today as it was in Christ's time to pay attention to these words, to cultivate our own capacity for spiritual insight and perception, to pray and gain this powerful reliance upon the Holy Spirit -- for it is there where our salvation lies.  It is there where we find the hope of the world, and the power of the judgment to come.  

 

 

And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do

 

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.   

 

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

 

- Luke 11:53-12:12 

 

Yesterday we read that a certain Pharisee asked Jesus to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."   Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

 

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  This is the first time we are given an indication in the Gospel that the scribes and Pharisees begin to seek ways to catch Jesus in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him.  It's a clear indication of hostility and danger present.

 

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  My study bible comments that whom you should fear refers to God (Proverbs 9:10).  Let us note that -- as commented in the paragraph above -- this is the first time in the Gospels we are distinctly told there is danger present to Jesus, in that the religious leaders now seek to find something for which they might bring an accusation against Him.  Therefore "whom you should fear" becomes a directive to His followers about where our real fear should be placed.  My study bible comments that the body will die eventually, one way or another.  It says that St. Ambrose even states that the death of the body is not itself a punishment, but rather it marks the end of earthly punishments.  The soul continues for all eternity.  Since God is the judge of the soul, our efforts even in this world are to please God alone.  Let us know also the tremendous assurance of God's love that Jesus gives here, that the very hairs of your head are all numbered."  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."   The five sparrows referred to by Christ indicate the sacrifice afforded to a poor person, and that not one of these least of all creatures which may be set apart for God is forgotten.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."   To say a word against the Son of Man is explained by my study bible as meaning to reject Jesus as the Messiah.  To many, He seemed to be a mere man, before their conversion.  It says that the scandal caused by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 1:23) makes this sin more easily forgiven.  On the other hand, the Holy Spirit, which is without bodily form, invisibly works divine goodness.  According to St. John Chrysostom and many other patristic figures, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus does not call this sin "unforgivable."  Rather, He makes this comment knowing that those who are blaspheming the Spirit are calling what is pure, divine goodness "evil," and that they are beyond repentance by their own choice.  

The image of the little sparrows sold for two copper coins is quite poignant for us.  Two copper coins is also the amount put into the treasury of the temple in the image spoken of by Jesus in the story of the poor widow (Mark 12:41-44).  Jesus magnifies what might seem small and broken to us into magnificent images of human dignity infused with God's power through faith.  We might consider the the power of five little sparrows given into the hands of God.  While we do not practice sacrifice as it was practiced in the temple, we nonetheless continue to understand the power of a life lived within the infusion of faith and God's power to give holiness, to sanctify.  What are the value of two copper coins, of five sparrows when given into the hands of God.  As illustrated in the story of the widow who put all she had in the treasury, God knows the extreme value of her gift.  When Jesus assures us both of the regard God has for the sparrows, and that even the very hairs of our head are numbered, He is speaking of the great value God places for each of us to be in communion with God.  If even those sparrows offered to God are precious, how much more precious are our lives in God's sight when we are willing to devote ourselves to God?  When we will to set ourselves apart -- even in a Christian sense of sacrament -- as devotion to God, then of what tremendous value can that gift be made through the power of God?  Today I heard of two young chaplains who died serving troops at the battlefront in a small Christian country defending itself against much bigger and more malicious aggressive foes.  Their lives were devoted to God, and they died in that service to God and to the world, their fellow human beings and brothers.  My study bible reminds us that each of us will die.  What does it mean that these young men passed while giving life and serving God for others, bringing the blessings of faith in battle?  How can we possibly estimate what our lives of service will do, or compare other ways to pass from this world?  Let us give careful thought what it means to serve and fear only God, for there is a place that each one of us must go to determine the great value of God placed upon our lives and what we choose -- for we are worth so much more than many sparrows.

 

 

 

Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered

 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

- Luke 11:53-12:12

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  Those you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  Jesus has just warned the scribes, Pharisees, and lawyers about their hypocrisy, and how it masks a lack of mercy and justice.  This is their response to His words -- to seek a way to trap Him in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him. 

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."  The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy.  The Gospel tells this plainly and clearly and directly, in the words of Jesus we're given.  Why does hypocrisy itself work against our better natures, our better interests?  Because it is a focus on externals, and allows us to be blind to what we really do, our interior and hidden motivations, desires, greed, and forms of selfishness.  Jesus warns that there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Hypocrisy is useless, powerless to give us true understanding or even good character, an inner worth.  Everything is eventually revealed.  This is a flat and powerful statement of truth, a promise from Christ.  It is a warning to all of us.  To live for the opinions of others, to be seen by others, is a trap.

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  My study bible tells us that whom you should fear refers to God (Proverbs 9:10).  One way or another, our bodies will die eventually.  According to St. Ambrose, my study bible notes, states that death of the body is not itself a punishment, but it does mark the end of earthly punishments.  The soul is eternal.  As God is the judge of our soul, our efforts while in this world must be to please God alone.  And clearly Jesus here teaches us the acute awareness, the intimate involvement, in each tiny detail of our lives by God -- so much so, that God's awareness of us is far more acute than we have of ourselves.  Not even one sparrow is forgotten before God; the very hairs of one's head are numbered!  Moreover, within this awareness, to God we are absolutely precious.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."  My study bible explains that to say a word against the Son of Man is to reject Jesus as the Messiah.  Jesus seemed to be a mere man to many people before their conversion, it notes.  The scandal which was caused by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 1:23) makes this sin more easily forgiven.  The Holy Spirit, by contrast, is without bodily form and invisibly works divine goodness.  My study bible here cites St. John Chrysostom, as well as many other Church Fathers, who say that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus doesn't call the sin itself "unforgivable."  He makes this declaration knowing that those who blaspheme the work fo the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness "evil," and that they are beyond repentance by their own choice.

Jesus is drawing for His followers at this point clear lines into which things will fall.  He has made such a statement, albeit without the understanding of His words in today's reading, when He told them, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters" (see Monday's reading).  But when the scribes, lawyers, and Pharisees respond to Him by searching for a way to catch Him in His words in order to make an accusation, the split between the religious establishment and Christ is clear.  Moreover, the religious establishment is backed by the Roman governors (at least at this point), the fearsome state power of Empire that really hasn't ever been equaled in the world since.  When the religious leadership seeks to make an accusation against Jesus, we are aware of the penalties this may carry with it, which will extend to Jesus' followers.  In this context, one hidden gem in Jesus' words today is the absolute faith that He places in His followers.  He doesn't promise them a bed of roses in this world.  Rather, He tells us all, "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do."  He calls us to fearless witness, to follow Him.  Our fear should be directed to the One whom we always keep in mind in our lives and through all of our choices, God.  This fear is the kind of awe and respect due to our true Father in heaven.  For God in heaven is the One with the absolute power of life and death over our souls, where our true consciousness and life is centered.  Our conscious awareness of the things that guide our lives must be upon the work of God in the world, particularly in the Person of God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus gives us a picture of our worldly lives in which God is active and intertwined, participating with us always.  He even teaches us of God's acute awareness about every part of ourselves, even to the number of the hairs on our heads.  Even the littlest sparrow's fate is something upon which God's awareness is focused.  These are promises that Jesus gives us, and those in state or worldly power -- even religious authorities -- cannot claim the same awareness, power, nor hold upon even our souls.  Whatever it is that takes place in this world, it cannot be of the size and significance in our lives, our souls, our very awareness, of the presence of God to us.  Furthermore, the warnings against hypocrisy simply emphasize this point, that we must take heed where we place all our faith, and particularly who or what we fear most.  This is because hypocrisy places the greatest awareness on the opinions of other people, whom we seek to please with outward works, while we neglect the place where God touches us and communes with us:  the inner life of the soul and what it means to be fully a person.  When we neglect this life where faith is, where our decisions really are, we neglect to place appropriate matters in the hands of God.  We fail to give attention where attention must be paid.  We lose the true meaning and knowledge of who we are, which is only truly found in our communion with God.  That's where life itself is.  Christ teaches us to be wholly reliant upon God, even for the times we respond to grave charges against us.  Let us consider the ways in which the life of God, active and working within us and in our world, intersects with our awareness of who we are and who we have to please in life.  How does that affect your choices and your decisions?  Does it open up places where you need to consider what you choose, what you believe, how you will respond to life in this world?  Think about the courage it invites you to take up in life, which bandwagon it invites you to jump off of.  Our lives are in the hands of God; there is none more powerful nor meaningful, and no one else who can give us life that is eternal, or take it away.

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.   And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." 

So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lam, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

- Luke 15:1-10

In yesterday's reading, we were told that great multitudes went with Jesus. And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.   And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."    My study bible tells us that "mealtime fellowship with tax collectors and sinners was considered to be defiling for pious Jews."   So, it's not a situation where Jesus is simply having something to do with these people and paying them attention as followers, but rather a defiling act, a sort of contamination.

So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  My study bible says, "Joy in heaven for the repentance of each sinner is the main theme of this chapter.  Jesus connects repentance with joy, not sadness."   Jesus teaches, "I am the good shepherd" in John's Gospel.   But Luke here gives us a particular angle on repentance, on the return of even one lost sheep out of one hundred.  It is the illustration of what has been lost and now is found.  Somehow the finding of the one that was lost creates a kind of preciousness made by love. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lam, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  The great joy in heaven that Jesus speaks us tells us something not only about the gift of human faith and its connection to God, but also the power in one act of repentance.  If even the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents, then we must understand how carefully we each are thought of, how deeply we are truly loved.

Jesus makes palpable in today's reading, the great longing and love of God for those who stray or are far away.  The impact of these parables isn't about someone who has always been gone, but rather one that for certain came from a "home," a particular place of belonging, and has strayed, or has been lost.  It is  a kind of longing that makes particularly joyous the return of this thing, this person, who has been gone, who has strayed or been lost.  It's a love made potent or powerful through the retrieval of what was thought to have been lost.  If we think about it, it tells us a great deal about God, about heaven.  Does God feel such a longing for each of us?  Do the angels feel the loss of one human being, so that a triumphant shout of joy is the result of one who returns?  This is a powerful understanding of God's love, and of what it really means to return or to repent, to come back to find God's way, the ways the angels would have us return to their places, to union of assembly with them.  So it is with the sinners who sit at table with Jesus, and His great love for them.  It doesn't matter where they've been; what matters a great deal more is the joy in heaven over their return, to have them back together at the assembly where we are among the communion of saints, where we worship together with the angels.  I don't think there could be more effective parables illustrating the longing and love of God, the true worth of one single human being, the great joy in heaven over each one of us just because we return.  When you come to God, consider Jesus' parables, how much we are loved, and what it means to return even a single human being to this love.  Perhaps then we will understand "right-relatedness" with a true depth befitting God's mission to us in the form of His Son whom God sent to reclaim, reconnect, and heal, so that the joy in heaven may be truly boundless.