You do not know what manner of spirit you are of

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village. 

 

 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus, James, John, and Peter had come down from the mount of the Transfiguration on the following day, a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  As we have observed of others in the Gospels (such as, for example, the sisters Martha and Mary), these two brothers, James and John, are here true to type.  We recall that Jesus has named them Boanerges, meaning "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17).  In our previous reading (see above), it was the brother John who said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  (Take notice of the plural "we" in that statement).  Jesus replied, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  Here, it is these brothers who ask if the disciples should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans who did not receive Christ into their village (for His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem).  Here Christ's reply to these brothers similarly tempers their "fiery" responses, and puts them in mind of what manner of spirit they are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

 

  Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on the phrase I will follow You.  It notes here that there is a cost to discipleship.  Here, it says, Jesus reveals three of them.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  That is, if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, then neither will the disciple.  Secondly, there is nothing -- not even the honor due to parents -- which can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.  

 

 We often minimize the demands of discipleship in our modern context.  We live in a world which, for the most part in the developed or developing countries, glorifies consumerism to a certain extent.  Or, barring overt glamorizing of money and all that it can do for us, popular culture and modern life of great advancements in technology and all manner of consumer goods becomes a template for the way in which we live our lives, and the ways we think about how life works.  All manner of things become some kind of object of consumption, even to the point of choosing what our religion teaches and how we follow it.  In other words, "sacrifice" as a concept becomes minimized and even to some extent a scandal.  On a certain level, this even becomes unconscious, for it is the stuff of the societies we live in and the modern telecommunications we consume and use.  Do we want a Christianity that enables us to pursue the great dreams of success taught by the modern world?  We can find a variety or flavor that offers this.  Would we like a Christianity that teaches us that we needn't learn any discipline on our appetites and passions?  We can find that too.  Do we want a Christianity that corrects no one, and says "no" to nothing?  It's easy to call ourselves tolerant while we refuse to notice how much these attitudes allow or even enable harm to others.  On the other hand, the modern world in popular culture is often reacting to overly harsh attitudes of the past as well.  In today's reading, we get a balance between both of these extremes.  On the one hand, Jesus corrects James and John Zebedee, who wonder if they should bring down fire upon the Samaritan villagers who refuse to receive Christ, for Christ has now set his face to go toward Jerusalem and the Cross.  We recall that when Jesus sent the apostles out on their first mission, He taught them to "shake the very dust" from their feet in rebuke against those places where they are not received (Luke 9:5).  Here the Zebedee brothers seem to be consumed with the idea that a worldly kingdom is about to be established by Jesus, complete with the power of holy fire such as shown by the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 18:20-40), and we can imagine that the dispute about who among the disciples would be the greatest reflected this understanding (see yesterday's reading, above; see also Mark 10:35-45).  In today's reading, Jesus rebuffs such attitudes toward power among His disciples, saying to them, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."  Following immediately upon this lesson, we are given examples of sacrifice necessary to be a disciple, which couples with Christ's teaching on the use of power.  Even such pressing circumstances which we deem ostensibly "good," such as the burial of a parent, fall to a secondary place when called to discipleship.  Here, Jesus tells the would-be disciple, "Let the dead bury their own dead," implying that those whom he has left behind are not interested in the kingdom of God Christ asks him to go preach instead.  Another reflects the same sentiments of home and family:  "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." But Jesus replies, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   In a modern context, midst a breakdown of the family, we are often told that family values are the emphasis of Christianity.  But this can also obscure the fact of discipleship and the sacrifices it requires, even its priorities as explained here by Christ.  Sacrifice entails not only dispelling our conventional social ideas about power (which includes the power of consumption) but also social obligation and the priority given to a call from Christ.  To carry one's cross, to be crucified with Christ in this sense, is to learn to discern where we're called away from the things we might think are "good" to the higher good of service, discipleship, and sacrifice that God asks of us.  Each one's cross will be different, just as each social construct belongs to its own period of time and place in terms of how we're asked to change our thinking, and what to give up at times even what we think of as "good" and "successful" for the vision that God has for us instead.  In our time and place, we have a powerful call to consumerism, to the latest technologies, to obedience to one social realm or another, even to cancel culture.  Let us temper all of our impulses with prayer and the call from Christ, as best as we can discern.  Let us embrace the sacrifice that leads us to our own higher good that we can't know nor realize without it.  For Christ calls us beyond where we are and what we know, into the places we don't know, in order to grow as His disciples.  For all these things are teaching us "what manner of spirit" we must be of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village. 

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain of the Transfiguration, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.   Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great.   Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.   In Saturday's reading and commentary, we noted that a subtle turning point has come in the progression of Christ's ministry.  Now the emphasis on faith grows even stronger; the disciples will have to be strengthened in their faith to bear the experiences that will be coming to them, and to carry out the mission they have of establishing the Church after Christ's Resurrection, and Pentecost.  Jesus has now warned them two times of what is to come at Jerusalem, telling them of His betrayal and persecution, but they have not understood Him.  Perhaps anticipating the advent of a material kingdom, they disputed among themselves who would be greatest (see Saturday's reading, above).  Here we read of a decisive moment, a signaling turning point:  the time has come for Christ to be received up, and so He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.   He is prepared now to go voluntarily to His Passion in Jerusalem, and all that it will lead to.  St. Cyril of Alexandria comments on this passage:  "The disciples are to benefit from preaching the gospel and experiencing rejection, learning how to accept this with longsuffering and gentleness and not with a vengeful spirit."   Jesus is preparing them for the mission to the world that is to come.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible remarks on the comment directed to Jesus, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  It says that there is a cost to discipleship.  Here, Jesus reveals three such costs.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  That is, if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will His disciple.  Second, there is nothing -- not even the honor that is due to parents -- which can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that is demanded by Christ.  

 

In today's reading, we are given several "costs to discipleship"  that the Gospel lays out.  First, there is the rejection of the Samaritans that the messengers (Christ's disciples) must contend with.  In the Samaritan town, Jesus is rejected.  Somehow there is an implication here of the rejection, the "lifting up" in Crucifixion and death that is to come to Jesus in Jerusalem.  This is a preparation for the times to come, both in Jerusalem, and in the disciples' greater mission to the world to come.  Then Jesus encounters others who would become disciples on the road to Jerusalem.   To one He tells truthfully, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   Once upon a time I understood this as only indicating that discipleship may entail being poor, but in the context of rejection by strangers it means so much more.  It indicates a state that is physical, psychological, spiritual -- a place of not having a home in this world in the sense of a "place to lay one's head."  Spreading the gospel message, even being a faithful Christian and living in one's home community, may mean that there is no sense of being at home where one is fully accepted, at peace.  Discipleship brings challenges; as we seek to better follow Christ it just might ask us to do the things the disciples do, including leaving friends, even family members behind if we are called by the Lord in such a way.  This may be as simple as finding that practices or behaviors we've always accepted are simply things we're called to turn away from, and we are rejected by others in so doing.  Another says, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."   Even solemn obligations may have to be put aside if it is the right time for us to do something, if we are so called by the Lord -- called to mission away from those who will have no use for our faith.  Another said to Jesus, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."    Sometimes we will need to leave things behind in such a way that we can't spend time explaining, worrying over what some will think and why.  It is hard to accept these kinds of changes in our lives, even on perhaps the most casual and personal of levels.  But nonetheless Christ will call, and we might be asked to leave pieces of our lives behind as we go forward in our mission of becoming what He asks of us.  St. Paul left behind all that He knew as a Pharisee, speaking of it powerfully in his letter to the Philippians, referring to his worldly life as the life of the flesh:  "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ"  (Philippians 3:4-7).  We can look to the whole of the New Testament as that which prepares us not with false promises of a worldly kind of success or happiness, but rather with the realities of what  it is to live a faithful life, both the sacrifices of carrying our own particular cross, and the joy that causes St. Paul to rejoice in saying that "what thing were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."  Note that St. Paul is not at all ashamed of being a Pharisee, or of the Law, or of his Hebrew identity.  This passage means quite the opposite.  These, Paul is saying, are valuable and good things; but nonetheless he counts it all as loss for Christ, for the knowledge of Christ -- and St. Paul's conforming to Christ -- surpassing all of it.  This surpassing excellence is the gain of righteousness through faith in Christ, "for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:8-11).  Discipleship, we could say from this passage and Christ's teachings in today's reading, is all about that transfiguration that leads us to things that surpass even the nominally "good" things we may know and believe, like delaying to say good-bye to those we leave behind, or obligations  which can be filled by others, even having a home, a secure place where we may lay our head.  Rejection is a part of the Christian life that we might have to face in various ways; it's not simply a part of life where Christianity is officially persecuted.  In a recent reading, Jesus taught, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."  There are all kinds of ways in which we may take up our cross daily, and lose our life for Christ's sake, or even to be shamed for following Him and His words.  But it is the surpassing excellence of His righteousness that gives us joy and meaning midst the loss, a sense of self, a onfidence that transcends everything else.

 

Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

 

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  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!"

 

- Luke 14:25-35 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them 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."  

 

  Now great multitudes went with Him.  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."  The lectionary jumps ahead from where we left off on Saturday, skipping over Luke 11:24-14:24.  We know that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, and here we're told that great multitudes went with Him.  Just as in Monday's reading of last week Jesus spoke of the rigors of discipleship, here the question has come up once again.  My study Bible comments that the command to hate one's kindred and his own life also is not to be taken literally. Instead, we are to hate the way our relationships with others can hinder our total dedication to the Kingdom of God, which takes precedence even over family ties (as can also be read in last Monday's reading).  Moreover, this is put in the context of bearing one's own cross.  Once again, we review that each person must take up one's own cross.  My study Bible says that one's particular burden in this world is different for each person, and that each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells us we must take up our particular cross daily.  The commitment to discipleship is not a one-time event.  It is a continual practice of what has been called "faithfulness."  That is faith and obedience to Christ's commands, even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.

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.  Again, Jesus makes bold claims about the cost of discipleship.  My study Bible refers us to the sense in which disciples work together with God in carrying out ministry.  Jesus gives us a metaphor, to build a tower, and thus we think of ourselves as God's fellow workers, who cooperate with God's will.  By cooperation -- or what is called synergy (from the Greek word for "fellow workers") -- with God, we do not  work together as equals or in a kind of half-and-half arrangement.  Instead God is the Lord, and we are God's servants who are called to participate obediently in God's work.  Here, Jesus implies, our lives are in the hands of God, we in our commitment to discipleship, we should count that cost and be prepared for it.

 

 "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!"  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses salt as metaphor, with a similar statement, calling His disciples the "salt of the earth" (see Matthew 5:13).   My study Bible comments that salt illustrates the role of disciples in society.  Because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor, salt had both religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone, my study Bible further explains, meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the salt of the earth, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  Here Jesus speaks of the value of salt, affirming His earlier words about the rigors and cost of discipleship.  A lack of adherence to discipleship is here compared to salt which has lost its flavor.

What sacrifices have you made for your faithfulness, for your choices to follow Christ?  Here Jesus says that discipleship will ask of us the entirety of what we have:  "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." What this seems to suggest is not that God demands of us extraordinary or inordinate sacrifices in some sense of payment or requirement, but rather that the love which God asks from us is a love that will take in all.  As we grow in discipleship, we will find a love that asks of us a whole heart, and as such, our whole lives as dedication to Christ's way ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).  In other words, the cost of discipleship is a type of love that may ask us to change the very foundation of what it is we think we know about ourselves and our goals in life.  Where once one may have cherished a family as one's greatest possession or goal in life, the foundation of faith shifts us to the perception that family life -- and all relationships -- should be based within the framework of the love of God, who teaches us what it is to be in right-relationship.  It is from God we learn righteousness.  God, who is love, teaches us what it is to love.  Where once we might have considered possessions to be our greatest values, the love of God asks us to shift that perception instead to the values we carry with us, within us, and practice among us, in following Christ's commands and learning from Him ("Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" - Matthew 11:29-30).  Where once we pursued goals we're taught are good -- such as a successful career, or a good name among our peers, or even a particular social standing that would make parents proud -- we might instead pursue goals that please God.  Such goals might flip our own priorities upside down, because they would include care of "the least of these" (Matthew 25:45), and our time devoted to practices of prayer, spiritual disciplines, or our wealth to help those who are in need.  None of these "sacrifices" of time, energy, devotion, money, and so forth, preclude good goals in life or a healthy life of well-being.  But we place our judgment for priorities in God's hands, and as Christ says, we will no doubt be called upon to carry our own crosses, and like Him, say, "Not my will, but Yours, be done" (see Luke 22:42).  For discipleship will call us from places we thought were sacrosanct, to places we never thought we'd go, while nonetheless giving us prizes to cherish, even love we didn't think was possible, all given through grace.  To find ourselves as disciples is to find God's love for us as well as that love in the others to whom we're brought by God.  Let us count the cost and cherish the gifts we're given, including the elation true service can bring us.

 

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

 

- Luke 9:51-62 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened on the day after the Transfiguration, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Let us note in the context of this story that Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the essential importance of humility to the concept of greatness.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus responded to the disciples' dispute among themselves about which of them would be greatest, presumably in Christ's kingdom which they may believe is both imminent and also a worldly kingdom.  He aimed to correct their thinking regarding what greatness is, bringing a child to His side and teaching them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great" (see above).  Then when John told him they forbade another who was not of their group, but was casting out demons in Christ's name, Jesus taught them, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  So this rebuke to John and James follows those teachings on humility, and adds another dimension to their understanding:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."   It is yet another distinction of discipleship in Christ's kingdom, for "greatness" on worldly terms meant being like Caesar or other ruthless rulers, all-powerful, and vanquishing those who do not submit.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on this passage that there is a cost to discipleship.  When this man declares, "I will follow You wherever You go," Jesus reminds him of three aspects of His own life that a disciples needs to understand in terms of following Him.  First, my study Bible says, a disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security -- if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciples.  Second, there is nothing, not even the honor due to parents, that can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.

 

 We should note, as has been indicated above, how each new teaching on the road toward Jerusalem is preparing the disciples for the type of kingdom they will be serving, what manner of discipleship they are learning, and the basic understanding of greatness that turns a worldly understanding upside down.  For the early Christians, the world was a place in which greatness was measured by strength and power.  The greatness of a Caesar was a boast of how many he had conquered or killed.  Julius Caesar wrote a book on the Gallic Wars (waged between 58 and 50 BC), in which he bragged that under himself as general over a million Gauls were killed.  This was propaganda meant to prop up his image, and indeed his resulting reputation helped him to win a civil war and declare himself dictator (in addition to gaining him much wealth).  This was the sort of thing thought of as "greatness" in the world into which Jesus was born, and in which the disciples now walk toward Jerusalem and Christ's Passion.  So, if the disciples expect Jesus to come into His kingdom when He arrives in Jerusalem, and if their expectations are that of a worldly kingdom, we can imagine the training they are undergoing for the things that are to come.  As pointed out above, from the time that He overheard their dispute as to who will be greatest in this kingdom, He has been teaching them about service and humility, about receiving even a little child in His name as if it is He Himself they receive.  He has taught them not to forbid others working in His name even if they do not follow with their group.  In today's reading, Christ is rejected by a Samaritan village as He begins the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and we can see the question posed by John and James Zebedee, the Sons of Thunder,  "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  (1 Kings 18:20-40).  We might say that it sounds also as if they would like to experience the capacities of their own power that Christ has shared with them.  But Christ rebukes them, teaching them restraint and humility and the nature of His Kingdom and its mission:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."    They will need to correct their own understanding of greatness and of power, and of what it is that makes Christ's Kingdom great.  Let us not forget the transformation that takes place in the disciples which we can follow through the Scriptures, for John will become the Evangelist who gives us the Gospel and the Epistles which, more than any others, will emphasize the nature of God and the Kingdom as love (see, for example, 1 John 4:8).  James will become the first of the Twelve to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  Finally, we're given a number of things that are of importance with regard to traditional family structures:  a stable home, duties to parents and family, the expressions of affection or familial ties.  All of these are things most of us understand as good.  But note that what Christ teaches here is that loyalty first comes to God and however we are called to serve the ultimate Source of all good (James 1:17).  This is not to say that all of these ties of affection, family, and stable structure are false or bad -- but it is a powerful teaching that there may be times when we have to put those things second to the ways in which we are called, even when we are powerfully tested in our love for family and community.  Often it seems that we confuse sentimentality with the call of love:  there are times when the responsibilities of love are in conflict with our sentiment and nostalgic feelings of comfort.  We might be called to make hard choices -- such as the ones on display in the Gospel -- to learn to discern where love's powerful call to personal growth and spiritual fruit is calling us to struggle, to put our "hand to the plow" and go forward into what we don't yet know but where God's love is calling.  It has always been a part of many spiritual struggles to seek such discernment amid conflicting loyalties, in the Gospels and in the lives of the saints.   There is a deeper truth that calls to the place in us where God wants to bring us forward to the fullness of identity, the flowering of the potentials our Creator sees, that which brings the hundredfold harvest to the world.   It is a love that reaches down more deeply than all the other loves we know.  Just like tending and nurturing a garden, this is the call we need to know for the beauty of the world, and the new things we're asked to cultivate when we put our hand to the plow.

 

 

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple

 

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  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 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!"

 

- Luke 14:25–35 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them 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."

 

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  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."  My study Bible comments that this command to hate one's relations and one's own life isn't to be taken literally.  Instead, we are to hate the way our relationships with others can hinder our total dedication to the Kingdom of God, which takes precedence even over family ties.  

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."  Jesus repeats a statement we've read in Luke 9:23, something He said immediately after Peter's confession of faith, and in the context of His first warning to the disciples that He will suffer, be killed, and raised the third day.  My study bible asks us to observe that, first, each person must take up his own cross.  It says that the burden for each one in this world is different from person to person, and each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  Second, in 9:23, Jesus states that one's cross is to be taken up daily.  This commitment is not a one-time event.  To come after Christ and be His disciple means the continual practice of faith and obedience, even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world -- and even to the point of separation from loved ones.

"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 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."  My study Bible cites 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, an elaboration by St. Paul on this concept of building a structure properly upon what is first a proper foundation.  Each one's structure will reveal through its endurance, or lack of it, the proper work that has gone into the "tower" that is our lives.  Here, Jesus asks us to count the cost of discipleship, as those who plan well before starting out upon a project of any kind.  Our foundation is Christ, and that must remain our "bottom line" through all things, forsaking whatever is necessary in order to remain securely in that foundation.

"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!"  Jesus uses the analogy of salt in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13), again to illustrate the importance of endurance in discipleship.  My study Bible comments that salt illustrates the role of disciples in society.  Because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor, salt had both religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).   These references from the Old Testament teach us that salt was significant in terms of covenant.  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the "salt of the earth" (the phrase used in the Sermon on the Mount) my study Bible says, Christians are preservers of God's covenant, and give true flavor to the world.  In terms of the context here, Jesus is emphasizing our covenant as disciples, our endurance through all things in following Christ.

Jesus reminds us of the importance of counting the cost before setting out on a journey, or beginning a project of any kind, entering into battle.  One must seek to estimate what one will need to pay, or purchase, the labor and effort required, all the sacrifices that are necessary to do a complete job or see things through to the end.  He is reminding us, as His followers, that with Him it's all or nothing.  There is no lukewarm that is acceptable (see Revelation 3:14-22 for an assessment of a lukewarm church).  He is the foundation, and must remain the foundation.  When we put our faith in something else first, He will tear that down.  It will not endure.  We will all be refined in a furnace, as purified gold.  In Matthew's Gospel, we're reminded a couple of times that "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22, 24:13).  Such words, on my part, seem terribly dire and dour.  But, on the other hand, for those who go through that fire and must make hard choices between where their faith leads them and where worldly attachments demand something else, the difficulties finally add up, in the end, to a liberation.  For it is in the truth of Christ that we really do find our freedom (John 8:31-32).  The world will draw us into a million different musts and have-to's.  You "must have" this type of house or clothing.  You "have to" do this because someone else has asked you to, or expects you to.  You "must" believe this because everybody seems to be saying it.  You "have to" join this group because that looks like the currently fashionable thing to do, at least among the au courant.  But Christ really doesn't ask us to do any of those things.  He doesn't demand that we become relevant to a set of values or circumstances that have nothing to do with our faith, and the genuine heart that is His refined gold and precious to Him.  Christ does not ask that we become caught up in the "right" appearances for the "right" people who will approve of whatever those things might mean about us in some social sense or to some group or community.  No, He is the foundation of our lives, and the currency we need to maintain that foundation is humility -- not faith in appearances and the judgment of the social world.  It really doesn't matter whether those approved signals to the world are million dollar homes and designer label shoes, or the right political slogan of any stripe, or even a drab and mournful appearance to show we are sufficiently deprived and aggrieved to gain a special status.  None of these things are meant to be pleasing to Christ first.  We often might find we are called instead to retire from that oh-so-necessary public face to find where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do.  It might be quiet prayer we need, not only for ourselves but for others around ourselves, for our relationships with people and with things.  We might need a reset of the way in which we look at and live in the world.  But any way you look at it, Christ's power -- although it might separate us from what we think we need and love -- is going to liberate us.  It is going to free us from delusions about what we must have that we don't really need and might not be good for us.  It is going to free us from false claims on our attention, and it's going to free us from deceptive rhetoric that does not really lead to freedom but to slavery.  If we want to know how to truly be free, then we must find a way to let go of everything else first, and focus on what really matters, and where our heart and treasure have to be in life.  We might just find it's what we give that makes us who we are, not what we get -- and sometimes that includes what we give up, including our false notions about ourselves and others.   But as Christ tells us, each one must bear one's own cross.  This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of movement, this work of discipleship.  It is a powerful pull into our own things we need to work on, and our own places we need to go in order to follow Him and find the refinement of the fire of grace, the energies of God.  And in this statement about one's own cross, we also find tremendous liberation.  For no two of us need be alike, and each journey is tailored for the unique creation that is the evidence of the Spirit's work.  There are no cookie-cutter saints, but each one is drawn in powerful lines, whether that be a woman of the fifth century who used her wealth to express her love of God, or a man who struggled in his poverty to remain true to Christ in the twentieth.  We each have a cross to bear and a foundation to build on.  But each of those, our cross and our foundation, are ultimately liberating.  Grace builds on what is potential within us, things which lie dormant but are called out through the work of experience and living our faith.  We're like statues carved out of marble or some other beautiful stone, in which the carver continually discovers what is truly there.  Are you ready for that struggle?  Can you count the cost?   St. Paul wrote to the Philippians to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."  Each one's picture will look different, but each journey of faith is one ultimately of the freedom of Christ's grounding truth and the surety of gold.  This is the discipleship we work out along the way.

You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

On Saturday, we read that when Jesus, John, James, and Peter had come down from the mountain of the Transfiguration, a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side." 

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.   The language in this passage, in which the time had come for Him to be received up, is very similar to language used for kings and rulers of the time.  To send messengers before one's face is to make an announcement, a preparation, for the distinguished person, a person of power and authority.  The face of an emperor or king is his person, carrying the authority and power and even empire of the position and all that means.  Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is certainly one of the Messiah or Christ, the rightful Bridegroom, going to His city, His Bride.  And by the response of James and John to the Samaritans (who did not view Jerusalem as the holy city, nor the place where the temple should be), certainly is in keeping with such expectations.  So in this context Christ's rebuke of James and John (the "Sons of Thunder" - see Mark 3:17) is very important.  He does not argue with their expectations; those will be challenged soon enough by the events to come, and He has already given two warnings about betrayal and His Passion to come at Jerusalem.  Instead, He corrects their thinking regarding the mission of His Church, and what manner of spirit they are of.  The entire mission of the Son of Man is not to destroy men's lives but to save them.  And until we are given further notice, this remains the spiritual mission of the Church and its heart.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   This journey on the road to Jerusalem seems to be recognized by many, and as we've just been told, is made by One who sends messengers before His face.  As such, someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."   Jesus reveals three aspects of the cost of discipleship, which my study bible names.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  If the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciple.  Second, there is nothing, not even the honor which is due to parents, which can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciples cannot delay in accomplishing the good that is demanded by Christ.

This journey toward Jerusalem continues to reveal to the disciples (and, following them, the Church until today) the nature of Christ's ongoing mission, and of all those who would be disciples of their Lord, Jesus Christ.  First, there is what is possibly the closest thing we have to a mission statement of the Church:  "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."    This language is in keeping with Christ's portrayal of Himself as Physician, which we found directly referenced in Luke 5:31-32, in speaking of Himself as Physician who heals the sinful:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Moreover, the great signs Jesus has performed throughout His ministry have involved healing (and that would include exorcisms -- which teaches us that there clearly exist spirits who seek to destroy men's lives).  So salvation must be considered on all levels as that which permeates the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ and of His Church.  To be saved is to be delivered from what is evil, harmful, painful, onerous.  But it is also to be made whole, to be truly healed.  This saving mission is the purpose of Christ's ministry on earth, and it remains so as it addresses every single level of human life, and is also for the life of the world (John 6:33, 51).  For Jesus, to be healed is always linked to faith.  See, for example, the story of the woman who suffered for twelve years from hemorrhage, "who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any" (see this reading).   Jesus assures her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well."  Faith is connected with something beyond the physical world.  That is, not something separate, but something more.  It is aware of more dimensions to life than worldly material perception, and Jesus indicates this when He tells James and John (and by inference, all the rest of us) when He says, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."  Our mission isn't merely to be in the world, but it is a spiritual mission in the world, which incorporates all aspects of saving, healing, wholeness of people's lives:  mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and the soul.  And through Christ's mission, He gives to us mission.  Today's reading also lays out the demands of discipleship:  our loyalty and mission in serving the Lord takes precedence over everything else.  When other aspects of our worldly lives stand in the way of where that mission may lead, we are to consider them secondary to the call of the Lord as true disciples.  Again, we are to understand this in the framework of salvation.  We make such choices not to destroy our lives but to save them.  Earlier in chapter 9, Jesus has taught, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (see this reading).   Sometimes the saving cure we need is surgery, and there are things which are harmful to us that stand in the way of healing:  bad habits, false priorities, mistaken beliefs, even our own psychological shortcomings.  Even the sacrifices we're called upon to make must be seen as ultimately saving.  That may even include, at times, leaving others behind or letting go of relationships for what are more important priorities.  But love, prayer, forgiveness, and salvation still remain priorities for all life.   So let us consider salvation and discipleship, and what manner of spirit we are of.  Our discipleship is meant for healing, for salvation, and this includes the others around us -- that is, both those who reject our faith and those who do not.  There are times when the single weapon of mission is prayer, for no one comes to faith or love by being compelled.  There are times when we must let others go.  But at all times, the mission in which we are disciples to our Lord is one of salvation, and we -- like James and John and the other disciples -- must know what manner of spirit we are of at all times.  No matter where we are called, ultimately, the saving of lives is the mission.  Ultimately this happens through the love of God, and God's mercy and grace.  We are those called to serve Christ's mission, not to have all the answers ourselves.  Let us remember that none of us knows the future of any person, and that we are all on the journey toward Jerusalem with Christ.  Sometimes we may have to "let the dead bury their own dead," while we live the gospel of the kingdom of God.  But that gospel is to save lives, and it remains open for all.  The ancient Greek father of all physicians was Hippocrates, who lived from approximately 460-370 BC.  Modern medicine still pays homage to the Hippocratic Oath, a hallmark of which is the injunction, "Do no harm."  As the true Physician of all, we can understand Christ's teachings as similar, and emblematic of the true spirit His disciples are meant to bear into the world.   Our mission is to help to save lives, not to destroy.  Let us always remember this first above all.

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple

 

Now great multitudes went with Him.  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 -- least, 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 met 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 sale 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!"

 

- Luke 14:25–35 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus also said to him who invited Him (a Pharisee who had invited Christ to dine in his home), "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is He who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

Now great multitudes went with Him.  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."  My study bible comments that this command to hate one's kindred and his own life also is not to be taken literally.  Instead, we are to hate the way that our relationships with others are able to hinder the fullness of our dedication to the Kingdom of God, which takes first priority even over family ties.  

 

 "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."  We note that, as in 9:23, when Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me," each person must take up his own cross.   My study bible says that the burden in this world is different for each person, and each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and for the salvation of those around oneself.  Additionally, let us note from Christ's statement in 9:23, this direction to any disciple is meant to be a daily, ongoing commitment.  Our commitment to the Teacher is not a one-time event, nor a simple kind of affirmative believe used like a slogan.  It involves the continual practice of faith and obedience, even when it comes to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world, as was Christ.  The fact that we read this instruction twice in Luke's Gospel makes it that much more emphatic, especially at this point in His ministry, when Christ is on His way toward Jerusalem.

"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 -- least, 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 met 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."  My study bible refers us to the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, in which he refers to the grace of God given to him as a wise master builder.  The foundation of all -- regardless of what is built on top of that foundation -- must be Jesus Christ.  For whatever is built upon it, be it gold or silver, precious stones, or inexpensive materials -- eventually the Day of Christ will declare it, as revealed by the holy fire that will test each one's work to discover of what substance it truly is.  For each of us wants a true work of our life, which endures -- and even should we suffer loss, we are able to continue in our discipleship having been tested and understood better what is necessary.  Christ wants us to be prepared for this testing life of discipleship, willing to give our all, and make the necessary adjustments for our own eventual persistence and victory along the way.

"Salt is good; but if the sale 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!"  Jesus uses this metaphor of salt for disciples in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13).  The words here are nearly identical.  But in the context of the long road of discipleship, and the sacrifices that may need to be calculated over a lifetime, they give us added depth here in Luke's Gospel.  Salt's preservative powers were even more essential, in some sense, in Christ's time than they are now.  It was also not as easily produced as it is now.   That power of preservation speaks to taking up one's cross and enduring in the long road of life in discipleship, and sticking to the way of Christ.  Salt also is necessary for life, and possesses a unique ability to give flavor:  to whatever it is added, flavor is enhanced.   This is a description of the essential quality of discipleship in a world that would sorely miss its presence in so many ways.  My study bible explains that because of all of these qualities, salt had religious and sacrificial significance to the Jews (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty.  So, as the salt of the earth, Christians are therefore preservers of God's covenant, and also give true flavor to the world. 

How are we preservers of God's covenant?  How do we acts as a kind of "fixative" or "sealant" for God's covenant in the world, and specifically as disciples, our covenant with Christ?  Clearly the fullness of discipleship is in simple persistence, in being willing to put our faith first in line or priority, and to simply live it day after day.  This is what is discipleship.  It is what Christ tells us when He says to be prepared and to calculate the cost, whatever it takes or is going to take.  He asks us to estimate what it takes to build a life upon His foundation, this foundation of discipleship, and to be ready to pay the price, to do what it takes, to find our way to meet Him in the ultimate reconciling of our lives.  So if we are really going to be ready to pray the price, to calculate the cost, how do we set about doing that?  Do we make up our minds in advance, and decide what that is going to be?  Surely the price of faith does not consist of conscious calculation, but rather of the decision that we will endure, come what may and no matter what is asked of us.  We might not know in advance what it is we may be asked to give up to God.  Frequently we might find that life asks us to make choices regarding priorities, and especially of those things that pertain to our identity.  For example, we may find abuse in the family, and that one particular family member is being abuse.  If we have to make a choice between "making waves" in the family, and living the life of the Cross for Christ, we may need to relinquish the priority of the family stability over our loyalty to Christ.  This is how we carry our cross daily; it is in such choices that we find ourselves, especially if we have in mind that discipleship is the most important priority.  These are not questions of intellectual belief.  Rather they are tough questions which may be answered in prayer, in the heart and in the soul, and we will be faced with them if we carry our crosses successfully.  God will continually allow us to be challenged, so that we may truly come to terms with who we are, and reconcile with God before that Day in which we are called to our true and ultimate destiny.

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

On Saturday we read that on the next day, after Jesus, Peter, James, and John had come down from the mountain of Transfiguration, a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.   And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Jesus has twice given the prediction of His Passion to the disciples (Luke 9:21-22, 43-45).  Now, as He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, it is clear He goes to His Passion.  But it is likely that the disciples expect that He goes toward Jerusalem in order to fully take His place as the Messiah, the Christ of God (9:20).  Therefore John and James Zebedee, whom Jesus has called "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17), respond in a way that might characterize one seizing material power in the context of rulers of the time.  But just as Jesus has recently corrected the disciples regarding who would be greatest in His Kingdom (see yesterday's reading, above, and the example of the little child), this response is also an opportunity for correction to the disciples regarding "what manner of spirit you are of."  The very nature of the holiness Jesus brings into the world works not to destroy men's lives but to save them.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study bible writes about the statement, I will follow You, that there is a cost to discipleship.  Here Jesus reveals three of them.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  If Christ the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciple.  Moreover, there is nothing, not even the honor that is due to parents, that can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that is demanded by Christ.  

Jesus says, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  Let us be assured that this does not mean a person is permanently barred from the kingdom of God.  Jesus is speaking of the demands of discipleship, the way of following Him.  If we think about the good we might miss, or the things we might have, then we are not "all in."  In other words, if our loyalty is in question as to where our deeper love calls us in the soul, then we're not prepared for this journey of discipleship and especially the taking up of our own crosses daily.  Earlier in this chapter, Jesus has taught the disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (9:23).  That taking up of the cross is a way of crucifying everything in our lives.  If this sounds harsh, one must understand it in the truly experiential terms of the journey toward Christ.  Every day of our lives, we'll be asked, in some form or another, what our real choice is, what we truly desire.  A prompting of the heart may tell us what we truly love better than what the world offers us at any particular given time.  Does our spouse need help, when we might spend the same time working at something that brings personal worldly glory?  Is a friend hurt who needs comfort?  Is there a way to donate to a cause to help someone truly needy, but that will not give us the worldly currency of a different and more widely applauded cause?  These are just daily examples of choices we might have to make, in which somehow our worldly lives are crucified.  Our choices become times of the cross, where we need to make a decision, and choose who we really are.  How we find who we really are becomes a matter of what we love the most, where our real loyalty lies, and thus who we become.  Are we going to be modeled in the image of Christ?  This is the cost of discipleship and the true goal invested in discipleship.  Christ becomes the model, giving us the image He has of us, His creation.  This is the long road of discipleship, the ways in which we take up our crosses daily.  We exchange one way of life for another, a worldly or "earthly" way of thinking and being in the world, for Christ's way of thinking and being in the world.  In this way our true image of the self is created, tested in the fire, brought to the Cross.  And as Christ indicated when He spoke of taking up one's cross daily, for each of us this is going to look different.  We are each going to have specifics we need to live, and to walk through, and to make choices about, all in the light of that Cross.  This is the way life is, and those who are outside of Christ's discipleship will not understand it except in vague terms of morality or some other kind of compass.  But the life to which we are called by Christ is a life of love and loyalties within the practice of that love.  Do we save life or destroy it?  This is the manner of spirit we are of.  What are we called upon to nurture and love?  Are we all in, or is there something else that calls our loyalty?  Our lives are meant to be journeys of faith; let us consider with what courage we look toward Him on that road.