Good
Morning Gentle Readers
Well
this one is a “Woe to” gospel....
Time
for a bit of a rant......
Luke
10:13-16
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
“And you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the netherworld.’
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
“And you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the netherworld.’
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
This
passage is the end of Jesus’s parting remarks to the 70 disciples
(or 72—there is a discrepancy in the text) whom he is sending forth
to prepare the way for him in the towns he intends to visit. After
giving them some practical instructions, he breaks into this lament
over Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—towns in which he has
already performed miracles. He says that had the same deeds been done
in the Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon, the pagans living there
would have promptly repented.
Why didn’t the residents of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum repent, even though they saw and experienced Jesus’s miracles?
It’s easy for me to pass judgment on them, to imagine I would have been sitting in sackcloth and ashes with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But what would I have thought if I had seen Jesus miraculously heal someone? Would I have let myself be struck to the core, even if it meant calling into question everything I thought I knew? Would I have accepted Jesus for who and what he is, fully aware that my life could never be the same? Or would it have been easier to let the initial amazement pass, put the blinders on, and go back to my comfortable routine?
Jesus concludes his remarks to the disciples by saying, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” He identifies his disciples with himself, and himself with the Father. From now on, Jesus is not the only one who will be proclaiming the truth and performing great deeds—his disciples may now stand in for him. They are to be his presence in the world, a call that comes down to us, too.
Today, Jesus speaks to us in this Gospel—he calls us to be willing to change our lives in response to his good news, and to carry that good news to others. How will we respond?
Why didn’t the residents of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum repent, even though they saw and experienced Jesus’s miracles?
It’s easy for me to pass judgment on them, to imagine I would have been sitting in sackcloth and ashes with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But what would I have thought if I had seen Jesus miraculously heal someone? Would I have let myself be struck to the core, even if it meant calling into question everything I thought I knew? Would I have accepted Jesus for who and what he is, fully aware that my life could never be the same? Or would it have been easier to let the initial amazement pass, put the blinders on, and go back to my comfortable routine?
Jesus concludes his remarks to the disciples by saying, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” He identifies his disciples with himself, and himself with the Father. From now on, Jesus is not the only one who will be proclaiming the truth and performing great deeds—his disciples may now stand in for him. They are to be his presence in the world, a call that comes down to us, too.
Today, Jesus speaks to us in this Gospel—he calls us to be willing to change our lives in response to his good news, and to carry that good news to others. How will we respond?
I
have to say I find myself listening to the “Woe to” gospels, I
love when Jesus comes right out and says you are in trouble and in a
straight forward fashion points out what is going on. I look at the
world today and part of me hears “Woe to you”, we have heard the
message, seen the miracles, and yet we do not respond. We treat our
brothers and sisters poorly, disregard our stewardship role of
creation, we sabre rattle so loud that we risk all out war, and of
course our favourite thing we judge. Now don't take this all to
critically, a huge part of our Lord’s message is about forgiveness,
it’s about finding the road back to what is His will and not ours.
I pray that I can find the road, I pray that I will have the strength
to walk it, and I pray for all of my brothers and sisters regardless
of where they stand, that they will hear and respond as well.
Today
when the Lord gives you the opportunity to be Christ like, take it,
don't be afraid to reach out.
Take
Care and God Bless
Good
Enough
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