At this point in Luke, Jesus' time is getting short. He knows that within the next few weeks he is going to be celebrated with a parade, only to then be arrested, tried, convicted and executed. But He knew that three days after drawing his last breath, he was going to return triumphant. He knows all of this, God knows all of this, but none of his followers really have a clue. It must have been pretty frustrating to be going on with life as normal. However, Jesus never once let a teaching moment pass, and there are plenty of those in our next two chapters.
In the first part of chapter 9, Jesus calls his twelve disciples and prepares them to go out into the world. In re-reading the words today, it struck me. As he is having this pre-departure bonding time, he gives them the power and authority to heal diseases and remove demons. In the past when I read this, I kind of thought "Yeah, cool, these 12 guys are being sent out on their first mission trip." Here's where I had my ah-ha moment. Jesus had to GIVE them the power and authority to do things. At this point in time, there was no Holy Spirit to be the tour guide for the disciples. They were going to be "on their own", without their leader.
Jesus tells the twelve to travel light. They are to take nothing with them, but the clothes on their backs, the shoes on their feet, and the song in their heart. When they reach their destination, they are to knock on doors and ask for lodging. If someone says no, then they simply move on to another home. But oh how blessed the the family who said yes must have been!
Teaching moment: Being human, we easily convince ourselves that we can't do such and such because we don't have the tools or the gifts to do it. Being Christians, we should convince ourselves, that our tool box and gifts are much deeper and richer because of Jesus's help.
After the twelve had returned to Jesus, they had a spiritual retreat in Bethsaida . News of the retreat spread quickly and before too long, a large crowd had gathered to listen to Jesus teach. He spoke, He healed, He generally took time to be with the people who had gathered. And as seems to happen when you're having fun, time flew by. It was late afternoon and the disciples drew Jesus aside and said "Ummmm....it's getting kind of late and we're a long ways from Braum's, Arby's, Sonic and Pizza Hut. Shouldn't we close for the day?"
But Jesus had a plan - a teaching moment for the twelve. "You feed them" He said. The disciples were caught off guard and quickly explained, they only had five loaves of bread and two fishes. And we're not talking great big loaves of honey-oat wheat bread and great big tuna steaks. Much smaller loaves of bread and fish that were probably the size of sardines. Probably what we'd call an appetizer in today's world.
Jesus took the food, held it up to heaven, asked a blessing over it, and sent the disciples out amongst the crowd to distribute it. When everyone had eaten their fill, baskets were used to collect the extras. The extras amounted to twelve basket fulls. (Hmmmm....there's that number 12 again.)
Teaching moment: Jesus knew that pot-luck dinners would feed un-imaginable amounts of people with what seems like nothing. Seriously though, food, friendship and fellowship are so much richer when we have asked God to bless them.
Next up: Peter's Confession of Christ. Remember, Jesus knows that his time is getting short, and he's trying to teach his disciples all they need to know to continue on after his death. He asks the twelve, "Who does the world say I am?". Answers range from John the Baptist, and Elijah to other prophets from history. Then point blank he asks "Who do YOU say I am?" Peter earned a gold star when he replied "You are the Christ!" Jesus must have felt a little better about leaving things in the disciples hands at this point.
Teaching moment: Sometimes we have to ask ourselves "What does the world say about this?" Then, we have to be strong enough and wise enough to ask that second question "What do I say about this?"
Eight days after this, Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mountainside to pray. While they were there and deep in prayer, Jesus' face began to glow and his clothes shone like a bright white light. Then, Moses and Elijah joined Jesus and talked with him. They were talking about Jesus upcoming departure and how that event will satisfy prophecy from long ago. Peter, James and John had been doing that half prayer, half nap type of thing. But when they saw Moses and Elijah, they woke up and were amazed at what they saw.
Teaching moment: Sometimes we need those "old" friends to come along side of us with our "new" friends to help us get through the upcoming days.
The rest of chapter nine has the healing of a boy with an evil spirit, the disciples arguing over who will be at Jesus' right hand in heaven, opposition from the Samaritans and the cost of following Jesus. I'll let you read those sections and come up with your own teaching moments. Although I will say that the cost of following Jesus will be nothing compared to the joy, blessing and freedom we experience in the process and in heaven.
Chapter ten starts out much like chapter nine. But...instead of sending out twelve, Jesus is sending out seventy-two. Thirty-six groups of two. Again they are encouraged to not worry about provisions. As they reach their destinations, they will be taken care of. The Lord will bless those towns who accept them, but curse those who don't. Jesus even gets specific by naming names. Not a list I want to be on!
The second section is the story of the Good Samaritan. From an early age, I've always been drawn to this story. Perhaps it was the way my Sunday School teacher taught it with those flannel stick on figures. Or perhaps it was growing up with brothers and a father that were part of the volunteer fire department. I found myself getting angry with the people that didn't stop to help. How could they leave this poor guy, beaten, bruised and half dead, on the side of the road. When the Good Samaritan happened along and helped the injured man, I felt myself cheering. How honorable this man must have been. He didn't know what had happened to the man. It could have very well been that this guy had attacked a caravan and didn't succeed. Or, the injured man could have been carrying a disease that would infect anyone who touched him. That didn't matter to the Samaritan. He saw someone hurting and knew that he could make it better. He picked him up, transported him to the nearest inn, and tended to his wounds. When the Samaritan needed to leave, he could have just skipped out on the bill and left the injured man in the inn. But he did the right thing and paid the inn keeper to take care of the injured man until he was well. And then.....he said, if what I've given you isn't enough, just put it on my tab until I return. Whew! What an amazing example for us to keep in mind as we are walking our paths. It may not be someone who is physically hurt. It could be someone who just has a heartache from their position in life. Are we going to stop and listen long enough to make ourselves feel good, or are we going to be in it for the long haul?
Martha and Mary are another one of my childhood favorites. I grew up with two brothers who were quite a bit older than I am. So I didn't really have a lot of sibling rivalry issues. But I can see myself as Mary one day and Martha the next. One day I'm all about getting things ready around the house. I become a super cleaning freak and attack the base boards with a dust rag, the wood floor with polish, and even comb out the dog's coat. The next day, and several after that really, I'm much more relaxed and take things as they come. You want to play Monopoly? Sure - let's do that, the dishwasher will be there to unload later. Go for a walk? Why not! It's sunny, the breeze is just right and the birds are singing. That laundry? It will be there later, and if not, well then it's one less load that we'll have to put away later.
I don't think that you have to be either Mary or Martha. And I don't think that Jesus loved either one better. I do know that it takes all sorts personalities, all kinds of people, all ages of people, a great big mix of humanity to make our church a family.
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