7 September 2013 - A Change of Altitude and Attitude

Several years ago, I was traveling along an interstate with some friends. We stopped at a rest stop and on the way in noticed a group of men who were rough to say the least.  Tattoos, chains, etc. My attitude was that these were people to be avoided. After eating, we went to start our car—dead.  I know nothing about cars, so just looked around in desperation.  Most people just ignored me.  One of the “rough men” pulled out jumper cables and helped me.  It changed my attitude about him.

Today, we hear Jesus telling us a story that is familiar to us: the parable or story of the Good Samaritan.   Luke is the only one of the four gospels that includes this parable.  

What is a parable?  It is a story, using ordinary, simple situations to teach great truths.    Some of us are familiar with Aesop’s fables.  These are also parables.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is teaching what it means to be a good neighbor.

Let’s look at the story for a moment.  Jesus situates it on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.  While Jericho is about 18 miles northeast of Jerusalem, Jesus described the journey as “going down” to Jericho.  It truly was downhill all the way.  Jerusalem is 2500 hundred feet above sea level; Jericho is 825 feet below sea level.  The trip was a drop in altitude of more than a half mile.   The story speaks not only of a change in altitude, but also a change in attitude.

While we don’t really take notice of it, the example that Jesus used would have shocked the listeners of his day.  For the example of a good neighbor, he used a Samaritan.  What is a Samaritan?  Samaritans are close to the Jews, but not Jews. In the sixth century BC, the Israelites were exiled to Babylon (which was near the modern Baghdad).  The Samaritans were a group that remained behind and claim to have retained the true religion that had been changed by the Jews. Perhaps because they are so close yet different, they are enemies. One would definitely not expect a person from one group to be helping another. 

The parable that Jesus tells makes not mention of the man who had been robbed and beaten and then helped by a Samaritan.  He must have been shocked when his own passed him  by and  he was being helped by someone he regarded as a natural enemy.  One would hope that the incident challenged him to re-think his attitude towards others who were different.  Maybe we should do the same.

Copy What I Have Done to You

Thursday of the Great Mysteries

28 March 2013

Copy of what I have done to you 

For a moment, let’s go back a little, less than seven weeks ago, to the beginning of Lent.  We were celebrating Cana Sunday.  We found ourselves at a table, in fact, a wedding celebration.  During the dinner, the mother of Jesus noticed that the hosts were running out of wine.  Jesus immediately responded, “. . . what do you want from me?  My hour has not yet come.”  (John 2:4)

This evening we find ourselves again at a table.  Jesus is reclined there with his closest friends, “his own, the ones He loved.”  But now it is different.  Jesus realized that His hour has come, that He was going to pass from this world to the Father. 

Just as He had done throughout His ministry, Jesus taught His disciples by doing something.  Let’s examine the text.  We hear that Jesus “knew that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God.”  Jesus knew exactly who he was; he had been given everything; he wasn’t filled with doubt, second-guessing or fear.  The one who had been given everything by the Father, knelt down and washed the feet of his loved ones.

This was contrary to the way things should be: He was Rabbi, the Teacher, the Master.  Yet, here He was, performing the most lowly of tasks.  He wasn’t doing this to show how humble He was: he was doing it to teach them how they were supposed to do things.  And this was just the beginning of things to come.  Very soon, He would be called to sacrifice everything.

Peter objected—out of respect for Jesus.  But Peter wasn’t getting it.  Jesus explained that He had to wash Peter so that he could be a part of the things to come.  Peter needed to be a part of Jesus self-sacrifice so that he could eventually sacrifice himself for others.

Jesus asked them if they understood and then explained: “you must wash each other’s feet.  I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”  (John 13:15).